Cast-Iron Skillet Desserts

Updated February 24, 2012
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Credit: Oxmoor House

Use your cast-iron skillet for more than cornbread and start making home-style desserts such as cobblers, upside down cakes, and tarts. 

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Caramel Apple Blondie Pie

Credit: Hector Sanchez

Caramel Apple Blondie Pie Recipe

Buttery rich layers of tender cake and caramelized apples add up to one sweet combo. The secret to the crisp, flaky crust? Baking in a cast-iron skillet on a lower oven rack.

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Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

Credit:  Zoë Engongoro; Styling: Emma Crist

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie Recipe

A gooey skillet brownie topped with scoops of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with melted peanut butter and rich chocolate syrup– what could be better?

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Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Buffy Hargett

Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie Recipe

Once you’ve made this decadent pecan pie in a cast-iron skillet, you may never go back to a pie plate. Simply press a refrigerated pie crust into the skillet, sprinkle with sugar, top with the pecan mixture, and bake. Serving it in the skillet is also easy makes the dish even more Southern.

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Blackberry-and-Bourbon Cobbler

Credit: Robbie Caponetto

Blackberry-and-Bourbon Cobbler Recipe

Every weekend, especially during summer, the Fields family would make their version of cobbler, a cake-y mix of milk, sugar, and self-rising flour poured over fruit. Kelly says sometimes her mom would get "feisty" and add in amaretto. Here, Kelly plays to her own preferences with a bit of bourbon.

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Blackberry-Almond Cobbler

Credit: Oxmoor House

Blackberry-Almond Cobbler Recipe

Use the darkest, juiciest blackberries you can find to make this gluten-free cobbler. The cornstarch mixed into the fresh fruit acts as a thickener, preventing the filling from becoming too runny.

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Cranberry Apple Pie

Credit: Oxmoor House

Cranberry Apple Pie Recipe

This old-fashioned apple pie with its old-fashioned pie crust and sweet, tart fruit filling is a great choice for a Thanksgiving dessert. This pie recipe appears in the new Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook published by Oxmoor House.

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Rustic Spiced Peach Tart with Almond Pastry

Credit: Oxmoor House

Rustic Spiced Peach Tart with Almond Pastry Recipe

When peaches are ripe and juicy, this divine tart from Christy Rost, cookbook author and public television host, goes together quickly and looks fabulous in a cast iron skillet.

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Blueberry Dutch Baby with Lemon Curd

Credit: Helene Dujardin

Blueberry Dutch Baby with Lemon Curd Recipe

This showstopping breakfast "pancake" will amply reward you for making the trip to Laurette Feit's cafe. Or make it at home. Either way, you'll be amazed at the treat's puff.

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Blueberry-Peach Skillet Pie

Credit: Oxmoor House

Blueberry-Peach Skillet Pie Recipe

Cookbook author and baking expert Julie Hasson loves using her cast iron skillet to bake pie—there's something satisfyingly old-fashioned about it. This pie has no bottom crust, which makes it quick to prepare, perfect for a last-minute dessert.

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Simple Berry Skillet Cobbler

Credit: Oxmoor House

Simple Berry Skillet Cobbler Recipe

This juicy berry cobbler recipe features fresh or frozen raspberries, but you can make the cobbler with any berries you have on hand, or with peaches.

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Cherry Clafouti

Credit: Oxmoor House

Cherry Clafouti Recipe

The batter for this traditional French dessert is somewhere between that of a cake and a custard; it most resembles a thick crepe, and it takes no more than 10 minutes to prepare it in the blender.

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Giant Cookie-In-A-Pan

Credit: Oxmoor House

Giant Cookie-In-A-Pan Recipe

Irresistible to both children and grownups alike, this super-size cookie is filled with chocolate chips and M&Ms and served in wedges. Baking it in a cast-iron skillet is great way to keep the cookie perfectly round.

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Mini Berry Cobblers

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lydia Degaris Pursell

Mini Berry Cobblers Recipe

Use a mixture of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries in these charming individual desserts.

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie with Salted Caramel

Credit:  Zoë Engongoro; Styling: Emma Crist

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie with Salted Caramel Recipe

Start with a delicious warm oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie base and take it over the top with fun toppings like caramel or chocolate syrup, sea salt, and vanilla ice cream.

