Who wouldn’t want to eat a one-dish skillet cookie the size of a pizza? (Of course, you would have to share.) Otherwise known as a Chocolate Chip Pizookie, this dessert can be sliced as a pizza and served warm with a scoop of ice cream! This would be a great alternative to a birthday cake!
The Cast Iron Skillet:
Most recipes will state a 12″ cast iron skillet. If you measure the diameter, straight across and through the center, it is 12″ across. The base, however, is 10″. How do you know, you ask? If you look on the bottom, you will see “10SK”imprinted. This common-sized Lodge brand skillet worked well for this recipe!
Prep your Ingredients:
Measure out your sugars and have your eggs beaten. Whisk your dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. Take out one cup of chocolate chips and reserve some of what remains in the bag for and extra dose of chocolate to sprinkle on the top, if desired. I mean, certainly there should be more, right?
Brown the Butter:
The desired caramel flavor in a chocolate chip cookie is derived from browning the butter! Follow this process carefully since the color can change rapidly. Do not leave it unattended!
Over MED-LOW heat, melt 1 stick of the butter. First it will bubble and then it will foam. Whisk constantly. You will notice in the fourth picture below that a golden color is becoming evident as well as a nutty aroma that’s divine! Keep stirring until…
…you see this amber color peeking out while stirring; remove it from the burner. The color changes quickly and can burn, if not watched carefully. Now that’s some browned butter! It will have the most amazing effect on the taste of your cookie!
The Sugars… and Rest of the Butter:
Add the sugars and the other 1/2 stick (4T). The pan is still hot enough to melt the butter as you stir.
At this point, you want to allow it to cool a bit before adding in the beaten eggs. Stir it occasionally while cooling off for about 15-20 minutes. The butter and sugars will separate but will blend together well when other ingredients are added. In the meantime, this would be the perfect time to preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Eggs and Vanilla:
Blend in the beaten eggs with the vanilla.
Dry Ingredients:
Stir in the flour mixture until no remnants of flour are visible. Press some of the dough around the inside edges of the pan to pick up any flour clinging along the sides.
Chocolate Chips:
Stir in the chocolate chips until distributed evenly. Use an offset spatula (or a rubber spatula) to level out the dough.
Never Enough Chocolate!
Go ahead and do it! Sprinkle on more chocolate chips!
Bake:
Place skillet on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Most pizookies I’ve seen have a gooey center. I prefer it cooked a bit more than stated in the recipes as I was going to serve it later in the day. This was cooked about 35 minutes, but you may cook it less time, 28-30 minutes, for a gooier center. Once cooled a bit, I used an offset spatula to go around the edges of the cookie to help release it from the pan.
Slice and Serve:
To slice it, I used a bench scraper and cut first from the long skillet handle to the looped handle to split in half. Rotate the pan 90 degrees and cut across from one pouring spout to the opposite spout. One more cut into each quarter section will give you 8 slices. These are still large and good for spooning with your true love once there’s a dollop of ice cream on top, if they’ll share. Otherwise, you could split it again and have 16 equal slices.
To serve, go over slice marks again with either bench knife or other knife making sure you cut through the curved bottom edge of the pan before lifting out with a spatula. Serve warm with a topping of vanilla ice cream. Slice in half for 16 individual servings. If serving later, microwave for about 25 seconds.
A Slice = How Many Cookies?
To give you some perspective, according to my original recipe which I halved for this skillet version, each 16th is just over 2 cookies scoops worth of dough. An 8th of a slice is over 4 scoops of cookie dough. Let your mood, or desire for chocolate, determine your preference of slice!
Chocolate Chip Pizookie (Skillet Cookie)
Ingredients
- 3/4 c salted butter, 1-1/2 sticks, divided
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 3/4 c dark brown sugar, packed
- 1-1/2 t vanilla
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 1 t baking soda
- 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more to sprinkle on top, if desired
Instructions
- A 10" cast iron skillet has 10SK imprinted on its bottom, yet it is 12" in diameter across the top when upright.
- Place skillet over MED-LOW heat with 1 stick of butter, cut in two sections. While whisking frequently as it melts, it will foam up and acquire a nutty aroma. Watch carefully as you whisk. Once it begins to turn golden, remove it from the heat and mix in the sugars along with the remaining (1/2 stick) butter. Continue to stir until butter has melted. Mixture will separate some but will incorporate more evenly once other ingredients are added.
- Cool for about 15-20 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes.
- In a small dish, beat the eggs. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, fluff, spoon and level the flour. Whisk in the baking soda. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 325℉.
- Add in the vanilla and beaten eggs; stir quickly until blended with no visible remnants of egg.
- Next, blend in the flour mixture until no streaks of flour remain. You may need to lightly press the dough around the sides to pick up excess flour.
- Scatter the chips and stir them in to distribute evenly. Smooth and even out the top with an offset spatula. Sprinkle on more chips, if desired.
- Bake at 325℉for about 25-30 minutes. Center should be a little gooey and it will cook more in the pan when you remove it from the oven. My first attempt was cooked for 35 minutes, and the center was still soft, but not gooey. If you prefer a more gooey center, opt for the lesser amount of time.
- Cool for about 15 minutes before cutting into slices. An eighth can easily be a serving for two !
- If serving it later:An 1/8th can be warmed up nicely in the microwave 25-30 seconds which is perfect for either eating it as a warm cookie or prepping it for a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Slice into smaller sections (16) for smaller servings.
