This Apple Skillet Cake with Cinnamon is a one-bowl dessert with a touch of maple syrup. Mix the batter, pour it into an 8-inch cast-iron skillet and layer sliced apples on top to make it look pretty. This cake bakes up golden and tender inside with lightly crisp edges. Serve warm right from the pan.
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I am a big fan of rustic desserts, and this one qualifies as a favorite because there is nothing better than the smell of apples, brown sugar, and spices baking into something wonderful. This one-pan apple cake recipe always turns out scrumptious; the cake is tender, and the cinnamon apples kind of sink down into the batter. This is the perfect cake for fall, when you want to bake a warm, cozy dessert.
Baking in a cast-iron skillet creates crispy edges and a tender, moist center for the cake. This cinnamon-vanilla cake is baked in a skillet, too. You can also use the skillet for this iron-skillet cornbread recipe.
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- Type of recipe: Dessert
- Cooking method: Baking (cast-iron skillet or cake pan)
- Skill level: Easy to medium
- Flavors & textures: Tender, moist cake with cinnamon & maple warmth; crisp edges; sweet-spiced apples
- Serving ideas & occasions: Serve warm with tea or coffee, brunch gatherings, fall dessert table, holiday potlucks, cozy weeknight treat
Table of contents
What kind of apple to use
Now that we’ve covered skillets, let’s talk apples. I’m curious: what are your favorite apples to bake with? For this cake, I used juicy Honeycrisp apples, which add a nice sweetness and are always available at the market for a reasonable price.
Feel free to use different types of apples in this cake. For instance, you could pair a tart apple with a sweet apple for contrasting flavors.
What are the best baking apples?
These are the best apples for baking; they withstand high heat well and retain their shape.
- Green or Golden Apples – Use Golden Delicious, a sweet apple or Granny Smith, a tart apple.
- Cortland – These apples are nearly white inside and have a sweet and tart flavor.
- Braeburn -These apples are very crispy, retain their shape well when baked, and even stay juicy.
- Gala– are mildly sweet and crispy.
- Honeycrisp – These honey-flavored apples are deliciously crispy and perfect for a baked dessert.
- Pink Lady – Besides being so pretty, these apples will make your apple dessert incredibly delicious.
- Winesap – These apples have a deep flavor that pairs perfectly with warming spices.
What Makes This Cake Special
It’s a simple one-layer cake with rustic fall flavors.
All you need are pantry ingredients, nothing fancy, and your favorite apples.
This tender cake is both sweet and spicy, flavored with maple syrup and the warm spices of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Serve straight from the skillet for easy cleanup.
Apple Cake Ingredients, Notes, And Tips
- Apples – It’s best to use the best baking apples you can find.
- Maple Syrup – I know it’s expensive, but pure maple syrup tastes the best. You can substitute honey or golden syrup.
- The spices – I used cinnamon and nutmeg, but I have also made this cake using cardamom and loved it.
- Your baking pan options – No cast-iron skillet? Use an 8-inch cake pan and bake until the center springs back and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
How To Make An Apple Skillet Cake
Step 1. Heat the oven to 350°F and butter an 8-inch” skillet or an 8-inch cake pan
Step 2. Core and thinly slice the apple. Leave the apples’ peels on for the pretty color.
Step 3. Toss the apples with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and maple syrup.
Step 4. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 5. In a small bowl, mix together the milk, melted butter, beaten egg, and maple syrup, then pour this mixture into the flour mixture. Stir until the mixture forms a thick batter.
Step 6. Pour the cake batter into the prepared skillet or pan, then lay the apples on top of the batter in a circular pattern, starting at the outside and moving to the center.
Step 7. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the syrup from the bottom of the bowl on top of the apples
Step 8. The baking time for this cake is 40-45 minutes. Slice and serve warm cake from the oven. And even the next day, this cake is still just as tasty.
I love how the apples bake into the batter, and the apples with the peels add color to the cake.
Quick apple desserts
- Try this tender Oatmeal Bread with Apple Cider, deliciously flavored with cinnamon and cloves.
- Another rustic dessert is this free-form Apple Pecan Tart; you will love how easy it is to make.
- Easier than making pie, this Apple Cranberry Galette takes minutes to prepare; you can even use a store-bought pie crust.
- Apple Cider Baked Apples are tender and flavorful, with a cider and sweet wine glaze. They are delicious and easy to make.
Baking ingredients and a skillet
Do you need a cast-iron skillet? This Lodge 8′ iron skillet is my favorite. I love the size and use it for baking and frying with great results.
Using pure maple syrup adds the perfect flavor to this cake. This syrup has a light caramel flavor that’s not too sweet.
If you invest in a cast-iron skillet, I have a handy guide on how to season it so it cooks perfectly.
More Maple Flavored Recipes
If you want to make a fall-flavored muffin, bake these Maple Walnut Muffins that are perfect for breakfast or snacks, or these pretty Maple Flavored Cookies in the shape of autumn leaves. And Maple Snickerdoodles are a tasty fall twist on our favorite cookie.
