When we began planning our annual trip to the Meyers family cabin in the Adirondacks, Michael announced that he wanted to make campfire pies, a favorite from his childhood camping trips. I racked my brain from my Girl Scout camping years but could not conjure up an image of what campfire pies might look like. We always made s’mores and banana boats, but I could not remember ever once making campfire pies. He gave me a brief description and assured me I would like them.
So this week his parents cleaned up the old sandwich irons, Michael built a fire, and we made campfire pies.
The pies, er sandwiches, are not haute cuisine, but that’s not important. We sang songs with the kids and grandparents and made pies in the campfire while the sun set. The evening was cool, the pies were hot, and Michael kept them coming until we had eaten almost all of the fruit fillings. And he was right; I did like them.
[Update: Thanks to Country Living magazine for featuring this recipe on their website!]
- Choose amounts according to the number of servings needed.
- bread slices
- cinnamon sugar mixture
- seasonal fruit (sweet cherries, blueberries, raspberries, peach slices, apple slices) or preserves or canned pie filling
- Make sure the campfire is very hot with glowing coals.
- Spray the insides of the sandwich iron with nonstick cooking spray.
- Lay a piece of bread in each side of the iron and press it down slightly to make an indentation in the bread. Place a few tablespoons of fruit on the bread and sprinkle on about 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Lay the other piece of bread on top of the other.
- Connect the two sides of the sandwich iron and press down, locking the handles together. Scrape away any bread hanging out of the irons as it will burn in the hot coals. Place the iron right in the middle of the hottest part of the fire and leave it there for about 2 to 3 minutes. The sides should be toasted golden brown when ready. The pie will be very hot, so allow it to cool for a couple minutes before eating.
seasoned sandwich iron (Make sure it has been properly seasoned before use. You may need more than one depending on the number of people.)
nonstick cooking spray
campfire (or very hot coals in a grill)
knife
Recipe Notes:
You can make many different types of pies. Try some of these variations.
More sweet fillings: Nutella and sliced bananas, peanut butter and chocolate chips.
Use cinnamon swirl bread or a brioche loaf.
Make savory pies with pizza fillings, ham and cheese, or Rueben sandwich fillings.
More Easy Foods for Camping
Rosa says
July 9, 2009 at 4:42 amA great idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
Phoo-D says
July 9, 2009 at 8:15 amWhat a fun idea! We’re tent camping quite a bit this summer and I have been on the hunt for new recipe ideas. These look fun and delicious.
Jennifer says
July 9, 2009 at 10:24 amCampfire Pies look the perfect fireside treat. I’d delight in the Nutella and banana slices, for sure.
laura says
July 9, 2009 at 10:24 amI love this idea (absent from my Girl Scout camping days, too); seriously looking forward to trying it on our next camping trip! Thanks very much for the link mention as well 🙂
Betty says
July 9, 2009 at 10:41 amI was so surprised to see these! I never enjoyed camping much, but I have fond memories of savory campfire pies. My childhood favorites were pizzas and grilled cheese sandwiches. My dad was pretty creative with them and even made breakfast pies with scrambled eggs, crumbled bacon and cheese. Our irons were round and so he would have to trim of the bread crusts, which I wouldn’t eat as child anyhow.
Natashya says
July 9, 2009 at 1:03 pmSo cool! I have never used the irons before… now I want some. 🙂
Bron says
July 10, 2009 at 2:18 amYum, downunder we call them jaffles or toasty pies, and of course we fill them with vegemite! 😉 Sadly most summers we have firebans in place and can’t use them, however they’re perfect for wintery afternoons too so I must get ours out
Dianne says
July 10, 2009 at 10:23 amWow! You’ve really taken me back to my childhood. Another thing we used to do over the camp fire was hobo dinners (foil packet with meat, potatoes, carrots, etc.) and in the mornings biscuits on a stick (you wrap the biscuit around the stick and cook it over the fire). Campfire pies sounds great!
Susan from Food Blogga says
July 10, 2009 at 4:45 pmWell if I had known I was gonna get those sandwiches, then I would have reconsidered camping all these years.
Debbie says
July 11, 2009 at 5:14 pmHow much fun is that!?! What a great treat. Looks delicious.
Xiaolu says
July 12, 2009 at 12:02 amHow precious! I loves me some s’mores, but it’s good to have other camping dessert options too.
Kalyn says
July 12, 2009 at 3:14 pmLove it! I’ve never seen those campfire sandwich makers either and they look great!
Alisa - Frugal Foodie says
July 12, 2009 at 3:43 pmHow neat! I had never heard of those.
ela says
July 13, 2009 at 4:44 amwhat a great idea!
Jen @ MaplenCornbread says
July 13, 2009 at 8:34 amYUM! We did this every summer growing up!
breadchick says
July 13, 2009 at 11:42 pmOh that brings back fantastic memories of Camp Walenakee and camping trips with my family when my brother and I would fight over even the heels of the loaf of bread.
I must find one of those…
Marc @ NoRecipes says
July 15, 2009 at 5:22 pmThat looks so good! I’m going to have to pick up some sandwich irons before my next camping trip!
maggie says
July 15, 2009 at 8:34 pmWow, I’ve never heard of these (despite many, many years as a camp counselor spending summers around a campfire.) Yum!
Corrine Davis says
July 15, 2009 at 11:47 pmYum. We used these even inside over an open fire. We had one that would cook three at once. We would butter the outside of the bread and fill them up with left over stew, mashed potato and bits of cheese. A great way to use up left overs…and fruit of course and yes down here they are called toasty pies. The kids have them in their school lunches too.
jethro says
April 25, 2010 at 12:47 pmWe always did these with a breakfast theme. Crack and egg right onto the bread, cheese, onions, etc.
Konni says
July 27, 2013 at 3:17 pmWe use flour tortilla’s instead of bread. Makes them more “pie like” and less “bready”. And drizzle cream cheese frosting on top. Yum!
Kelsey says
May 25, 2014 at 11:56 amWe use pilsbury dough instead of bread and they are amazing!
Helen says
August 30, 2016 at 9:53 pmIs it possible to make these using foil instead of the irons?
Andrea says
September 7, 2016 at 6:22 amHi Helen. Yes, you could wrap them in foil and put them on a grill over the fire.
Nan says
July 22, 2017 at 8:23 pmWe call these poogie pies. My husband makes them when we go camping. He butters the outside of the bread and we use canned pie filling. My favorite is apple, his is blueberry. Do you know the nutritional info for these?