Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

Guest Post by Andrea of Washington, D.C.

“As I mentioned here before, my boyfriend refers to himself as a ‘cookie monster.’ So as you can imagine, I make a lot of cookies for him for special occasions. And while I love to give him something that makes him happy, I am frequently aggravated by how much time it takes. Prepping, baking, and cooling sheet after sheet of cookies can take so long it usually wears me out – and that’s before I’ve tackled the sink full of bowls, baking sheets, and utensils still left to clean. So when a friend showed me a recipe (on the blog Sophistimom) for a giant cookie baked in a skillet, I knew I had to make my own version. It takes half the time and effort of regular cookies, and is just as delicious!” – Andrea

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
6 oz (or ½ a bag) of chocolate chips (semisweet, bittersweet, or milk,
whatever you prefer)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in medium-sized bowl; set aside.
Heat the butter in 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat until completely melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, whisking constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, about 1-2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add both sugars to the pan and stir using rubber spatula or wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Let it rest until the pan is warm, but no longer very hot, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla until smooth. Add to the pan and carefully whisk until fully incorporated (the mixture should be thick and smooth). Stir in flour mixture until just combined, and then stir in the chocolate chips. Press the dough down into the pan with the back of the spatula or spoon to make it an even thickness.
Bake for 15-16 minutes or until the cookie is golden brown on the top and set around the edges, but a little soft in the center. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 5 minutes. The cookie can be served while still warm, scooped out of the pan with a spoon with a scoop of ice cream on top. Or, you can allow it to fully cool and cut it into cookie slices.
Quick Tips
1. Browning the butter after melting it helps enhance the flavor of the cookie, but keep a close eye on it. Butter can go from browned to burned pretty quickly!
2. You can substitute light brown sugar for the dark brown sugar, but the cookie will be less full-flavored. It’s very easy to make your own brown sugar. Just add molasses about a tablespoon at a time to one cup of granulated sugar, stirring together with a fork until evenly mixed. Continue to add molasses until you’ve reached the desired darkness.
3. You’ll want to have a well-seasoned skillet for this – the more seasoned the pan, the easier it will be to get the cookie out! If
you’re buying a new cast-iron skillet, look for one that comes pre-seasoned.

About the Guest Author
Andrea returns to Weekly Greens with yet another stellar baked treat! If you missed her delicious pie last Thanksgiving, you ought to be very sorry. But there’s always next fall – lucky you. An avid baker since she was a teenager, Andrea developed this recipe especially for her boyfriend, a self-described “cookie monster.” She’s had many mishaps in the kitchen, including shrunken pie crusts, charred brownies and flaming pot holders, but tries to follow Julia Child’s advice to “never apologize at the table.” Andrea and her boyfriend live in Washington, D.C.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 25 minute(s)

2 responses to “Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie”

krista skehan says:

September 6, 2011 at 9:39 pm

Was thinking about making these for a dinner party. Ideally I’d like each person to have their own mini skillet but maybe I’ll just do by couple. In that case it would call for 5 small skillets. How could I do this recipe that way with the butter and sugar? Maybe you skip that part and just put the dough in the skillet and bake? Just thought it would be fun to serve it in the skillet with ice-cream on top.

Reply
- Alicia says:
  
  September 7, 2011 at 1:13 am
  
  Hmm, I like your idea! That would be fun for a dinner party. My proposed solution creates a lot more dishes, but it’s the only way to get all the proportions to work out for sure. I’d do the recipe as directed in a large skillet all the way up until the point where you are going to press it down. At that point, I’d divide it evenly amongst the 5 skillets. They’d have to be pretty small skillets, otherwise, I’d make two batches just to be sure there is enough. If you do this, be sure to take pictures and post on the WG Facebook page (www.facebook.com/weeklygreens). I’d love to see how it turns out! Good luck.
  
  Reply

2 responses to “Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie”

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