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Fudgy Skillet Cookie

Credit: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Claire Spollen

Fudgy Skillet Cookie Recipe

It doesn't get much better than a giant cookie! While still hot, top with cold scoops of ice cream and invite everyone at the table to dig in.

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Skillet Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Skillet Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe

This old-fashioned upside down cake recipe features pineapple slices that are browned in butter in the bottom of the skillet and then topped with a rich cake batter. This recipe also offers an “express” version that uses cake mix.

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Easy Skillet Apple Pie

Credit: Luca Trovato; Styling: Buffy Hargett

Easy Skillet Apple Pie Recipe

Making an apple pie has never been so easy. Simply toss apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar, and spoon over a refrigerated pie crust in the cast-iron skillet. Top with the other crust and bake.

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Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lydia Degaris Pursell

Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake Recipe

Turn the classic Bananas Foster dessert into an upside down cake by placing a layer of bananas, brown sugar, pecans and rum in the bottom of the skillet and topping with a rich cake batter. After baking, you invert the cake so that you have a sweet and buttery banana topping for the cake.

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Cast-Iron Apple Cobbler

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

Cast-Iron Apple Cobbler Recipe

This traditional cobbler recipe serves 12 and uses a cast-iron Dutch oven, but you can half the recipe and cook in a 12-inch skillet if you prefer.

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Pineapple-Coconut-Banana Upside-Down Cake

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Jan Gautro

Pineapple-Coconut-Banana Upside-Down Cake Recipe

Upside-down cakes are classically made in a cast-iron skillet because it gives the cake a crisp edge, cooks it evenly, and keeps it moist. Instead of a pineapple-only cake, this version features coconut and banana and give the cake a more tropical flavor.

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Chocolate Chip Dutch Baby

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Jan Gautro

Chocolate Chip Dutch Baby Recipe

A Dutch baby is a puffy, baked pancake. This dessert version is sprinkled with chocolate chips and served with a banana mixture flavored with coffee liqueur.

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Upside-Down Apple Tart

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lydia DeGaris Pursell

Upside-Down Apple Tart Recipe

Make a simple, rustic apple tart with Granny Smith apples plus a few other ingredients you probably already have on hand: flour, butter, and salt.

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Raspberry-Rhubarb Tart

Credit: Christopher Baker

Raspberry-Rhubarb Tart Recipe

This 5-ingredient skillet tart has a homemade pastry crust that you make in the food processor and a sweet, tangy filling of fresh raspberries and rhubarb.

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Pineapple Upside-Down Carrot Cake

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lydia Pursell

Pineapple Upside-Down Carrot Cake Recipe

Upgrade a classic Pineapple Upside-Down Cake by topping the pineapple layer with a carrot cake batter instead of the traditional yellow cake batter.

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Bananas Foster Upside-down Coffee Cake

Bananas Foster Upside-down Coffee Cake Recipe

This decadent coffee cake recipe is inspired by the classic New Orleans dessert and features sautéed bananas, pecans, and a splash of rum. It also has the added convenience of a baking mix (such as Bisquick) that’s enhanced with cinnamon, sugar, eggs, and sour cream.

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Birthday Cake Skillet Cookie

Credit:  Zoë Engongoro; Styling: Emma Crist

Birthday Cake Skillet Cookie Recipe

It doesn't have to be your birthday to enjoy this brightly colored sugar cookie. 

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Tarte Tatin

Credit: Karry Hosford

Tarte Tatin Recipe

In this classic French apple tart, the delicious syrup becomes the topping when the tarte tatin is inverted.

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Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Cake

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Buffy Hargett

Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Cake Recipe

The brown sugar, apple, and pecan mixture that’s cooked in the skillet and then topped with a spiced cake batter become a gooey, rich topping for the cake when it’s inverted.

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More Cast-Iron Skillet Recipes

Credit: Oxmoor House

For more classic desserts, breads, and main dishes cooked in versatile cast iron pans, see the Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook, Oxmoor House, 2012.

You’ll find treasured family recipes as well as invocative new dishes that are all guaranteed to satisfy.

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