If you’ve never tried baking desserts in a cast iron skillet, you’ve seriously been missing out.
Loved for its steady heat that provides even cooking, most people turn to these versatile and durable baking pans to sear thick cut steaks or fry up eggs and bacon for brekkie.
However, for these same reasons, they should be your go-to when it comes to baking too.
Cast iron’s ability to retain heat guarantees the scones you’ve just whipped up have that perfectly crunchy, golden bottom without burning, and your giant chocolate chunk cookie develops crisp, chewy edges and a soft centre.
From Dutch Babies to fruit filled cobblers, these three skillet desserts are a must-try:
Soft baked skillet cookie
By @affinity.foodandfitness
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A post shared by Albin Lawang (@affinity.foodandfitness) on Jun 18, 2020 at 8:49pm PDT
Crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside, this dessert is best served straight out the oven with a few scoops of real vanilla ice cream.
Watch it begin to melt, forming pools of sweet cream atop the steaming pudding. Eat it straight out of the pan for the perfect family dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 cup or 240g of smooth and runny peanut butter.
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup dark choc chips
- ½ cup dark chocolate
Instructions
- You’ll need to preheat your oven to 175C.
- Mix all the ingredients except for the dark chocolate into a bowl.
- Crack your eggs in and mix mix mix
- Roughly chop up your dark chocolate, and add that to the mix. Saving some aside for the top.
- Gently fold through the chocolate.
- Spray your skillet with oil.
- Evenly spread your batter on the pan.
- Place it in the oven for 12 minutes.
- Rest for 20 minutes.
- Serve with a scoop of ice cream on top if you’re feeling really naughty.
Dutch Baby
By @whiskandbrush
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A post shared by Whisk + Brush (@whiskandbrush) on Apr 28, 2020 at 4:57am PDT
Similar to a Yorkshire pudding, Dutch Babies go by a few different names: German pancake, a Bismarck, or a Dutch puff and American popover.
Light, fluffy and slightly more eggy than a pancake, they go down a treat at break fast (or any time, really). Serve ‘em up with maple syrup, a dusting of powdered sugar and lots of fruit toppings for extra flavour.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup flour
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- Nutmeg, pinch
- Cinnamon, pinch
- 2 tbsp butter
- Lemon, squeeze
- Powdered sugar and berries, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 218ºC with an oven-safe skillet inside.
- While the oven heats, mix flour, milk, eggs, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk well.
- Once the oven is preheated, add 1 tbsp of butter to the skillet and place back in the oven to melt. Remove skillet and give it a couple turns of the wrist so the butter coats the bottom of the skillet and the sides.
- Pour in half the batter. Swirl batter to evenly coat bottom and sides. Place in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool slightly.
- Repeat with the remaining butter and batter.
- Serve with a squeeze of lemon over the whole baby, sprinkle with powdered sugar and top off with berries. But, really, you can serve this up with just about anything.
Blackberry cobbler
By @_eatsbyemily
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A post shared by Emily Hudak (@_eatsbyemily) on May 12, 2019 at 2:27pm PDT
Golden and crunchy from the caramalised batter, below the surface is more like a pudding that is cooked in the juices released from the berries.
The result is a very moist dessert that demands to be eaten hot and with lashing of fresh cream.
Ingredients
- 2 cups blackberries, fresh
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup nut milk
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 tbsp milled flax seed
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 190ºC.
- In a cast iron skillet, melt ghee and coconut oil.
- Combine almond flour, nut milk, vanilla, sugar, flax, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Pour half batter into skillet, top with half blackberries, top with remaining batter, top with remaining blackberries.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until edges are golden brown (can be made vegan with using only coconut oil, equal to amount of ghee recipe requires).