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I recently purchased a skillet at the advice of a trusted friend. I have seen a number recipes for a lot of foods including baked goods. But, the recipes are all "from scratch". Now, I realize that this is probably the best way to go. But, I saw recipes for making chocolate chip cookies and brownies in a skillet in the oven (in Dorie Greenspan's cookie book). I have some box mixes at home.

How can I modify the baking instructions for the box mixes for use in a cast iron skillet? Are there general guidelines for this?

The only thing I could find after searching online was on the Jiffy Mix pages for using their various box mixes in a cast iron skillet.

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I follow the directions on the package, with one modification: when preheating the oven, I preheat the skillet in there as well.

I add the batter or dough to the warm skillet then bake. I use the baking time on the box as a reference, but monitor by eye toward the end. It usually is done within -5 to +3 minute range as listed on the box.

I've done this with Jiffy corn bread, cake mixes, brownie mixes, etc. Usually very good result. Sometimes the bottom crust is thicker, but the kids liked that. I've never had anything come out as a complete disaster.

Oh.. I also spray the pan with non-stick just before pouring the batter.

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    Thanks. One reason why I want to try this is because the author of the cookie cookbook said that the outside of the big baked cookie will caramelize. That just sounded too good not to try.
    – user44238
    Jan 15, 2017 at 21:01
  • I think you'll be happy with the end result. You'll probably enjoy the experimenting as well. I'm a minimalist in regard to cooking tools, and the cast iron skillet is the nucleus of my kitchen. PS: I just remembered, the daughters and I had great skillet results from the supermarket Toll House dough.
    – Paulb
    Jan 15, 2017 at 21:34
  • Have you ever done a pie or a pizza? I am looking at cast iron cookbooks in the library. Actually, anything you can share would be appreciated.
    – user44238
    Jan 16, 2017 at 23:13
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  1. Make batter/dough as usual, put in skillet.
  2. Preheat oven to recommend temperature for other pans.
  3. If the item is thicker than it would be in the recommended pan, cook longer, if it's thinner, cook less.

There is no universal answer here. It will vary depending on what your baking, how big your skillet is, how big the other pan you are used to using is, etc. You'll just need to eyeball it and or use a "doneness test", such as sticking a toothpick in brownies/cake and pulling it out without cake on it.

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  • ...if it's jibber? Perhaps you mean thinner? :) I would say cast iron almost always has to be cooked longer than an equivalent pan, since it is a thick material and takes longer to come up to temperature (unless your equivalent is also very thick and soaks up heat, like clay), even if the contents are thinner than the original pan. I would guess the original cooking time is usually suitable for when to start checking for done-ness.
    – Megha
    Jan 15, 2017 at 0:52
  • I did mean thinner, I was on mobile. Gotta love auto correct! I agree since it's cast iron you probably need to cook a bit longer all else equal. I actually had added preheat cast iron skillet in the oven as the first step, but then decided it isn't really required so I removed it, and then forgot that ups the time a bit.
    – Caleb
    Jan 15, 2017 at 4:31
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Consider the retained heat of cast iron when deciding when to pull it from the oven. Many recipes call for a 5 minute rest before removing from baking sheet to allow the items to finish cooking from internal temperature and to cool. The cast iron will increase the time of continued cooking out of the oven.

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  • Welcome to Seasoned Advice! This is definitely an important tip to any cooking done with cast iron; and the thicker the metal, the more it matters.
    – Incorporeal Logic
    Oct 18, 2020 at 4:58

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