Cowboy Campfire Pancakes: From-Scratch Batter on Cast Iron

Campfire pancakes — so what makes them different from the ones you make at home? Two things. You made the batter from scratch, and you cooked it over a live fire. That is the whole trick, and it is enough to turn a weekday breakfast into the best part of a camping trip.

❤️ Why You’ll Love These Campfire Pancakes

• Just seven pantry ingredients. Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, butter and eggs — nothing to hunt for at a specialty store.
• Ready in 25 minutes. Ten minutes to mix the batter, fifteen at the fire, and breakfast is on the plate.
• One pan, any heat source. Cast iron works on the campfire, the barbecue, a camping griddle or your kitchen stove.
• The dry mix packs ahead. Measure the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a jar at home, and all you add at the campsite is eggs, milk and butter.
• Plain or dressed up. Butter and maple syrup is the house standard, but blueberries or chocolate chips work just as well.

Cowboys made pancakes on the trail for a reason: flour, sugar, baking powder, a pinch of salt, and whatever milk, butter and eggs were on hand. A handful of ingredients, one hot cast iron pan, a couple of minutes a batch. Below you will find the recipe, the rules that keep them from sticking, and rather more pancake history than you asked for.

🥞 How Many Kinds of Pancakes Are There?

Far more than three. In North America we call them pancakes. In France, crêpes. In Belgium, waffles. In Japan they are tall, wobbly and called fuwafuwa pancakes. Nearly every country has its own version of batter cooked flat on a hot surface.

Pancakes have been part of human diets for a very long time. Researchers found pancake remains in the stomach of Ötzi the Iceman, dating back 5,300 years. In ancient Greece and Rome they were made with wheat flour, olive oil, honey and curd — the Greek poets Cratinus and Magnes both wrote about them.

Shakespeare mentions pancakes in his plays. During the English Renaissance they were flavoured with spices, rose water, sherry and apples. The word “pancake” appeared in the 15th century but only became standard in 19th-century America; before that they were johnnycakes, travel cakes, buckwheat cakes and flapjacks. The first American pancakes were made with buckwheat or cornmeal, and Thomas Jefferson liked them enough to send a recipe home from the White House.

🔥 The Secret to Perfect Campfire Pancakes

You can cook pancakes on almost any surface. I like cast iron because it is so versatile — it goes on the barbecue, straight onto the fire, or on a camping gas grill. My husband swears by a griddle, and he is expert level, so if you have a home griddle or a gas camping griddle, by all means use it.

There are a few rules you have to stick to so your pancakes do not stick to your pan (see what I did there?):

1. Cook the batter right away. Once it is mixed, do not leave it sitting around — the baking powder is already working.
2. Get the pan properly hot, then add a knob of butter right before the batter goes in.
3. The first pancake is for the pancake gods. Do not ask me why. It is ALWAYS the messed-up one.
4. Use a ladle and pour into the middle of the pan, then into the middle of the growing pancake, so they come out round.
5. One at a time. Crowding the pan drops the heat and you lose the edges.
6. Stay close. The moment bubbles appear on the surface, it is time to flip.
7. Eat them warm. Pancakes do not wait.

🧑‍🍳 Manon’s Tips for Campfire Pancakes

• Read the coals, not the flames. You want a steady bed of glowing coals, not open fire — see our fire cooking methods guide if you’re not sure how to tell the difference.
• Wait for the whole surface to bubble. Edges turning matte and set, not shiny, is your flip signal — usually 1 to 2 minutes over good coals.
• Sacrifice the first one. The pan needs a minute to settle at temperature, so the first pancake is always the ugly one. Don’t judge the batter by it.
• Move the pan, not the fire. If pancakes are browning outside and staying raw inside, shift the pan to the cooler edge of the coals or raise the grate instead of waiting it out.
• Cook the batter the moment it’s mixed. Baking powder starts working on contact with liquid — let it sit too long and the pancakes come out flat.

🫐 Plain or Flavoured?

There are endless ways to dress up a pancake. Is there a blueberry patch near the campsite? Bam — fresh blueberries. Found bananas? Add chocolate chips and serve with sliced banana on top.

You can fold these into the batter or scatter them on the wet surface just after you ladle it in, which keeps them from sinking. Personally I am a sucker for the classic plain pancake: butter and maple syrup, nothing else.

🧈 What Goes Into Pancakes Made From Scratch

If you want to eat the best pancakes you have ever eaten, you have to use the best ingredients — or at least the best majority of them. The full list is in the recipe card below, and none of it is exotic. Flour, eggs, milk, butter, sugar, baking powder, salt. Everyone has these at home, and they travel to a campsite without complaint.

You can, of course, use a boxed pancake mix and add the eggs, milk and butter it calls for. I might like you slightly less. 😉

🍁 How to Serve

Butter and real maple syrup is the house standard. After that: berries, granola, whipped cream, chocolate spread, honey, or a spoonful of jam. Away from a kitchen, bacon cooked in the same pan first — and the pancakes cooked in the fat afterwards — is a decision you will not regret.

❄️ Storage and Leftovers

Pancakes are best the minute they leave the pan, but leftovers keep two days in the refrigerator, wrapped. Reheat them in a dry cast iron pan rather than a microwave, which turns them rubbery. Leftover batter does not keep — the baking powder gives up after an hour, so mix only what you will cook. For the general rules on refrigerating cooked food safely, see the USDA’s food safety basics.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my first pancake always a failure?

Because the pan has not settled at temperature yet and the butter is either too cool or already browning. Sacrifice it cheerfully — from the second one on, the pan is right.

How do I know when to flip?

When bubbles appear across the whole surface and the edges look set and matte rather than wet. That is usually 1 to 2 minutes over a good bed of coals.

Can I make the batter the night before?

I would not. Baking powder starts working as soon as it meets liquid, and by morning you get flat, tough pancakes. Mix the dry ingredients ahead instead and add the liquid at the fire.

Do I need a griddle, or is a cast iron pan enough?

A cast iron pan is plenty and it is what I use. A griddle just lets you cook several at once — handy for a crowd, unnecessary for four.

My pancakes burn outside and stay raw inside — what now?

Your fire is too hot. Move the pan to the edge of the coals or raise the grate. Pancakes want steady moderate heat, not flames.

Can I add blueberries or chocolate chips?

Yes — scatter them onto the wet surface right after you ladle the batter in, rather than stirring them through. They stay put and they do not burn on the pan.

Can I make these dairy-free?

Yes. Any plant milk works, and oil or a dairy-free spread replaces the butter in the batter. You will lose a little richness, not the pancake.

Can I make these on a stovetop or gas grill instead of a campfire?

Absolutely — the same cast iron pan and the same heat cues apply on a stovetop or gas grill set to medium. Wait for the same bubbling, matte-edge signal before you flip; the fire is optional, the technique is not.

Can I double the batter for a crowd?

Yes, it scales cleanly. Just keep cooking one pancake at a time so the pan does not lose heat, and pack a second jar of dry mix if you are doubling ahead of time.