Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

If you’ve never had a Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie then you have to try this easy and decadent cookie recipe. It's a delicious warm gooey chocolate chip cookie made with browned butter, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, and pecans baked in a cast-iron skillet. It's the perfect dessert for a get-together or celebration. Top it with vanilla ice cream and you'll be in dessert heaven.

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Why This Recipe Tastes So Good

Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite cookie, so I consider this skillet cookie recipe the perfect recipe. It's a great and easy dessert for any time, made with simple ingredients. This recipe is very similar to my chocolate chip cookie recipe but instead of individual cookies, you end up with one big giant warm cookie. The center is ooey-gooey and the cast iron creates a great crust on the cookie.

Plus, this treat goes directly from the oven to the table for a fun hands-on dessert or you can slice it and serve it like a tart for an elegant presentation making it the perfect dessert for entertaining.

Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookies

Here are the ingredients that you’ll need for this delicious skillet cookie:

• Unbleached All-Purpose Flour: Flour adds structure to the cookie and helps it hold its shape.
• Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the cookie and also helps creates a soft cookie
• Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the cookie, but granulated sugar helps create crisp edges.
• Unsalted Butter: The butter adds fat and flavor and helps the cookie to stay soft. It’s best to use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt. If you do use salted butter omit the kosher salt called for in the recipe.
• Whole Egg and Egg Yolk: The whole egg and egg yolk help create a tender cookie.
• Vanilla Extract: Enhances the other flavors in the cookie.
• Baking Soda: The baking soda helps create a soft fluffy cookie. 
• Baking Powder: The baking powder helps the cookie to rise in the skillet.
• Kosher Salt: The salt compliments the sweetness of the dough and enhances the other flavors. Without the cookie will taste flat.
• Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. I prefer bittersweet chocolate chops, but you can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. You can get a large chocolate bar and chop it into pieces about the size of large chocolate chips.
• Milk Chocolate Chips: The milk chocolate tastes great in this cookie when combined with dark chocolate. You can use both or just one type of chocolate depending on your tastes.
• Chopped Pecans: The pecans are optional, but taste great in this cookie. Taste the nuts before adding them to the dough. Pecans have a slightly sweet flavor. If the nuts taste bitter or stale do not use them.  You can also use walnuts if you prefer.

How to Make a Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

For this skillet cookie, I use browned butter. The brown butter adds a nice caramel note to the cookie and makes it easier to mix my hand.

Make the browned butter in a 10-inch skillet or a 3-quart saucepan. The greater the surface area of the pan the quicker the butter will brown. Brown the butter on medium-low to low heat to decrease evaporation and splatter.  

Once the butter has browned let it cool until it is barely warm, about 85 degrees F before adding it to the other ingredients.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set the mixture aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and melted browned butter. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until the wet ingredients are noticeably lighter in color.

Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Letting the wet ingredients sit will help dissolve the sugar which will help create a moist tender cookie. This method of giving the sugar time to dissolve is called the Dissolved Sugar Method.

After 5 minutes whisk the batter for another 30 seconds and let it sit for another 5 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and fold them in until there are no white specks of the flour mixture left.

Fold in the chocolate chips and the pecans until they are well distributed throughout the dough. 

At this point, the cookie dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days before baking. If the dough is refrigerated let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before pressing it in the cast-iron skillet.

Scoop the dough into the prepared cast iron pan and use your fingers to press the dough into an even layer.

For an extra bit of decadence, dot the surface of the cookie dough with additional chocolate chips.

Bake the cookie until the center registers about 170-175 degrees F with a digital thermometer. Once the cookie is done remove it from the oven and serve immediately or let it cool for 15 before cutting it into slices.

Serving Ideas for this Cookie

This big chocolate chip cookie is great for a party. You can give everyone individual servings or let everyone dig in and help themselves. This cookie is great all by itself - all soft, and warm with melted chocolate, but you can also serve it with:

• Scoops of your favorite ice cream
• Chocolate syrup or homemade caramel sauce
• Mini marshmallows
• Sprinkle flaky salt on top if you like your cookies salty.