Don’t forget to pin for later when you have a cake craving ~
Skillet Cake FAQs
Cast iron holds heat well, and whatever you are baking bakes evenly.
This cake batter is thick and spreadable. Make sure to thinly slice the apples and lay them gently on top, rather than stirring them in. If your apples are very juicy, pat them dry before arranging.
Cover the cake and keep at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Or refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat slices in a 300°F oven for 8–10 minutes to crisp up the edges.
Try these other cast-iron recipes
- This simple vanilla cake recipe is also one of the most popular desserts on the One Hot Oven blog. It’s made in a cast iron skillet, too. This Easy Vanilla Bean Cake has the most wonderful flavor from lots of vanilla bean seeds.
- Another iron skillet favorite is this Cheddar Iron Skillet Cornbread, perfect with a chili bowl.
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Recipe
Maple Apple Skillet Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Ingredients
- 3-4 medium sized apples, sliced If your apples are large 2 will cover the batter
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Cake Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups AP flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ⅔ cup milk
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter an 8" iron skillet or an 8" cake pan.
Preparing the Apples
- Core and slice the apples and place in a medium-sized bowl. Slice the apples on the thinner side.
- Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and maple syrup to the apples, stir to combine.
Making the Cake
- Place the flour, baking powered and salt in a medium-sized bowl, stir to combine.
- Warm the milk in the microwave for 40 seconds on high. Combine the warm milk, melted butter, beaten egg, and maple syrup then add to the flour mixture. Stir to combine and pour into the prepared skillet or pan.
- Lay the apples on top of the cake batter in a circular pattern. Depending on the size of your apples if you have some that do not fit in the skillet, freeze for later.
- If there is syrup in the bottom of the bowl you can spoon some of it on top of the apples, 1 – 2 tablespoons.
- Bake the cake for about 45-50 minutes until it is browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean from the batter.
- Let cool then slice and serve from the skillet or pan.
- Leftovers can be stored in a covered airtight container.
Notes
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Nutrition
First Published: February 21, 2018. Last Updated: November 3, 2025
- This Cranberry Bread recipe is another fall favorite; it’s moist and scented with orange.
- These tender Chai Shortbreads are filled with warming spices and topped with sweet Chai icing.
- Perfect with a hot cup of tea, these Jammy Thumbprint Cookies are filled with apricot jam.
- This Upside Down Cake with Apricots & Cherries has a moist vanilla cake topped with caramelized apricots and cherries. It is amazing.
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About Jere’ Cassidy
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place. I am glad to be sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
This was SO good!! I sliced the apples really thin using a slicer and really layered them on. Amazing served with some ice cream.
Those apples layered on top are always so pretty. The ice cream with this sounds delish!
This was so easy and delicious. I’ll be adding it to my Thanksgiving menu!
Beautiful recipe. I love the fresh apples and comfy flavors all in one skillet.
Beautiful recipe. I love the fresh apples and comfy flavors all in one skillet. It will be perfect warm with vanilla ice cream.
Beautiful recipe. I love the fresh apples and comfy flavors all in one skillet. It will be perfect warm with vanilla ice cream.
Everything about this is nostalgic to me. We baked all of our cakes in cast iron growing up (heck, I still only cook in cast iron), and the flavors of this… perfection. Thank you for this one <3
Glad to hear you love your cast-iron. I use them almost exclusively.
I love cast iron for baking.
This is my go-to fall cake – I make it every year, at least twice! It’s so good and easier than you might think!
Just made this tonight… absolutely delicious. So buttery, so moist. Followed the recipe exactly, while adding 1 tsp vanilla extract. If I wanted to make this in a 10-inch skillet, do you think I would 1.5 times or double the ingredients? Thank you! Can’t wait to make this again.
That’s a great question and I think I will make this cake in a 10-inch skillet and see exactly what it takes. I am inclined to say to increase the ingredients by 1.5. Usually, for an 8″ cake pan you want about 24 ounces of batter and for a 10″ cake pan you want about 35 ounces of batter. I will update this with the results. Thanks for asking.
I agree that fall definitely has the best flavors. And even though I don’t prefer cold weather, I do love baking and cooking on chilly fall days and nights. This cake looks so perfect and those apples on top are absolutely heavenly! Gorgeous!
Thanks for the kind comments. The apples are scrumptious.
I agree, this would be so perfect with some French Vanilla ice cream and tea! Looks so tasty!
A skillet cake… huh, What a great idea and it helps that it looks so dang tasty.
I love cooking and bacon in a cast iron skillet. Cornbread never tastes the same unless made in a cast iron!
Oh my gosh – this looks so perfect! Now I know what to do with this HUGE pile of apples we have left from apple picking!
Skillet cakes are fantastic! I haven’t made one in a while and we still have lots of apples from our apple picking excursion, so this is excellent timing!