Meet the Mountain Pie: The 3-Ingredient Campfire Snack That’s Better Than S’Mores

I grew up spending my summers on a lake in the rolling hills of West Virginia, which means I’ve eaten a lot of campfire snacks in my life. Our weekends were filled with roasted hot dogs and gooey s’mores—but nothing was as requested as the mountain pie.

If you’ve ever made a mountain pie before, you know how finicky they can be—more specifically, how finicky the pie iron can be—so the requests were much to my parents’ dismay knowing they had to break out the heavy-duty cooking spray to make the best pizza mountain pies on the lake. That's why we knew to ask on a holiday weekend when extra family was in town, they couldn't say no to depriving them of the mountain pie experience.

I always thought mountain pies (also called campfire pies) were as common as s’mores around the fire, but it wasn’t until a recent team meeting that I realized how lucky I was growing up eating them. So, let me introduce you to the best summer snack—I guarantee once you start making these, you’ll never go back.

What Is a Mountain Pie?

A mountain pie is essentially a campfire Hot Pocket. It’s made with two slices of buttered white bread plus some kind of filling—the two most common mountain pies are made with canned pie filling or with your favorite pizza toppings.

Mountain pies are made in a special pie iron that squeezes the two pieces of bread together to create a delicious panini-like pie over your campfire. Like a s’more, you cook the mountain pie in the fire until the filling is hot and gooey and the bread gets crispy.

You will need to purchase the pie iron, which can be found on Amazon or at your local hardware store, but I swear our mountain pie makers are older than I am—so they last!

How To Make a Mountain Pie

As previously mentioned, the most common mountain pies are actual pie-flavored or pizza-flavored. However, you could easily make grilled cheese mountain pies, ham and cheese mountain pies, and even s’mores mountain pies if you want to try something else. 

To make a pie-inspired mountain pie, you’ll need white bread, butter, and a can of your favorite pie filling (think apple, cherry, berry, etc.). Start by spraying your pie iron with cooking spray; then you’ll butter both pieces of bread and top one slice with pie filling on the unbuttered side. Next, place the bread butter-side down into the iron. Carefully close it, lock it in place, and start cooking it over the fire. 

Your mountain pie will only take about five minutes—and it’s really easy to burn—so don’t cook it for too long.

If you’re making a pizza mountain pie (my personal favorite), you’ll top one piece of bread with your favorite pizza toppings—my family usually keeps it simple with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.

You can follow this Campfire Apple Pie recipe, too, and just replace the apple pie filling with whatever ingredients you like.

My biggest piece of advice for making mountain pies is that you need both the cooking spray and butter. You don't want your bread sticking to the iron and ruining the whole experience.

Why You Need To Try Mountain Pies This Summer

Mountain pies are a summertime classic—there’s really nothing like biting into a scorching hot mountain pie and singeing your tongue because you just couldn’t wait to dig in. They’re as easy to make as a s’more—after you burn your first one, you’ll get the hang of it—but, unlike s’mores, there are so many sweet and savory varieties.

My favorite way to eat them is to have my dinner (pizza mountain pie) first, followed by my dessert (pie mountain pie). So, next time you’re camping or find yourself near a roaring campfire with a hankering for a snack, give a mountain pie a try—and thank me later.