This campfire foil packet dessert is easy to make at your site with only a few ingredients. It cooks in campfire coals and tastes so similar to the homemade version!
Foil packet monkey bread is a camping dessert that everyone in my family loves. It’s a great option for a sweet treat that can be cooked over the campfire that’s not s’mores.
I always plan a dessert for every night on our camping trips. We never have dessert at home, but there is something special about camping and cooking over the campfire that just makes camping dessert a requirement.
S’mores is, of course, are a given dessert on every trip, but this recipe is a great alternative and often in our camping dessert rotation.
a note from Jenny
This dessert is one of my girls’ favorites! Every one likes it, and they also love that they can each make their own little packet.
I also love making dutch oven dump cakes on camping trips because they require almost no prep and can feed the entire family at once. My Peach Blueberry Dump Cake and my Chocolate Cherry Campfire Dump Cake are two of my personal favorites.
How to Cook Campfire Monkey Bread FOil Packets
This foil packet dessert can be cooked in campfire coals or on an elevated grate over the campfire. I’ve cooked this recipe in both ways with success.
Campfire temperatures can vary greatly, but I’ve found that a small fire, or a fire that has died down some, work best to avoid burning.
If you have a large fire, pull some of the hot coals to the side and cook the foil packets to the side of your fire pit. Or, place them on the cooking grate to the side of the flame. Avoid cooking the packets in the open flame.
Another trick to prevent burning is to rotate and flip the foil packets every few minutes during cooking. Campfires do not have even heat, so moving the foil packets around help to evenly cook the contents without burning.
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.
Foil packets can also be used for delicious dinners! Sausage and pierogi foil packets are an easy camping dinner and caprese chicken and veggie foil packs feel like the perfect summer campfire dinner recipe.
Ingredients in Campfire Monkey Bread
- Refrigerated Biscuits: I’ve found that buttermilk or homestyle biscuits cook up the best.
- Sugar: You need white sugar for the coating and brown sugar for the topping that melts in with the butter.
- Cinnamon: notes
- Butter: I recommend salted butter, but you can substitute unsalted butter if you prefer.
Steps to Make Foil Packet Monkey BRead
In this section you’ll find a step by step tutorial of how to make this recipe with photos. The full recipe with exact measurements, steps and a printable card can be found at the bottom of the post.
Scroll through the step by step images ->
1. Make biscuit pieces
Cut each of the biscuits into 9 pieces, separate the pieces and then place into a bowl or a large plastic bag.
2. Make sugar mixture
Mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture over the biscuits pieces, then stir or shake the bag to make sure they’re evenly coated. The sugar mixture should cover as much of the biscuit pieces as possible.
3. Make the packets
Lay out 6 pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil, then add 12 biscuit pieces to each piece of foil. Top with butter cubes and brown sugar.
4. Seal the packets
Seal the packets by folding them into a middle seam, then roll up each side. Flip the packet over onto another piece of aluminum foil and seal up this second layer the same way you did the first.
5. Cook over the campfire
Place the packets over a cooking grate or on top of coals. Cook them for about 15-20 minutes, making sure to rotate and flip the packets every few minutes.
5. Enjoy!
You can eat this dessert straight from the foil packet, or top with chocolate syrup, caramel sauce or diced apples.
Campfire Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- 1 can refrigerated biscuits, buttermilk or homestyle
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Cut each biscuit into 9 pieces and place in a bowl or large plastic bag.
- Combine sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Sprinkle over biscuit pieces and stir or shake bag to combine. The sugar mixture should cover as much of the biscuit pieces as possible.
- Lay out 6 pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil. Add about 12 biscuit pieces to each piece of foil.
- Dice cold butter into small cubes. The butter will be split between the 6 foil packets. Place equal amounts of butter cubes on top of the biscuits.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of brown sugar on top of biscuits in each foil packet.
- Seal the packets by folding over and folding the middle seam. Then, roll up each side.
- Flip the packet over on to another piece of aluminum foil and seal up the second layer in the same way as the first.
- Place on a cooking grate over the campfire or on top of campfire coals. Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes, rotating and flipping the foil packets every couple of minutes.