Mini Cookie Skillet

This mini cookie skillet is soft and gooey in the middle, packed with melty chocolate chips, and baked in a small cast iron skillet. Brown butter gives the cookie extra flavor, and you can have them warm from the oven without making an entire batch of cookies.

 

I created these for those nights when I’m craving a warm chocolate chip cookie but don’t want a couple dozen sitting around afterward. You get a small warm skillet cookie perfect for two people for sharing. Or not sharing. I’m not judging. Kind of like my single serve chocolate chip cookies but this time I get the whole deep dish cookie experience.

I also decided to brown the butter like I did for this mini fluffernutter cookie skillet instead of simply melting it because it adds so much more flavor without adding any extra ingredients. And you don’t have to worry about chilling the dough or the cookies spreading too much in the oven.

Ingredients Needed

• Unsalted butter: Browning the butter gives these cookies a deeper, nutty flavor. Watch it carefully toward the end because it can go from browned to burned quickly. Read How To Brown Butter.
• Light brown sugar: If you run out, read How To Make Brown Sugar.
• Granulated sugar
• Egg yolk: Use just the yolk, not the whole egg. A whole egg would add too much moisture for this small amount of cookie dough.
• Milk: This replaces some of the moisture lost when the butter is browned. Water can also be used.
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour: For best results, weigh your flour with a kitchen scale. If using measuring cups, spoon the flour into the cup and level it off without packing it down.
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Semisweet chocolate chips: You can substitute milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or chopped chocolate if you prefer.

How to Make A Mini Cookie Skillet

1. Prepare the oven and skillet.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (177°C). Butter a 6-inch skillet.

You can also bake in two small ramekins. I baked these in two 8-ounce ramekins and they worked great!

2. Brown the butter.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring or swirling the pan frequently.

The butter will melt, begin to foam, and then start to sizzle as the water cooks off. Keep watching closely. Once you see golden brown specks forming on the bottom of the pan and the butter smells nutty, immediately remove it from the heat.

Those browned milk solids are where all that extra flavor comes from, so be sure to scrape them into your mixing bowl along with the butter.

Let the browned butter cool for about 3 to 5 minutes. It can still be warm, but you don’t want it piping hot when you add the egg yolk.

3. Mix the wet ingredients.

Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the warm brown butter until combined.

Add the egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and whisk until the mixture looks smooth. The milk is especially helpful here because browning butter cooks off some of its water, so adding a small amount back keeps the cookie dough from becoming too dry.

4. Finish the cookie dough.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt directly to the wet ingredients. Stir with a spatula until there are just a few streaks of flour remaining.

Fold in the chocolate chips, stirring only until they’re evenly distributed and the last streaks of flour disappear.

Once you add the flour, avoid overmixing. Too much mixing can develop more gluten and make your deep dish cookies tougher instead of soft and tender.

5. Add cookie dough to the skillet

Add the cookie dough to the prepared cast iron. Gently press the dough into an even layer.

You can save a few chocolate chips to press into the top before baking if you want more visible pools of chocolate on top.

6. Bake.

Bake for about 14 to 16 minutes, beginning to check the cookies around 13 minutes.

The edges should look set and lightly golden, but the centers should still look soft. Don’t wait until the entire cookie looks completely baked through.

Because the skillet retains heat, the center will continue cooking and setting after you take them out of the oven. Pulling them while they’re still slightly underdone in the middle is what gives you that soft, gooey deep-dish texture.

7. Serve warm.

Let the skillet cool for about 5 minutes before serving. The skillet will be extremely hot, so be careful when serving them.

It’s especially good when the center is still warm and the chocolate chips are melty. For the full deep-dish cookie experience, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Recipe Tips

• Don’t walk away while browning the butter. Once the milk solids begin to brown, butter can go from perfectly nutty to burned very quickly. Remove it from the heat as soon as you see golden brown specks and smell that nutty aroma.
• Let the brown butter cool before adding the egg yolk. The butter can be warm, but it shouldn’t be piping hot. Adding an egg yolk to very hot butter can cause it to cook instead of blending smoothly into the dough.
• Measure the flour carefully. Adding too much flour can make the cookies dry instead of soft and gooey. For the most accurate results, weigh your flour or use the spoon-and-level method.
• Don’t overbake the skillet. The center should still look slightly soft when you remove the from the oven. It’ll continue to set from the residual heat of the cast iron.
• Serve warm. This dessert is best cooling for just a few minutes, when the edges have set but the center is still chocolate are still warm and gooey.

Storage

Let the skillet cool completely, then cover tightly with plastic wrap or transfer to an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

You can also freeze any leftovers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator, then warm before serving.