Skip the baking sheets and grab your skillet for a crowd-friendly recipe for The Ultimate Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Skillet cookie, cookie sundae, pizookie—no matter what you call it, one thing is certain: warm cookie + ice cream = dessert perfection!
It’s hard to beat that view below. The vanilla bean ice cream slowly melting into every nook and cranny of melted chocolate, chewy cookie dough and crunchy sea salt.
Don’t forget that last part! The addition of the sea salt is what takes this family favorite skillet chocolate chip cookie from amazing to oh-so-spectacular.
I’ve opted for chopped semisweet chocolate in this variation, but you can let your imagination run wild when it comes to chocolate varieties. I love a combo of semisweet and dark chocolate chunks so you get that duo of cacao flavors.
Chocolate aside, more is more when it comes to mix-ins. Opt for one cup (plus a bit more for topping) of any of the below:
- Chopped nuts, such as pecans or macadamia nuts
- Crushed pretzels
- Crispy cereal
- Crushed potato chips (trust me!)
All of the above add a touch of crunch to your cookie but are totally optional.
The real beauty behind this 5-star dessert is that it can be prepped ahead of time. Mix up your dough, get it into a greased skillet, then pop it into the fridge.
About 45 minutes before you want to serve it, pop the skillet into the oven while you and your buddies enjoy dinner and drinks.
Remove it from the oven, grab your ice cream of choice (hello, vanilla bean!) then skip the plates and just grab the spoons for a crowd-friendly cookie sundae that’s the ultimate marriage of warm, chewy cookie and ice cream.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp, plus more for greasing skillet
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temp
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet with butter.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the bowl aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter with the sugar and light brown sugar.
- Add eggs, one at a time, until mixed in, then add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add the flour mixture into the stand mixer and mix just until the dough comes together then beat in the chocolate until combined.
- Scrape the dough into the skillet, then sprinkle it with the sea salt.
- Bake the cookie for 30 to 35 minutes until it’s barely cooked in the center.
- Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving topped with ice cream (optional).
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
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Recipe by Just a Taste. Please do not reprint this recipe without my permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please rewrite the method of preparation and link to this post as the original source.
This was a confounding bake. It has the flavor and aroma of a cookie, but it’s definitely a cake. It is high-rising (about 1.5 inches high) and has the texture of a cake. I wonder if three eggs is too many?!? Or maybe use less baking powder?!?
Hi there! I’ve never experienced the cake-like texture, but feel free to try it with 2 eggs if you prefer a chewier cookie.
30 to 35 minutes is not long enough baking time. It probably should be 45 to 50 minutes.
Hi Michelle! Oven temperatures can cause great variances in the bake time. Do you have an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is running at the correct temperature? And was the rack in the center of the oven?
So dang good.
I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
greatttttt!!
This has the best potential! But, I didn’t realize my cast iron skillet is only 10 in, not 12 in. How would you modify the ingredient list for the smaller pan size? (I tried cooking it longer but still pretty raw on the inside and the crust was over cooking…
Definitely want to try it again.
Hi Susan! I’d portion out as much dough as fits into your 10-inch skillet and then bake the remaining dough either as scooped cookies or in a smaller baking dish. Enjoy!
Great recipe to change up chocolate chip cookies.
The only thing I changed was I put 3/4 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup coconut sugar and it was really good and sweet enough.
Such a neat way to do a dessert for sure Thanks
Awesome! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Marilyn!
I made this yesterday and was very tired so made multiple mistakes but it did turn out quite nice it was very satisfying putting it into the skillet. The only bad thing my family said was it was very salty that might have been me putting to mush but do be careful to not put to much salt in it was still very good i would strongly suggest vanilla ice cream because that went really well with the warn cookie.
I followed this recipe fairly closely. I didn’t have unsalted butter so I used salted butter. I measured my flour to 375 g. I used cold eggs. And it was AMAZING. I cooked it for 35 minutes exactly and it turned out perfectly. It is very rich but it is something I will definitely add to my recipe collection!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Kat!
I made this in 2 mini cast iron skillets and it was perfect! My family devoured them. Just like you would get from a restaurant.
I’m so thrilled your family enjoyed the recipe, Tommie!
I made this last night and it came out pretty much perfect. After reading all the reviews and hearing some of the challenges others had, certainly I had my concerns. However I told my wife I was making our family a giant ass skillet cookie for dessert so I was determined.
I was fortunate that our cast iron skillet was 12″. My butter was slightly softened via the microwave as it is pretty cold in New England right now and leaving it on the counter for hours didn’t soften it enough. I reduced the sugar from 1 1/4 cups to 1 cup. I used 3 eggs, just as the recipe instructed. My wife had picked out dark chocolate chunks for the cookie so we used those and I crumbled up some pecans and added them. I did sprinkle some sea salt on the top of the cookie before baking it. The batter was thick and hard to spread throughout the skillet – which told me it would come out like a cookie, not a cake. Lastly – I baked it for 31 minutes before it looked just enough “undone” in the center. It was brown around the edges of the cookie, but if you touched the center of the cookie it was clearly soft. Left it on the stove for 15m to cool before cutting it and serving it. Everyone loved it.
It was NOT cake like. It was crumbly like a cookie. My biggest surprise I guess was how much the cookie rose. It was a really thick cookie, but no one was complaining.
Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe. We will be making it again. Although next time we will not just cut the damn thing in fourths and everyone get a piece. That was a bit much. lol
Thank you so much for your comment, Chris! I’m thrilled you and your family enjoyed the skillet cookie and I love the additions of pecans!
The texture was ok but the aftertaste was bitter.
Hi Nan! This is likely attributed to the baking powder freshness. If it’s old, it can result in a more metallic taste.
Did you mean a Tablespoon Baking Soda or a Teaspoon? Seems like too much
Tablespoon is correct! This is a very large cookie :)
I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out quite cake-y and dry, not at all a soft or buttery tasting cookie. I think it calls for too much flour so I plan to reduce to 2 cups next time
Hi Shiloh! I’ve never experienced this cookie being dry, but feel free to adjust the ingredients as you’d like.
It was a favorite of the kids. First time I had made it, too.
I’m thrilled to read this, Connie!