No mixing bowl required for this Pumpkin Skillet Cake! You can make the whole thing right in the skillet. Light, fluffy and easy to make, it’s the perfect fall dessert recipe!
Hi friends!
Get ready to have your mind blown. This dessert requires no mixing bowl.
You read that right. You can make this delightfully fluffy, pumpkin cake right in the same skillet you bake it in. This is a major bonus in my book because i HATE cleaning the bowl after baking.
So let’s talk about the recipe. It’s not all the time that my baking experiments turn out on the first try….but occasionally they do. I know this one was a winner because my non-dessert-loving hubby ate about half of it.
A few years ago I posted these Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, which were the inspiration for this recipe. Then, as you may have noticed I’ve been loving one pot meals lately (did you see my One Pot Shrimp & Orzo?) so I started thinking about minimizing dishes while baking.
I figured if I just melted the butter right in the skillet, I could throw everything else in and then stick it in the oven. My only fear was that the chocolate chips would melt if the pan got too hot. The solution was to melt the butter over very low heat. Yes it took longer…but that was fine with me. Just pop the stick of butter in the pan, turn the heat on low and go do something else for 20 minutes!
I debated whether to call this a cookie or a cake. Or a cookie cake. Cookie cake seemed best, but when i think of cookie cake I think of the store-bought kind that’s thick and chewy. This is light and fluffy and definitely more cake-like…so cake it was.
Here’s the recipe:
PrintPumpkin Skillet Cake
No mixing bowl required for this Pumpkin Skillet Cake! You can make the whole thing right in the skillet. Light, fluffy and easy to make, it’s the perfect fall dessert recipe!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 1x
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over very low heat.
- Add sugar, vanilla, pumpkin and egg and stir to combine.
- Add flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir until just mixed.
- Add chocolate chips. Stir to combine and spread evenly over bottom of skillet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Notes
I originally made this with 8 Tbsp butter, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 1/4 cup flour. The second time I made it, I decreased the quantities to those listed in the recipe and it tasted exactly the same, leading me to believe the extra butter and flour are unnecessary. If you want a sweeter cake, use 3/4 cup sugar instead of 2/3 cup but keep in mind the chocolate chips add sweetness, as well as ice cream if you choose to top it with that!
Like I said, super easy!
This is pretty much a must-make dessert 🙂 Be sure to pin it for later when you have time to do some baking!
[Tweet “No mixing bowl needed for this Pumpkin Skillet Cake from @leangrnbeanblog!”]
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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Mmm this looks yummy!
Love that it has chocolate chips (seriously, I love anything with chocolate chips) and that you can mix and bake it all in one pan. Now I need to veganize it. 🙂
Yup. Mind blown. Boom!
Wow…just wow!
Love the progression photos- very cool! This will be a winner with my hubs too especially since he is usually on dish duty 😉
Now this is my kind of easy recipe, Lindsay! Love it!! Thank you! 🙂 Have a lovely weekend, lady!
Oh my gosh Lindsay this looks like pure perfection! Love that it is literally ONE dish (pan). I’m beginning to learn that cast irons are the best!
Wow! I love that this entire thing can be made in one skillet! I recently bought a cast iron skillet and I’m totally obsessed with it. I can’t wait to try out this recipe. I know my weekend guests are going to be in heaven! xoxo
You are genius!! I have never heard of such a thing before! My boyfriend and i made mug cakes the other weekend and loved it. maybe this will be our next step in the kitchen hehe
OKKK wow this looks awesome. I just finally got a cast iron and have been using it for dinner but now I have an excuse for dessert ;D yummy!
I don’t HATE cleaning the bowl but I certainly don’t purposely dirty more than necessary which is why this is awesome!
The words pumpkin & cake go together like peanut butter and jelly in my opinion! This looks yummy 🙂
such a great idea!!! i hate washing dishes in general so this will be perfect.
This looks amazing! Definitely need to try a dairy free version…as soon as I get a cast iron skillet lol
Fabulous!! Definitely need to make this 🙂 Fewer dishes = the better!
Oh my goodness, this one’s a keeper for a serious pumpkin treat. Just pinned it!
I saw this on Instagram last night & forgot to swing by until tonight. I’ve not made a skillet dessert ever & this is one I will be trying!
Hi,thanks for the awesome recipe,if i would prefer to substitute butter with coconut oil,how much i should use ? Thanks!
I’m not sure. I don’t use coconut oil very often…but i’m sure if you googled you could find the substitution ratio!
Yum will try this but instead of brown sugar I will use stevia as me and sugar are NOT friends 🙁 Looks so good though thank you for sharing xo C
This looks seriously amazing, a must pin! Have a great week 🙂 xo
After the line “here’s the recipe” I don’t see the ingredients/recipe listed just photos. Is it just my view? I can try to guess ingredients based on the photos but it would help to have the exact measurements!
i think it’s just your view? it’s showing up fine on my computer and phone. Here are the ingredients
6 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over very low heat.
Add sugar, vanilla, pumpkin and egg and stir to combine.
Add flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir until just mixed.
Add chocolate chips. Stir to combine and spread evenly over bottom of skillet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Thank you!!
Oh my goodness, I’m in love!!! I’ll definitely be making this for Fall get-togethers this year.
This just blew my mind…no bowl and only one pan! This is right up my alley. Bonus that it looks amazing!
this is happening VERY SOON!
Will absolutely be making this soon!
How big is the cast iron skillet you used?
pretty big. 10-12 inches i’d say
My wife passed this one on to me because I am the “skillet baker.” (She is the “Spring-form baker.) In our kitchen, we have cast iron skillets ranging from 3″ to 10.” What size did you use for this recipe?
i would use the 10 inch.