Skillet Cookie
This easy skillet cookie recipe is so indulgent! Ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie, baked in a cast iron skillet. Grab the spoons & dig in!
I just think the idea of a skillet cookie is so much fun! You grab a handful of spoons and everybody gathers around and just dives in.
This skillet cookie recipe is pure comfort food! A big, thick buttery cookie, baked in a cast iron skillet with warm brown sugar and tons of melty chocolate chips in every bite. What could be better?
And at this time of year, we all need a little comfort, am I right? It’s so dreary and cold. Nothing’s better than cozying up with a steamy dish of something satisfying.
Check out my baked rigatoni, brownie pudding cake, and pumpkin soup, if you’re looking for more good ideas!
Table of Contents
- What is a skillet cookie?
- Why this is the best skillet cookie recipe
- What does it taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make a skillet chocolate chip cookie
- How to serve
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my best cookie recipes
What is a skillet cookie?
A skillet cookie is basically just a big cookie, baked in a skillet! It’s that simple.
This is a skillet chocolate chip cookie, so it’s everything you love about soft chocolate chip cookies, in skillet cookie form!
Why this is the best skillet cookie recipe
- Tastes amazing: It bakes up with a little bite around the edges, but soft and gooey in the center. Buttery and just sweet enough, with plenty of chocolate!
- Few ingredients: You’ll only need a handful of pantry staples to make it.
- Easy to make: This recipe is perfect for a novice baker. There’s nothing tricky or complicated about it!
- Quick: Because you don’t have to scoop or shape every individual cookie, it’s super quick to make. You’ll be feasting in around half an hour’s time!
What does it taste like?
This off-the-charts cookie skillet features a buttery brown sugar base, freckled with tons of chocolate chips. The edges have a good amount of texture, but as you work your way to the center it goes luxuriously soft and gooey.
What a treat!
Ingredients
Butter: Unsalted butter is best because it allows you to control the amount of salt in the dish. Different brands of butter can contain different amounts of salt, so this way you get a more consistent result. For a vegan or dairy-free skillet cookie recipe, use a plant-based product that can substitute for dairy butter 1:1. This recipe works best if you allow the butter to come to room temperature first. You can set it out on the counter a few hours ahead of making your recipe, or you can microwave it for 10 seconds, turn it over, and microwave it again for another 8 seconds.
Sugar: A combination of brown sugar and white sugar will yield the best result. Brown sugar has a more complex flavor and it adds moisture, while white sugar crisps up the edges and aids in browning. Keep in mind that sugar not only sweetens things, but it also helps keep them moist (it’s hydrophilic, in other words it draws in moisture).
Eggs: This recipe calls for one whole, large egg plus one additional yolk. The eggs provide richness and a bit of added structure. If you need to make an egg-free or vegan cookie skillet, use a plant-based egg substitute in place of the whole egg, and whisk a tablespoon of cornstarch together with 3 tablespoons of warm water for the additional yolk.
Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds a subtly sweet flavor without being at all sugary.
Flour: All-purpose flour is my go-to, but you can swap it out for any kind of whole-grain option if you like. You may need slightly less if you go that route. A gluten-free flour blend that can sub 1:1 for regular flour should also work just fine, if you’d like to make a gluten-free skillet cookie.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is a colorless, odorless, and flavorless starch that is used to build structure without toughness. Make sure you’re using cornstarch, which is white and powdery, and not cornmeal, which is yellow and gritty and tastes like corn chips.
Baking soda: Baking soda helps the cookie to rise and puff up, creating an airy, melt-in-your mouth texture.
Salt: Salt carries the flavors and intensifies them. The end result won’t taste salty, but it will make everything so much more flavorful! I like kosher salt best because it doesn’t have any additives (table salt usually contains iodine which can leave a bitter taste), so the flavor is pure. It’s also inexpensive and easy to find in a regular grocery store.
Chocolate Chips: I prefer semisweet chocolate chips, but you could also sub in another kind of baking chips if you like. Here are a few suggestions:
- White Chocolate Chips
- Butterscotch Chips
- Peanut Butter Chips
- Cinnamon Chips
- Caramel chips
- Rainbow Chips
- Mint Chips
- Lemon Chips
Or even use fruit or nuts instead.
Special equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: Follow my guide on how to accurately measure ingredients.
- Bowl: I’ve used the large glass bowl for my stand mixer.
