Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked in a Skillet – Recipe

You’ve had milk. You’ve had cookies. You’ve probably even had milk and cookies together. But I’ll bet you’ve never had milk and cookies like this.
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
Allow me to introduce you to the skillet Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cookie, also known as My New Best Friend. This ingenious recipe is a variation of your basic chocolate chip cookie, with one huge (pun intended) difference. Instead of the endless cookie parade of scooping, rotating trays, timing batches, transferring to cooling racks, and all the other tasks associated with baking a big batch of cookies, baking this recipe requires only two steps:
1. put skillet cookie in oven
2. eat skillet cookie
Oh, and did I mention you can serve it like a slice of pie, with ice cream on top? Oh yes you can. Something tells me this will be your new best friend, too.
Skillet Cookie Recipe
Skillet Cookie Recipe
yield: 8-12 cookie slices or one big ole cookie for a big appetite!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup (6 oz) butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups chocolate chips
  • 1.5 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
  • vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)


Skillet Cookie Recipe
Oh yes! We can’t forget the most important ingredient in this Skillet Cookies recipe–the skillet! You’ll want to use a 10-inch oven-safe skillet (this last part is very important, as there are few things worse than the smell of burning plastic.) I use cast iron, which works marvelously, but any oven-safe skillet should work. The size is also flexible–you could use anything from a 9-12 inch skillet, you’ll just have to adjust the cooking time.
Skillet Cookie Recipeg
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and whisk or sift them together. Set this aside for a moment.
Skillet Cookie Recipe
Place the softened butter and the two sugars in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix them together on medium-high speed using the stand mixer or a hand mixer for about 2 minutes, until they’re light and fluffy.
Skillet Cookie Recipe
Scrape down the paddle and the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix again until the egg is fully incorporated into the butter. Using an egg that is the same temperature as the other ingredients really speeds this process along, which is why so many baking recipes call for “room temperature eggs.” You’ll thank me when that little tidbit comes up in Trivial Pursuit!
Skillet Cookie Recipe
So after the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla are mixed together, you’ll have a lovely fluffy, gloopy mixture just begging to be made into cookies. It may not look like much yet, but things are about to get really good.
Skillet Cookie Recipe
Add those dry ingredients you mixed earlier, and turn the mixer to low speed. Mix it just until the flour disappears into the batter. Stop the mixer as soon as you get to this point, because the more this dough is mixed, the tougher your cookies will be. And nobody likes a tough cookie!
Skillet Cookie Recipe
Add the chocolate chips and the chopped walnuts or pecans, and stir them in by hand. While you’re at it, give the sides and bottom of the bowl a good scrape to incorporate any butter that needs to be mixed into the dough.
Skillet Cookie Recipe
Stir until you have the world’s most nibble-able dough. Because we’re making one giant cookie, you can go ahead and have a few tastes of the skillet cookie dough at this point, but try to control yourself–it’s about to get so much better.
Skillet Cookie Recipe
If you’re using a well-seasoned cast iron pan, there’s no need to grease it before you put the cookie dough in. (Trust me, there’s enough butter in these babies to keep them from sticking.) But if your pan’s not very well seasoned, or you’re particularly concerned about getting your skillet cookie out in one piece, go ahead and rub a very thin layer of oil or butter into the pan, then scrape the cookie dough into the pan and smooth it into an even layer.
Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
Bake the skillet cookie at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until it is puffed, golden, and the edges have nicely browned. If you’re unsure, it’s better to err on the side of underbaking, because the cookie will continue to cook for a few minutes once it’s out of the oven. Plus, many people enjoy a soft and gooey cookie, but it’s rarer to find a hard & crispy cookie fan.
Skillet Cookie Recipe
Let the skillet cookie cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes, until it’s warm but no longer hot. Use a knife to cut it into wedges (8 if you’re hungry, 12 if you’re feeling more restrained) and serve like a slice of pie.
Skillet Cookie
I like my skillet cookie served warm, with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a sprinkling of chopped walnuts. It’s also wonderful with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or dulce de leche.
All text and images (c) Elizabeth LaBau

 

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