Brown Bears Are The Classic Camping Treat You Need To Try

Whether you're camping or glamping, no one wants a bear to join them in the wilderness. Or do they? When the bears at your campsite are a warm, sweet cinnamon treat, you may think twice about the "no bears allowed" rule.

Anyone who's ever been tenting or to a Scout Camporee has had fire-cooked camping cuisine like s'mores, or maybe even a spider dog, cooked over your heat source. But have you ever heard of the campfire treat known as a brown bear? This tasty snack is not only inexpensive and easy to make but also very portable, making it the perfect recipe for sharing around the fire.

Brown bears have only four simple ingredients: Refrigerator biscuits, butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Think of it as an inside-out cinnamon roll. The raw biscuits are wrapped around skewers and toasted over the fire until they're browned and ready to be rolled in melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

There are lots of camp food hacks to know, and to make brown bears easy to assemble, there are some things you can do before packing the car for your camping trip. First, mix the cinnamon and sugar ahead of time and store it in a small zip-top snack baggie or plastic travelware. The biscuit dough needs to be kept cold, so pop it in the cooler with the stick of butter.

Before assembling the brown bears, soak wooden skewers in water for about 30 minutes to keep them from burning. (Soaking them any longer may make the wood brittle.) When you melt the butter, you can use anything you use to cook over a fire, such as a cast iron frying pan; direct heat isn't necessary. Simply place the pan near the fire and watch it closely until the butter is liquified. After browning, the biscuit "bears" can be rolled in the butter right in the pan and the cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. There you have it. Your brown bear is now ready to be eaten right off the stick. There's little cleanup and minimal waste but loads of warm, sugary goodness.

Remember, when camping, keep all food safely stored and away from wild animals. And last but not least: While you don't want a grizzly bear visiting your campsite, brown bears are always welcome.