Cast iron skillets, griddles and Dutch ovens aren’t just for cooking up delicious meats and one-pot meals. They can also be used to make fabulous desserts as an end to your perfect meal. This collection of recipes from Lodge cast iron will tempt your taste buds with lots of flavor.
Skillet S’Mores
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 24 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels
- 10 ounces large marshmallows
- graham crackers
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Place a cast iron skillet (10.25 inches) in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
Remove the skillet and melt the butter in the pan and spread it over the cooking surface of the skillet.
Pour chocolate morsels into the skilled to cover the bottom of the skillet.
Top with the marshmallows
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes until the marshmallows are tan and toasted.
Remove from the oven and serve hot with graham crackers to dip in the s’mores dip.
Using cast iron cookware for this recipe keeps the dip warm for quite some time due to the heat retaining quality of cast iron.
Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients:
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips or M&M’s
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375°.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat both sugars and the butter until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir well with a wooden spoon. The dough will be stiff. Stir in the chocolate chips or M & Ms.
Oil or butter 10-inch cast iron skillet (or spray with cooking spray). Pat the cookie dough evenly into the skillet. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Cut the cookie into 16 wedges and serve it directly from the skillet using a pie server.
Apple Cinnamon Dutch Baby
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Apple cinnamon topping:
- 2 small apples, cored and sliced into wedges
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- pinch of salt
- powdered sugar to dust
Directions:
Place a medium sized cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
While the skillet preheats, prepare the topping.
Heat a small skillet or saucepan over medium/low heat. Add butter, apples, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of sugar to pan and cook, stirring occasionally. Heat milk in the microwave for 20 seconds.
In a medium sized bowl, beat eggs, then stir in milk. Slowly whisk in flour and salt until smooth.
Carefully remove the skillet from the oven, add the butter, and coat the inside of the skillet. Add batter to the skillet and place it back in the oven.
Bake 12-14 minutes or until browned and puffy.
Add softened apple cinnamon topping and dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon!
This dessert will give your home the smell of delicious cinnamon and apples. It is also called a German Pancake.
Individual Chocolate Skillets
Ingredients:
- 1 (9-ounce) package chocolate wafers (such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325˚.
Process the wafers in a food processor fitted with the metal blade until crushed or seal them in a ziptop plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of the butter in a medium saucepan. Add to the wafers; pulse to combine or work into the crumbs with your fingertips. Press the wafer mixture into the bottom of six 5-inch cast iron skillets.
Melt the remaining 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and chocolate chips together in the same saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar, flour, and vanilla. While whisking, add the eggs and beat well. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared skillets. Bake for 18 minutes (they will not look set at this point). The centers will be slightly gooey. Do not overbake.
Serve each lucky guest their own chocolate skillet, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
This recipe is for six 5-inch cast skillets to make individual portions without the need to share it.
Skillet Apple Fritters
Ingredients:
Dough:
- 1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons warm water (105–115°F)
- 1 cup milk, room temperature
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for shaping
- Canola or other neutral oil for frying
Apple Filling:
- 4-5 Gala apples, peeled, cored and cubed
- 1/2 lemon, juice only
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Directions:
For dough:
Combine milk and water in a mixing bowl. Add yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until yeast foams.
Add all other ingredients, flour last, and mix with a dough hook until dough forms a soft, but not sticky ball. If it’s sticking to the bowl, add more flour. If you don’t have a mixer, you can just use a wooden spoon.
Dust dough with flour and let rise for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface into a large rectangle (about 12×18 inches).
For filling:
Peel, core, and dice apples. Toss with lemon juice. Add butter to a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once melted add apples and sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook for 5-6 minutes until apples are soft. Stir regularly.
Remove apples from heat and let cool to room temperature.
To make Fritters:
After you roll out dough, Add half of the filling mixture to the dough on half of it. Fold the other half over. Then add more filling and fold the dough over a second time, creating layers.
Cut the dough into about 1-inch cubes. It’s okay if apples spill out and make a mess.
Use your hands to make fritters out of the apples and dough. I recommend smashing together 2-4 sections to make smaller or larger fritters depending on
your preference. Press them together tightly but it’s okay if they fall apart a bit.
Wipe your skillet out well from cooking the apple filling and fill with neutral frying oil. Fill it about 1/2-1 inch full of oil. You don’t need a lot of oil.
Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Fry fritters in batches for 3-4 minutes per side until they are golden brown. Test one to make sure they are cooked through.
Remove fritters and let them drain on a rack or on some paper towels. Then drizzle with glaze.
White Chocolate Strawberry Biscuit Pudding
Ingredients:
Strawberry Coulis:
- 30 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and pureed until smooth
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 5 tablespoons water
Biscuits:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup buttermilk, or as needed
- White Chocolate Pudding Custard:
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 12 ounces white chocolate
- 6 large eggs
- White Chocolate Bourbon Sauce:
- 1 quart heavy cream
- 26 ounces white chocolate
- 1 cup bourbon
To assemble:
- 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
- Sugar
Directions:
Make the Strawberry Coulis: Combine the strawberry puree, sugar, and honey in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, make a slurry with the cornstarch and water, then whisk this into the strawberry mixture. Return to simmer briefly, then remove from the heat. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and let cool to serve. This can be prepared a day ahead; refrigerate, tightly covered.
Make the biscuits: Preheat the oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Cut the butter into dime-size pieces and gently mix with the dry ingredients, being careful not to break the butter up too much. Form a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk. Lightly mix it into the flour mixture. You should end up with a sticky dough; it it’s dry, add a little more buttermilk.
Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and flatten it to a 1 1/2-inch thickness. Cut biscuits out with a 3-inch round cutter and set in a pie tin so they are close but not touching each other. Bake until lightly golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside, up to 2 hours before serving.
Make the White Chocolate Pudding Custard: Heat the cream, milk, and sugar together in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until hot but not steaming and the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and stir until melted and smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Add a generous ladleful of the hot cream mixture to the eggs in slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Slowly
add that mixture to the rest of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. Keep warm.
Make the White Chocolate Bourbon Sauce: Heat the cream in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat until hot but not steaming. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and stir until melted and smooth. Let cool to room temperature. Whisk in the bourbon.
Assemble the pudding: Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter six Lodge 12-ounce cast iron round mini servers. Crumble the biscuits into large pieces and use them to cover the bottoms of the servers by 1 inch. Ladle 1/4 cup of the custard over the top of each, covering the crumbled biscuits. Slice some fresh strawberries and arrange in a single layer to cover the biscuit crumbles. Ladle another 1/4 cup of custard over the strawberries. Add another layer of biscuit crumbles to almost fill the servers. Ladle a final 1/4 cup custard over each and sprinkle with sugar.
Cover the servers with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the pudding has a golden brown color and is firm to the touch, about another 20 minutes. If a toothpick inserted in the pudding and comes out clean, it is done. The mixture should be nice and moist, not runny or dry.
Serve warm with the White Chocolate Bourbon Sauce and Strawberry Coulis offered on the side in small pitchers.
You can substitute canned biscuits instead of making them from scratch and all of the preparation can be made a day in advance, then you simply pop them in the oven while eating a meal so they will be ready for dessert.
