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Easy instant mochi pancake mix is the perfect camping breakfast! You don’t need eggs or milk to enjoy these light, fluffy, golden babies. If you enjoy camping, glamping, or if you simply ran out of eggs and milk, you can still eat a delicious fluffy stack of pancakes. Keep on reading for some helpful tips on campfire cooking along with a great pancake recipe! You will have your own instant mochi pancake mix for whenever the craving for pancakes strikes in no time!

Mochi Pancakes are the perfect camping breakfast! They are warm, fluffy, slightly sweet, and are the best vessels for maple syrup, oozing buttery goodness, berries, and chocolate! How can you not be a morning person when pancakes are around?

However, don’t reserve this amazing instant pancake mix just for camping trips! As a music teacher, I am cherishing the last days of summer before school starts. If you are the kind of person that needs breakfast in order to be a pleasant human being, this pancake mix could be your savior! It’s incredibly easy to make because unlike most pancakes that need eggs or milk, this recipe only needs water, lemon juice, and vanilla.

No Eggs? No Milk? No problem!

We all know the feeling of hunger and disappointed taste buds when you wake up expecting a stack of fluffy pancakes but you end up with cold cereal…or nothing! Pancakes can be more of a fussy breakfast because of the amount of ingredients required. This pancake mix uses a little extra baking powder and lemon juice. Adding the acidic lemon juice reacts with the baking powder to create more bubbles. This gives you the fluffiness that we love in pancakes. If you are camping, lemon juice and vanilla shouldn’t spoil in case your cooler ice melts overnight.

What Makes Them Mochi Pancakes?

Instead of only using a wheat based flour, I added in some Mochiko flour too! Mochiko rice flour is a Japanese sweet rice flour that is used to make mochi. Because there are no eggs in this recipe, I wanted to come up with an alternative to normal egg substitutes that would still slightly bind the batter together. Mochiko flour is fairly sticky, so adding a little bit of rice flour gave these pancakes a slight chewy texture in the best way possible. You can easily find Mochiko Rice Flour in the specialty section of grocery stores or off Amazon Here.

Cake Flour??

Yes, I used cake flour in these pancakes. It’s in the name after all! However, you can absolutely use all-purpose flour and get the same result.

Let The Mix Rest

Let the mix rest! Once you make the batter, let it rest for at least 5-10 minutes. This gives the baking powder, baking soda, and lemon juice time to make their chemistry experiment work. The acid and the baking powder activates and creates those fun bubbles that make pancakes light and fluffy! This also gives the flour time to absorb liquid too. By letting the batter rest about 10 minutes, you are giving your batter the chance to bring its rising A game to the griddle!

How Long Does The Mix Last?

Store your extra pancake mix in a sealed mason jar for up to 6 months. I’m sure it could also go longer than that, but your baking powder and soda won’t be as fresh. Their rising abilities might lessen as time marches on.

Into The Woods

The first time we went camping this summer was fun…but could have been better. After being frightened awake by a violent argument in the campground that lasted into the early morning hours, I woke up cold, hungry, and ready for a plateful of hot, comforting pancakes! But gasp! The ice had all melted in the cooler and the eggs and buttermilk were lukewarm. It was a sad and disappointing moment for us both.

I vowed to bring instant pancakes the next time around. I scoured the internet for recipes, but there actually aren’t many recipes for instant pancakes. After some tinkering, I came up with my mochi pancake mix. The moment they hit the pan and began sizzling, I knew the day was going to be a great day!

Camping Tips For Cooks

I learned from my previous camping fiasco that packing everything just right is the best way to have a fun mess free cooking experience. If you are attempting to go camping and want to make pancakes, this is my foolproof way to avoid messes, salmonella, and disappointment!

Pour the amount of dry pancake mix you need into a quart sized mason jar. If you are making pancakes for more than 4 people, bring two mason jars and double the amount as needed.

I measured the water, vanilla, and lemon juice at home, put it in an empty container, and froze it. I happened to have an empty sorbet container hanging around that I used. When you pack your cooler, it will be frozen to help keep everything inside cold. As your camping trip progresses your mixture will slowly melt. The next morning I had perfectly thawed cold water, lemon juice, and vanilla ready for my pancakes!

Don’t forget your oven mitts or grilling gloves! Those cast iron handles can get HOT!

The first time I made pancake mix outside my kitchen, I used a gallon ziploc bag. While this did work, it got really messy. I have found that using a mason jar can also be the perfect way to mix up your batter! Add the liquid into the mason jar, shake, shake, shake, and give it a quick stir with a plastic spoon or spatula to make sure your batter is consistently combined.

Sprinkle any toppings you want onto the pancakes as they cook instead of mixing them in. This will help make sure your batter doesn’t deflate.

Tending the Fire

It’s actually not that hard to regulate a fire for cooking. It seems like a daunting task, but if you do try cooking with fire, it will give you amazing results!

I first learned to cook over an open flame while volunteering as a living history interpreter at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. That’s where I got my nickname Mini Chef! We used the giant hearth and brick ovens constantly. Fire was the only heat source, so you had to learn how to cook through touch, time, and taste.

The best way to judge temperature is pretty straight forward. Hold the back side of your hand over the cooking area and count to at least 4 seconds before your hand gets uncomfortably hot. This means you have a medium hot fire. If you can hold your hand past 10 seconds, your fire is not hot enough. The joke at the Fort was if you singe the hair off your arms then the fire is hot enough! Don’t worry, you don’t have to do that in order to make great campfire pancakes.

There are so many ways to make the perfect cooking fire. I do not pretend to know a full proof method, but I do like using the log cabin style of laying the wood. It helps protect against wind, and creates a fairly uniform area of coals. The trick to maintaining a cooking fire is cut your logs into fairly small pieces. This allows you to regulate the temperature without creating huge bursts of heat from a large log.

The second tip I can give is time. You may be starving and want to get those pancakes going as soon as the sparks come to life! DON’T DO THAT! The best kind of fire is low, steady, and full of coals. Coals are much better for campfire cooking than a raging fire. Plus, if you are cooking in a fire pit like this one, you don’t want the flames licking up the sides of your cast iron. That is a sure way to burn your fingers and will not be a fun breakfasting experience!

Easy, Simple, and Tasty

While everyone loves a light, fluffy, delightful pancake, sometimes the hassle or lack of key ingredients can make pancakes for breakfast a fleeting thought. If you keep this mix on hand in your pantry, it doesn’t have to be! Whether you are making this at home or on a camping expedition, these pancakes are the perfect way to start your morning. Happy eating!