Campfire Cinnamon Rolls

If you’ve followed my other blogs, you probably know that we’re huge fans of cinnamon buns. While I rarely make the most traditional, basic form of them anymore, I do have a lot of fun coming up with variations:

Chai Cinnamon Rolls, Maple Walnut Spiced Pumpkin Rolls, Egg Nog Sticky Buns, Apple Cinnamon Rolls, Strawberry Orange Rolls, Peanut Butter and Jelly Rolls ... I even have a couple of savoury recipes based on the idea - Rueben Buns and Buffalo Chicken Buns!

Anyway - unsurprisingly - this spring, we got into making campfire cinnamon buns.

Everyone seems to have their own way of making some form of delicious campfire cinnamon roll-ups, doing everything from wrapping dough around a roasting stick, to cooking them in a leftover orange peel over an open flame.

However they’re done, they tend to be easy recipes that don’t require much in the way of camping gear.

An easy breakfast to enjoy with a cup of coffee (see our method of making Coffee over a Campfire!), in the great outdoors? No wonder it’s such a popular idea!

Anyway, back to this spring - we ended up perfecting two different ways of cooking up this tasty treat: One using a pie iron (coming soon!), and this one: cooking them in a skillet.

Both use store bought raw cinnamon rolls in a tube. Sure, not anywhere near as good as those aforementioned recipes, but definitely make for a much easier camping recipe!

This technique takes only a few minutes of work, and is the best way we’ve found to cook up an entire package of cinnamon rolls at once.

Definitely something to try for your next camping trip - let us show you how! (Photographing them next to a waterfall - at Chutes Provincial Park - is entirely optional!)

Ingredients

This recipe has basically one ingredient - refrigerator cinnamon rolls.

You know, the blue tubes that damn near give you a heart attack when they pop open, even though you’re the one popping them open, and you KNOW what’s coming?

I mostly used the crescent roll version, growing up.

Anyway, this recipe was developed using the Pillsbury Grands “Cinnabon” Cinnamon Rolls version:

The nice thing about this tube is that it includes the cream cheese icing right in the package.

That said, your options may vary slightly based on location, but I can’t see any similar product being SO wildly different, as to change the technique all that much.

When in doubt, aim for a lower fire than you think you’ll need. You can always cook a cinnamon roll longer on low heat, but if you burn the outside before the inside cooks (too hot), it’s pretty much junk at that point.

Anyway, you’ll also want some pan spray.

How to Make Campfire Cinnamon Rolls

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the visual walk through:

Open your roll of cinnamon roll rounds and separate them into the 5 pieces. If the end of the dough has come loose for any of them, re-roll as necessary. Allow to come up to room temperature.

Get a low fire going - whether in a BBQ grill, an open fire, or a charcoal grill. If using an open fire, let any large flames completely die down, and cook on the embers of a campfire.

Spray a 10" cast iron skillet or shallow Dutch oven with a bit of nonstick spray, then arrange the cinnamon rolls in the pan, leaving a little room between them.

Spray the tops of the cinnamon rolls with more pan spray, then cover the pan. Cook over the low fire for for 2 minutes.

Once two minutes are up, carefully flip each cinnamon roll, cover the pan, and cook for another 2 minutes.

Once more, flip the cinnamon rolls, cover, and continue cooking on the grill grates for another 2 minutes. (6 minutes, total so far).

Leftovers

Once cooled to room temperature, leftover cinnamon rolls can be wrapped in plastic wrap - or stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Best served reheated - commercial cinnamon rolls can be DRY at room temperature. We like to microwave it for 30 seconds or so to get the chill off it, then finish off on it a hot skillet to re-crisp the crust a bit.

More Camping Breakfast Recipes

Looking for some more easy - and tasty - camping breakfast ideas? I've got you covered:

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Apple Fritter French Toast
Bacon, Cheddar, and Broccoli Frittata
Bagel Breakfast Strata
Banana Protein Pancakes
Campfire Banana Bread
Campfire Breakfast Skillet
Coffee over a Campfire
Gingerbread Protein Pancake Mix
Hobo Eggs
Homemade Camping Pancake Mix
Pumpkin Protein Pancake Mix
Traditional Bannock

Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes!

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!