Quick & Easy Campfire Apple Crisp
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A quick and easy fall-inspired camping dessert, this vegan campfire apple crisp is guaranteed to leave you feeling warm and cozy at the end of the night.
This no-bake apple crisp is designed to be an afterthought of a dessert. Something so simple it’s hard to think of a reason not to make it. So on your next camping trip, treat yourself to something sweet. The dishes can wait – you’ve still got dessert coming!
What’s really nice about this recipe is that it uses a lot of common camping ingredients: apples, granola, cinnamon, brown sugar, and bourbon. These are things you might already be picking up anyways and can be repurposed to make dessert.
To start, preheat a cast-iron skillet over a campfire or camp stove while you cut a few apples into thin slices. Toss them into the skillet and let them cook down until they start to get soft and release some liquid into the pan.
Then add your brown sugar, cinnamon, and a shot of bourbon. Mix together over the heat to burn off the alcohol and reduce the liquid slightly.
Once the liquid starts to thicken, remove from the heat, sprinkle your favorite granola on top, and you’re done… almost.
While you could serve this dessert on its own – we highly recommend leveling up to the “a la mode” version. If you’re camping in an RV or van and have fridge with a freezer, you might be able to serve this with a scoop of ice cream. If you just have a cooler, whipped cream is the answer!
If you plan on enjoying some fall season camping, then this is the dessert for you. Throw another log on the fire and cozy up with this comforting dessert.
More camping desserts
Campfire Apple Crisp
Ingredients
- 2-3 apples, sliced ¼” thin
- 1 tablespoon oil or butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granola
Instructions
- In an 8″ or 10” cast iron skillet, over medium heat, saute the sliced apples in a bit of oil or butter until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the spices, bourbon, and sugar, and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens and the apples are tender, 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and sprinkle the granola evenly across the top. Enjoy straight from the skillet or serve in individual bowls with a dollop of whipped cream.
Notes
Sharp Knife
Cutting board
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
Wooden spoon or spatula
Nutrition (Per Serving)
Yumm! It looks and sounds SO delicious!!
Thank you Sophie!
Guys, normally I don’t have any dessert when I go camping, but this recipe changed that! Made this over the weekend while camping along the Conejos River and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing.
We did have to cook the apples longer than 10 minutes, but that was likely due to our campfire setup.
PS: We were brainstorming all sorts of fruit variations we could do around the campfire. Can’t wait to try out a peach version and a blueberry version.
Perfect for a beach side picnic with my family! Thank so much for this wonderful recipe.
Cheers,
Rhonda and the Unstoppable Family
Could you suggest alcohol free bourbon substitute (will it still taste great without bourbon?) ?
You can skip the bourbon if you’d like. It’s not essential. But if you wanted to add something to replace it, a teaspoon of vanilla would be nice.
We love this recipe and can’t wait to make a campfire to try it out. Perfect with some So Delicious Dairy Free Ice cream!
We were boondocking in the desert near Moab with 105 degree daytime temperatures. We found this made a great breakfast that will see you through an all day hike if you use a cup of yogurt – there are non-dairy greek yogurts out there – and a high protein granola. The yogurt doesn’t melt and will stay cold enough in your cooler to last until you need it. (Four days into the trip in our case.)
Love the idea of using Greek yogurt with this and turning it into a breakfast! Thanks for sharing!
-Megan
So simple its crazy! My family LOVED this recipe….perfect camping dessert!
So glad you and the family enjoyed it. The best things in life are often simple. Or dessert. Or both.
Simple and easy. I will use this recipe again, but will change it for my taste. The clove was overwhelmingly so I would maybe use 1/8 tsp. Like more cinnamon, maybe 2 tsp. I like the suggestion of adding blueberries.
Yum! So good and came together so fast! Thanks for another great recipe!
I did peel the apples.
Can you substitute the bourbon for something else? I don’t want to have to buy it just for this recipe.
The picture looks delicious.
Yes, you can definitely omit the bourbon. Just add a splash of apple juice or water if you need to thin out the sauce to get the consistency you’d like.
Did a backyard campout with the kids and decided to give this a try for a quick dessert. Substituted the bourbon with a bit of vanilla and almond extracts. Love how quick it came together in the cast iron skillet. Great depth of flavor for such a quick dish. Everyone enjoyed it, both young and old. Definitely will be adding this to the camp repertoire for future trips!
Made this at camp last night… absolutely wonderful, and easy. This is our new go-to camp dessert.