Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Pecans
This is a fun and easy way to serve a crowd. Make this Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Pecans & Bourbon Caramel Sauce and wow everyone!
Today is π day; a really sort of silly day to recognize a mathematical constant. It is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to it’s diameter which is approximated as 3.14159. Represented by the Greek symbol “π” since the mid-18th century, it is more often spelled out as ‘pi’ and somehow it has became feasible to ignore the last 3 digits of the numeric representation and honor this symbol with it’s own day in the 3rd month on the 14th day or March 14th of each year.
In food bloggerland that has translated to ‘PIE’ day and I’m betting you’ll see a bazillion pies posted today as a result. Not me! I decided instead to go big cookie or go home and made this Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Pecans, Bourbon Caramel Sauce and Sea Salt.
Not that I’m THAT independent or rebellious (OK, well, maybe I might be) but I just happen to have made this big round skillet cookie last week that I thought would work equally well with the emphasis on round. It’s really a great combination of textures of both a cookie and a pie; maybe I should call it a pookie?
The outside edge bakes a bit more and results in a more crispy texture but the center of this pie cookie is anything but. It’s definitely got an ooey gooey texture. Such a perfect result for me. Love raw dough? The center comes close. Like your cookies crispier? Got that too. Some amazing homemade caramel sauce on top that even has bourbon in it? Really how much more do you need?
I’ve become especially enamored lately with chopping up my own chocolate instead of using chocolate chips. There is something in those little chocolate domes that help them keep their shape and once I started using my favorite chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s I realized I prefer the texture of random chunks of chocolate that melt a bit and then firm up with cooling.
It’s not a big deal; just a personal preference so chopped chocolate chunks or chocolate chips?
Either one is fine. What I have found that I think you do need to try though is mixing up semisweet and milk chocolate. I love both but I REALLY love them together; sort of my own personal nirvana. Again, if you have a preference…go for it. Cooking and baking are great vehicles for self expression and if you stick with the basics it’s perfect if you make the end result your own.
I’m not sure why I’ve never done a skillet cookie before but I know this. I loved it. I loved everything about it. Maybe an issue that the majority of my readers don’t have to identify with but in Colorado, it’s so dry that cookies can become hard little rocks overnight. I left this pie cookie on the counter for several days as it was slowly eaten and given away and the quality never degraded to rock hard.
Of course this Bourbon Caramel I had made to top it with did not hurt one bit. Was it necessary? Well…YES! Maybe the ice cream was an over the top indulgence but the caramel is not!
By the way? A reader has already made the caramel and left a comment yesterday that it was the BEST caramel she had ever had. A little bourbon elevates an already fantastic dessert topper.
A friend came visiting today too so of course she had to sample this decadent dessert. All I know is that she was on her way to the grocery after she left my house; excited to make both. Mine is gone; would it be wrong if I just dropped in?
PIN IT! ‘Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Pecans & Bourbon Caramel Sauce’
Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
- ¾ cup milk chocolate chunks or chips
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- Sea salt to taste I prefer Maldon but any course sea salt works
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugars together until well combined. Add the vanilla and molasses and mix until smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat slowly until incorporated.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk until thoroughly combined. Add the mixture in two batches to the wet dough and mix until smooth.
- Stir in both the dark and milk chocolate chunks and pecans.
- Line the bottom of a cast iron skillet (9-inch bottom or larger) with parchment paper and press the dough into the skillet, covering the bottom.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your skillet.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Drizzle with caramel sauce if using and sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool for an additional 45 minutes before cutting. Or if you can't wait? Grab a spoon!
I am going to try this recipe. If it comes out as good as it looks, I plan to present them as Christmas gifts wrapped in cellophane for those special people in my life. I will get back to you with the results
That sounds like fun…you are my kind of people. I haven’t bought a Christmas gift in years…it’s always something from my kitchen and I know people just love that effort from the heart.
I’ll take any excuse to eat sweets, even if in celebration of a mathematical constant and I love your spin on the circular theme with this skillet cookie. It sounds like this cookies is the best of both worlds, crisp, ooey gooey and of course, a little boozy. LOVE!
It is all those things; I shed a tear when the last piece was gone. 🙂
I like chocolate chips, mainly because they make a nice snack. 🙂 But chopped chocolate is loads more interesting — better texture, and you can use better flavored chocolate, too. Haven’t made your bourbon caramel yet, but plan to — can you believe we’re out of bourbon? The horror!
You so get it! And no I can not; shame you’re not closer John; I have so much booze I wish I could figure out how to get rid of some of it. I would GLADLY give you a bottle of bourbon!
Happy Pi Day! Haha I like the name “Pookie”
Caramel sauce and sea salt sounds so good!
Oh it was a wonderful Pookie! 🙂