Substitutions

• I used a combination of dark chocolate and milk chocolate for this cookie, but if you prefer you can use all dark chocolate, all milk chocolate, or a combination of dark, milk, and white chocolate.
• Replace the pecans with walnuts or leave the nuts out if you have a nut allergy

Pro Tips for Making This Recipe

• Use a digital scale to measure the flour, butter, and sugar to make sure you have the right amount of each ingredient, especially the flour. Too much flour and the cookie will be too dry. Too little and it will be gooey.
• Use room-temperature eggs and butter for this recipe. Room temperature butter will melt more evenly and there tends to be less splatter.
• Melt and brown the butter on low or medium-low heat to minimize the evaporation of the butter while it’s browning.
• Toast the nuts before adding them to the cookie dough. Toasted nuts add more flavor to the final cookie.

Recipe - Frequently Asked Questions

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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

5 from 8 votes

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

This chocolate chip skillet cookie is an ooey-gooey big warm cookie that easy to make and hard to resist. The edges are crisp and the center is soft and chocolatey.

Yield: 10

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Cheryl Norris

Ingredients

• ▢ 12 tablespoons (169 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
• ▢ 1-3/4 cup (225 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 large (50 grams) egg
• ▢ 1 large (20 grams) egg yolk
• ▢ 3/4 cup (150 grams) packed light brown sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
• ▢ 3 ounces milk chocolate chips
• ▢ 3/4 cup pecans toasted and chopped

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Instructions

• This recipe uses the 9-inch Le Creuset cast iron skillet. If you’re using a 10-inch or 12-inch cast iron skillet the baking time will vary. The best way to check for doneness is to check the temperature of the cookie in the center. It should be 175F degrees. This is the temperature at which the eggs will be properly cooked.
• Generously butter the bottom and the sides of the 9-inch skillet. Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Brown 8-tablespoons (114 grams) of the unsalted butter in a 10-inch skillet or 3-quart saucepan over low heat. As the butter melts, the milk solids will sink to the bottom of the pan and turn brown. The liquid will be a golden brown. Occasionally scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown specs on the bottom. Once the milk solids have browned, remove the pan from the heat, add the remaining 4 tablespoons (56 grams) of butter and whisk until all the butter is melted. Set aside until the butter has cooled, about 85F.
• In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, kosher salt, and baking powder. Set the flour mixture aside until ready to add to the wet ingredients.
• In a large bowl whisk together the brown sugar, the granulated sugar, and the melted browned butter. Next add the vanilla extract, the whole egg, and the egg yolk. Whisk for about 30 seconds until the mixture is smooth and lighter in color. Let the wet ingredients sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, whisk for another 30 seconds and let the mixture sit for another 5 minutes.
• Whisk the wet ingredients for another 30 seconds and then add the flour mixture. Use a spatula to fold in the dry ingredients until no white specks of flour remain.
• Add the chocolate chips and the chopped pecans and fold them in until they are distributed throughout the dough.
• Press the cookie dough into the skillet and use your fingers to ensure the dough is in an even layer.
• Bake the cookie for 30-35 minutes until the center is done and registers a temperature of 170F. Remove the cookie from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

Browned Butter: Brown the butter over low or medium-low heat to reduce evaporation and end up with as much as the liquid as possible in the cookie dough.

Weighing the Ingredients: Use a scale to weigh the flour, butter, and sugar for the best results. In the United States butter is often sold in quarter sticks that weigh about 113 grams. However, I have discovered that the weight can vary according to brand, so I prefer to weigh the butter to ensure the right amount.

Chocolate Chips: Use a combination of dark and milk chocolate chips or all dark chocolate in this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 380kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 344mg | Potassium: 184mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 477IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 1mg

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