Wholegrain Cast Iron Skillet Cookie

What's better than chocolate chip cookies? A double batch of spelt chocolate chip cookies pressed into a cast iron pan and baked into one gigantic Cast Iron Skillet Cookie! Made with whole grain flour, studded with dark chocolate chunks and dried cherries, this spelt cookie is the dessert you've been waiting for. Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it truly doesn't get any better. 

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There are few things as good as a warm chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven. 

I pride myself on having my chocolate chip cookie game optimized, with that perfectly under-baked centre that's still a bit molten and gooey, and crispy outsides. If you, like me, are all about that soft center then you are in for a treat, my friend. 

Today we're making a Cast Iron Skillet Cookie, which is as easy as it is mind-blowingly delicious. You start with your standard recipe - and we're making Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies today - but then rather than scooping out individual cookies we're just going to press the whole dang thing into a cast iron skillet. 

What's the point of that? First of all, it takes substantially less time to smush a batch of cookie dough into a skillet than it does to scoop out a few dozen cookies. 

Secondly, it's the perfect dessert. Crispy on the edges, molten in the middle, and a deep malty flavour from the spelt cookie that says heyyyyyy baby in an impossibly baritone voice. 

Studded with dark chocolate chunks, a generous handful of dried cherries for some sophisticated tang, and a smattering of smoked salt brings it home. If you're not already grabbing the butter from your fridge, you need to check your priorities. 

What do I need to make this recipe?

This is a fairly standard cookie recipe with a few exceptions. Here's what you'll need:

• Butter --> We're using cold butter today. Salted is usually how I roll.
• Brown sugar --> I use light brown muscovado sugar.
• Granulated sugar --> A little bit less than in your standard cookie recipe.
• Eggs --> Two large fellas straight from the fridge.
• Vanilla --> Did you know you can make your own homemade vanilla extract?!
• Flour --> I used wholegrain spelt flour, but you can use whole wheat if you don't have spelt on hand.
• Baking powder and baking soda --> Our leavening crew.
• Salt --> I love smoked salt in this recipe, but you could also use homemade vanilla salt!
• Chocolate --> I chopped up a bar of 70% dark chocolate, but feel free to use chips if you have time.
• Dried cherries --> Fancy! Tangy! Delicious! But you can totally skip this if you want.

Do I need any special equipment? 

You need a cast iron skillet large enough to press the cookie dough into. I use this 12-inch cast iron skillet and it turns out perfectly. 

If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can bake the cookie pressed into two round cake pans - you'll just need to shorten the baking time a bit - or you can always scoop them and bake regular sized cookies as a last resort. 

How do you make a skillet cookie?

I'll talk you through it! And you can reference these handy step-by-step photos as you go. 

Step 1: (above) