Baking in Your Frying Pan
A Collection of Skillet Recipes
Contents
Baking in Your Frying Pan 1
A Collection of Skillet Recipes 1
Coffeecakes 2
Sour Cream Apple CoffeeCake 2
Orange Marmalade and Coconut Coffeecake 4
Apple Pie-Cake 5
Cornbread 6
How to Make Skillet Cornbread 6
How to Make Your Own Cornbread Recipe 6
Apple and Bacon Cornbread 8
Pepper Jack Cornbread 9
Texas Chili Cornbread 11
Cheddar and Bacon Cornbread 12
Skillet Cobblers 14
Ten Ways to Make Skillet Cobblers 14
How to Make Skillet Cobblers 14
The Project 15
What You’ll Need 15
The Recipes 16
Dutch Babies and German Pancakes 17
German Apple Pancake Recipe 17
Pies 18
Streusel Apple Pie in a Frying Pan 18
Equipment 19
Coffeecakes
Sour Cream Apple CoffeeCake
This is a fun, very good little apple coffee cake recipe. It’s made in an eight-inch skillet but you can double it for a 9 x13-inch pan. It’s got two cups of apples in a light, delightsome cake with a walnut and brown sugar topping.
We first made with a brown sugar flavor—because we love born sugar flavor. Then we decided that we wanted to boost the apple flavor and changed the recipe to apple flavor. We’re sure that it would be good with vanilla.
Ingredients
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar flavor or apple flavor
1 egg
2/3 cup sour cream
2 cups peeled, diced apples
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream the shortening, sugar, first measure of cinnamon, and salt together. Add the flavor and eggs and beat well. Add the sour cream and diced apples.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and soda together.
- Add the flour to the creamed mixture in four additions, beating after each. Pour batter into a greased eight-inch pan.
- For the topping, mix the walnuts, second measure of brown sugar, and second measure of cinnamon together. Cut in the butter with a pastry knife. Sprinkle over the cake.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Orange Marmalade and Coconut Coffeecake
We made a marmalade coconut coffeecake with a heritage recipe and loved it. We changed the recipe and used a different jam and that worked too. You can use the jam of your choice.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon orange zest (optional)
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
For the topping
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup jam of your choice
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a nine-inch skillet.
- Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg, egg yolk, and the optional orange or lemon zest. Add the vanilla extract.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in another bowl.
- Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, then about one-half of the milk. Repeat with the flour, then milk, then flour to complete the mixing. Stir until just combined.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan. With a pastry brush, spread melted butter on the top of the batter.
- For the topping, mix the coconut and jam together. Drop the topping onto the coffeecake in spoonfuls and smooth out. Sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar over the topping.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Let it cool for five minutes. Cut slices and serve warm.
Apple Pie-Cake
“You should make this every day of my life,” said Katie our 13-year old daughter. We're glad that she likes this cross between a cake and pie and we can make it often because it is so easy. Because it uses canned pie filling and takes just a few steps, it's a snap to make.
We couldn't decide whether this was a cake masquerading as a pie or a pie masquerading as a cake so we called it a “Pie-Cake”. You can serve this as a coffeecake for brunch or with ice cream or whipped cream as a dessert.
Apple Pie-Cake
2 large eggs
1/2teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 21-ounce can of apple pie filling
1 1/2 tablespoon turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
1.In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla, and sugar together until smooth and thick—about one minute.
2.In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add them to the egg mixture and stir until well combined.
3.Stir in the pie filling.
4.Pour the mixture into a well-greased, nine-inch deep dish pie pan. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top and bake for 20 minutes or until browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serving suggestion: This is one of those desserts that is much better served warm. Heat individual servings in the microwave.
Cornbread
How to Make Skillet Cornbread
My favorite cornbread is skillet cornbread. And Merri Ann can’t eat gluten so skillet cornbread is perfect for her—it relies on eggs for the structure, not flour.We’ve made it so often that it has evolved from a series of recipes to a technique. Using a ratio of ingredients, we use this technique to make both sweet and savory cornbread—whatever we are in the mood for—from Jalapeño Cheese Cornbread to Banana Nut Cornbread.
Here we’ll tell you how to make your own cornbread and give you several recipes to get you started.
How to Make Your Own Cornbread Recipe
Skillet cornbread is very forgiving. Consider the following as guidelines and a palette for creating your own masterpieces. Build a basic cornbread batter and add whatever you are in the mood for. Here are some suggestions for additions:
• Bacon snipped into pieces
• Chopped ham
• Diced onions (consider steaming them in the microwave until partially cooked)
• Diced bell peppers
• Jalapeño peppers
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Herbs
• Pimento
• Chilies
• Fresh or canned corn (one 15-ounce can well drained of one cup fresh or frozen kernels)
• Grated cheese (add up to 1 1/2 cups)
• Dried fruit (cranberries are a favorite)
• Applesauce
• Bananas (up to two ripe bananas)
• Chopped walnuts (3/4 cup seems about right)
• Chopped apple (one apple finely chopped and unpeeled)
What are some of our favorites? We like savory cornbreads with plenty of cheese and onions or bell peppers. Pepper jack cheese is good when you are in the mood for something spicy. When making savory cornbread, we usually add corn kernels. Banana nut cornbread is very good. (The banana taste is even more pronounced the second day.) Try it with a teaspoon of allspice or cinnamon. We made a cranapple nut the other day that was very good. (Made with one apple, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.)
Be sure and refrigerate any leftovers. Cut the cornbread into wedges and wrap them in plastic wrap.
Here’s how to make your cornbread:
You will need a ten-inch, ovenproof skillet. A heavy metal skillet is best. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the skillet in the oven.
1. Cornmeal. Place 1 1/2 cups cornmeal in a medium bowl. If you are going to use corn kernels, reduce the cornmeal to one cup. If you would like a softer grain to your cornbread, add the liquids and eggs to the cornmeal and refrigerate it for an hour so that the cornmeal grains absorb the liquid.
2. Eggs. Add three large eggs to the cornmeal. It’s the eggs that are going to give your cornmeal structure and hold it together.
3. Fat. Cornbread tends to be dry and the addition of an oil or fat is essential for a moister cornbread. Without adequate fat, your cornbread will be dry. The eggs provide some of the fat. Bananas or applesauce reduce some of the need for fat. Use melted butter or vegetable oil. If you are using cheese, bananas, or applesauce, 1/4 cup will do. (We suspect that you can leave it out all together with a cheesy cornbread.) Other wise, use 1/2 cup. Add the fat when you add the eggs.
4. Spices and salt. Generally use 1/2 teaspoon salt. If you are using cheese, you may reduce it to 1/4 teaspoon. Add whatever spices you choose. One teaspoon of allspice or cinnamon is about right. You can add the salt and spices anytime.
5. Sweetener. For a savory cornbread, one teaspoon of sugar or honey will do. For a sweeter cornbread, we use up to two tablespoons. Add it anytime.
6. Leavening. You can get by without any leavening but we prefer to add 1 teaspoon of baking powder. (If you do not use baking powder, increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon since baking powder contains sodium.) Since baking powder looses potency after sitting in the batter, add the leavening just before the “additions” and soon before baking.
7. “Additions”. Stir in the additions of choice.
8. Liquid. You will likely need some liquid to make the batter soft and of the right consistency. It should be barely pourable. The amount of the liquid will be determined by the moisture content of the additions but you will need anywhere from a couple tablespoons to one cup. Stir in the liquids after the additions. We usually use milk but you can use what you want from water to a juice.
Mix all ingredients well. Notice that this is a one-bowl technique.
Remove the hot pan from the oven being careful not to burn yourself. Add one tablespoon of butter and tip the pan from side to side until the butter is melted and the bottom and sides of the pan are covered. Add the batter to the pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve hot and refrigerate any leftovers.
We often serve our cornbread, even savory cornbread, with hot maple syrup. Our gourmet fruit syrups open up some very nice combinations. Jams or just a pat of butter work well too.
Apple and Bacon Cornbread
At first glance, this is similar to our Cheddar and Bacon Cornbread but it is really quite different, a sweeter cornbread with a different texture. Apple and bacon are a wonderful combination. Instead of cheese, it's made with melted butter and with maple syrup, it is a little sweeter. Again, it is an egg-rich, skillet cornbread and a flourless recipe.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 melted butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 pound bacon
1 1/2 medium sized apples, finely diced or shredded with peel
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
1. Fry the bacon to a crisp, pat the grease from the bacon with paper towels, and crumble or chop the bacon.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and spices.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs then stir in the milk, melted butter, and maple syrup plus the bacon and apples.
4. Form a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula until well combined.
5. Bake in a ten-inch, nonstick skillet for 20 minutes or until all but the center of the cornbread is set. Remove the cornbread from the oven and immediately sprinkle the reserved cheese over the cornbread to melt. Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.
Pepper Jack Cornbread
This is great cornbread. It is best eaten on a plate with a fork, maybe drizzled with maple syrup.
You will need a heavy, ovenproof skillet for this cornbread. This recipe was designed for a ten-inch skillet.
If pepper jack cheese is not your thing, cheddar or Monterey jack may be substituted.
Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 15-ounce can of corn kernels, well drained
11/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese, lightly pressed in a cup for measurement
2 tablespoons butter
Directions
1. Place a ten-inch, ovenproof skillet or frying pan on the middle shelf in the oven. (A heavy-duty or cast iron skillet works best.) Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees and let the oven heat while the pan is in the oven.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
3. Add the eggs, milk, and corn kernels and stir until well combined. Fold in the cheese.
4. Remove the hot pan from the oven and place the butter in the hot pan. Place the pan back in the oven for a minute or two to allow it to melt.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and pour in the cornbread mixture.
6. Bake the cornbread for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean.
Serve warm drizzled with maple syrup.
Texas Chili Cornbread
This recipe was adapted from Baking in America by Greg Patent. (We recommend this book.) For our version of this recipe, we usedchiles instead of jalapenos, red bell pepper instead of pimentos, and garlic powder instead of clove garlic but feel free to experiment.
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped and diced
1/2medium sized onion, chopped and diced
1/4teaspoon garlic powder
1 4-oz can diced green chiles, drained (less if you prefer a less spicy bread)
1 cup corn kernels--fresh, frozen, or canned
11/2 cups grated cheese, cheddar or jack