- Mixer: The dough will be stiff, so you’ll want to grab either a handheld electric mixer or use your stand mixer and paddle attachment.
- Silicone spatula: For scraping down the bowl.
- Skillet: For what you see here, I used an 8-inch diameter cast iron skillet. For info on what other sizes or types of pans you can use, check out the FAQ’s below.
How to make a skillet chocolate chip cookie
This easy recipe comes together in just 4 simple steps.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar
Place the soft butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together in a large bowl.
Then cream these ingredients together on medium-high speed until they’re really pale and really fluffy.
This is the step where you want to whip in a lot of air, to make your cookie nice and tender. Set a timer and let the mixer go for 5 full minutes!
Step 2: Add eggs
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl down with a silicone spatula, and add your eggs and vanilla.
Once they’re fully incorporated, move on to the next step.
Step 3: Stir in the dry ingredients
In go the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
Stir these in on low speed, just until barely incorporated. It’s important that you don’t overmix at this stage, or your skillet cookie could come out tough.
Add the chocolate chips and finish stirring the cookie dough together so there are no longer any streaks of flour.
Step 4: Bake
Transfer the dough to your skillet (you don’t have to grease it first).
It will bake in a preheated oven until the sides and top are going golden brown but it’s still soft in the center.
How to serve
I like to top this with a scoop of ice cream and a little salted caramel sauce, to make it extra decadent.
It’s amazing if the cookie is still warm. You get the most wonderful contrast of hot and cold!
You could also top this with raspberry sauce, dulce de leche, creme anglaise, or chocolate syrup. Or hot fudge!
Expert tips
Whip it good: During the creaming stage, it’s ideal if you get lots of air whipped into the butter. The rough quality of the sugar crystals will help with this. But you really want to beat it for a good 5 minutes, at least, to get that tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Scrape: Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl, to release and incorporate any stiff butter that may cling there.
Don’t overmix: Once the flour goes in, stir the dough as little as possible. This will avoid overworking the natural glutens in the flour that could cause toughness.
Hold back on the chips: I like to set a handful of chocolate chips aside, and sprinkle them on top of the skillet cookie before baking. It just makes it look extra pretty!
Don’t overbake: If your skillet cookie spends too much time in the oven, it won’t come out as soft and it could be dry. Keep in mind that it will continue to cook and firm up as it cools. It’s known as “carry over cooking,” the idea that things will continue to increase in temperature for several minutes after they’ve been removed from the heat source.
Frequently asked questions
I probably wouldn’t go any smaller than 8 inches, or else your skillet cookie could overflow. But you could make this in a bigger skillet, or in a few smaller skillets, or even bake it up as bars.
Just keep in mind that you may have to adjust the bake time for a thinner or smaller cookie, and look for those visual cues rather than relying on the times given, which are only approximate anyway.
I think the perfect time to eat this would be about 20 minutes after it comes out of the oven, so it’s still really warm and gooey in the middle.
But you can work that out if you’d like to prep ahead!
It’s fine to make the dough a couple of days ahead, and just bake it off when you’re ready. Just keep it in the fridge until about an hour before you plan to serve it.
You can also freeze the raw dough. It will last in the freezer for a couple of months, and you don’t have to thaw it before baking. It can go straight from freezer to oven, but you may need to extend the bake time a bit.
It’s fine to leave this out at room temp for a day or so, but any longer than that and it should probably go into the fridge or freezer.
A baked cookie should last around a week in the fridge, or several months in the freezer. It can be thawed at room temp and reheated in the microwave (remove it from the pan first) or in a 170-degree oven (covered) until warmed through.
This skillet cookie can generously serve as many as 6 people.
The nutritional info provided in the recipe card below is for 1/6th of the whole skillet cookie. It does not include ice cream, caramel sauce, or any other kind of topping. It’s just for the cookie.
A few more of my best cookie recipes
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Skillet Cookie
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170.25 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar, loosely packed
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 (44 g) egg, large
- 1 (18 g) egg yolk, large
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (6 g) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (32 g) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon (4.5 g) kosher salt
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until very pale and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes minimum).
- Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, beating until completely incorporated.
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, stirring on medium-low speed just until all the ingredients are combined (do not over-mix).
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Transfer the cookie dough to an 8-inch diameter cast iron skillet and bake until the edges are golden brown and set but the center is still soft (approx. 25 to 30 minutes).
