18 Delicious Cast-Iron Dessert Recipes To Make Right This Second

By Kaitlyn Yarborough
August 31, 2020
Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl Jones; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

For a Southern cook, a cast-iron skillet proves a most powerful tool in the kitchen, whether you’re making cornbread how some call the “only correct way,” cooking up a cowboy steak, or yes, baking up a crowd-pleasing dessert that is ooey, gooey, and waiting to be scraped clean in minutes. Classics like fresh apple pie, fudgy Texas skillet cake, and pineapple upside-down cake show just why the cast-iron skillet was made to turn out sweet, sweet masterpieces in ways a baking dish could never. Other creative cast-iron treats include a deep-dish chocolate chip skillet cookie that kids (and adults) go crazy for, a pecan pie cobbler that makes the most heavenly Southern dessert mashup, and a gingerbread pear upside-down cake that is ready to celebrate Christmas. One thing’s for sure: These cast-iron dessert recipes are too good to pass up. 

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Easy Skillet Apple Pie

Credit: Photo: Luca Trovato

Recipe: Easy Skillet Apple Pie

Because the caramelized and heavily spiced apples and crispy golden crust of classic apple pie was made to be baked in a cast-iron skillet. This one's as easy as it gets. 

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Texas Skillet Cake

Credit: Stephen DeVries, Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Texas Skillet Cake

If you're going to indulge, go all in on this fudgy and super dense chocolate cake made in the cast-iron skillet and topped with thick chocolate icing, toasted pecans, and scoops of vanilla ice cream—you know, for good measure. 

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Apple Butter Cobbler with Drop Biscuits

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl Jones; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Apple Butter Cobbler with Drop Biscuits

An easy recipe for slow-cooker apple butter makes a tasty base for gooey apple filling bursting with spiced flavor and topped with a drop biscuit topping. 

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Credit: Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke

Recipe: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Everyone needs a classic upside-down cake recipe, and this one is sticky, sweet, and studded with maraschino cherries in the traditional way. Just a handful of ingredients that you likely already have at home is all it takes. 

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Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie

Credit: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie

We do not take the name of this pie lightly—so you can expect an incredibly indulgent version of the perfect Thanksgiving pie that is ready to pop in the oven in ten minutes. A dash of bourbon (always optional) gives extra Southern flair. 

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Bisquick Topped Blueberry Cobbler

Credit: Kelsey Hansen; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland; Food Styling: Robin Bashinsky

Recipe: Bisquick Topped Blueberry Cobbler

Sometimes a shortcut is just what we need to convince ourselves to make dessert on the fly. In this recipe, a sweet filling of fresh blueberries flavored with vanilla and lemon zest is topped with simple drop biscuits from a store-bought mix you might already have in the pantry. 

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Fig Upside-Down Cake

Credit: Southern Living

Recipe: Fig Upside-Down Cake

This cake is seasonal, super pretty, and unique enough to head up any Southern celebration. Figs offer the perfect amount of fruity sweetness and keep just enough bite to top off a skillet cake in style. 

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Dutch Baby Pancake

Credit: Micah A. Leal

Recipe: Dutch Baby Pancake

While many are fond of serving this not-too-sweet puffy pancake for brunch with syrup, we are just as jazzed about topping it with berries, whipped cream, or chocolate chips for dessert—all three if you're feeling generous—while still hot from the oven. 

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Deep-Dish Skillet Cookies

Credit: Alison Miksch

Recipe: Deep-Dish Skillet Cookies

Choose from five different recipes for a deep-dish skillet cookie: Pecan Praline, Mississippi Mud, Strawberry Shortcake, Grasshopper (with bourbon and chocolate mints!), and Hummingbird. All are amazing and deserve your attention. 

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Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Cake

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Upside-Down Caramelized Apple Cake

Like your favorite pineapple cake, but fit for the fall baking season. Spice cake batter is made even more delicious with fresh apple slices, pecans, and brown sugar. 

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The Big Cinnamon Roll

Credit: Stephen DeVries, Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: The Big Cinnamon Roll

Serve this cinnamon-swirled and cream cheese icing-drizzled beauty from brunch to dessert, thanks to your trusty cast-iron skillet. 

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Pineapple-Ginger Upside-Down Cake

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Pineapple-Ginger Upside-Down Cake

We took the retro recipe for pineapple upside-down cake and made it feel fresh and modern by using fresh pineapple cut any way you'd like and grated fresh ginger for extra zing. 

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Pecan Pie Cobbler

Credit: Micah A. Leal

Recipe: Pecan Pie Cobbler

This might be our smartest mashup of Southern recipes yet. The gooey, sweet, crunchiness of pecan pie with warm and cakey cast-iron cobbler batter is a match made in heaven. 

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Ginger-Plum Slump

Credit: Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl Jones

Recipe: Ginger-Plum Slump

This old-fashioned Southern dessert—something akin to a cobbler with a drop biscuit topping—is gearing up for a comeback, starting with this recipe made with a jammy red and black plum filling flavored with fresh ginger. 

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Gluten Free Peach Cobbler

Credit: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Recipe: Gluten Free Peach Cobbler

Even the gluten-sensitive and carb-conscious folks can get in on the cast-iron celebration with this fresh peach cobbler recipe that caramelizes into melty heaven in the oven. 

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Gingerbread-and-Pear Upside-Down Cake

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Gingerbread-and-Pear Upside-Down Cake

This most festive upside-down cake is perfect for your Christmas menu, with a spiced gingerbread batter and sweet tender pears. 

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Skillet Caramel Apple Pie

Credit: Stephen DeVries, Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Skillet Caramel Apple Pie

This dependable recipe is layered with seasonal sliced apples and topped with a double-crust pastry that makes you actually want to give up the store-bought stuff.

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Classic Apple Upside Down Cake

Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck; Food Styling: Erin Merhar

Recipe: Classic Apple Upside Down Cake

This might look like a pineapple upside-down cake, but it sings like an autumn apple dessert. Out of all options, Honeycrisp apples tended to hold up most wonderfully. 

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By Kaitlyn Yarborough