Easy Campfire Dessert: Campfire Eclairs

These camping eclairs use only four ingredients and bake up fresh over the campfire.

I made this camping dessert as a Girl Scout many years ago and recently introduced my own kids to this fun and easy camping dessert. They all loved it (except my oldest daughter who said, “That would be good if I liked pudding.”)

The best part of this dessert is that they roast over the campfire, so all the kids can find the best (thick) roasting stick and cook their own shells right over the fire. Plus, it’s really fun to fill them by squeezing the pudding out of a plastic bag.

Another easy campfire dessert that only needs a handful of ingredients and cooks in campfire coals is foil packet monkey bread – it’s so good!

Tricks to Cooking the Shell

There are a few important tricks to follow to make sure that the dough cooks all the way through.

1. Wrap the dough in one layer. Do not overlap the dough except right at the end where the edges meet. Seal the edges by pressing them together.
2. Leave a little extra dough (1/4″) hanging over the top of the stick. Wrap the extra dough over the top of the stick and press together. This creates a closed end to the eclair, making it much easier to fill later.
3. Roast over hot embers. The dough cooks the best when its roasted over the hot coals of the fire, rather than the flame.
4. Turn every 30 seconds. Rather than continuously rotating, I find it works best to hold the dough in place for 30 second to a minute, and then to rotate it a quarter turn once it starts to brown.
5. Final “baking”, if needed. After the shell is golden brown, you may need a little more time for the dough to fully cook. At this time, hold the stick higher above the fire for a minute or two. It shouldn’t continue to brown, but the heat will cook through any dough that’s still raw.

Have you ever tried cooking inside an orange peel when cooking over the campfire? It’s the perfect way to cook individual cakes, muffins or brownies in campfire foil packets. I use them to make campfire chocolate cake in oranges peels, and it’s also one of the best ways to make campfire cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients in Campfire Eclairs

• Refrigerated Crescent Rolls: One can of dough will make 5 eclair shells. You can also use a sheet of refrigerated pie crust for the shell.
• Vanilla Pudding: Or get creative and try out different flavors!
• Milk: This is used to make the pudding according the to directions on the box.
• Nutella: Hazelnut spread makes for an easy chocolate topping for the eclairs, but you can also use chocolate syrup as well.

Steps to Make CAMPFIRE eCLAIRS

1. Make the pudding

Follow the directions on the box to make the pudding by adding 2 cups of cold water to a box of vanilla pudding. Whisk for two minutes until it starts to set. Place it in the fridge for a few minutes and give it one last stir. Then, transfer the pudding to a plastic bag and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Prepare the eclair shells

Unroll a can of crescent rolls and separate into four rectangles (push the seams of two triangles together to make the rectangles). Wrap around a thick stick that has been sprayed with cooking spray or wrapped in aluminum foil.

There will be extra dough after wrapping it around the stick. Cut the excess dough where it meets the other edge. Do not overlap the dough. Then, press the edges to seal the dough together. Seal the top of the dough over the top of the stick.

Save the excess dough – you’ll have enough to make a 5th eclair with the remnants from the other four shells.

3. Cook over the campfire

Hold the dough over hot campfire coals for about 30 seconds to one minute, until the dough starts to brown. Rotate the stick a quarter turn and continue cooking until the entire shell is golden brown.

If the dough is still a little raw inside, hold the stick higher above the campfire to continue baking the shell, without browning (or burning) the exterior.

4. Fill the eclair

Once the dough is cooked through, slide it off the end of the stick. Then, cut a small corner off the end of the pudding plastic bag and pipe it into the inside of the eclair.

5. Top with chocolate and enjoy!

Spread hazelnut spread on top, or squirt with chocolate syrup. You may need a plate to eat these and catch any oozing pudding – they can be messy!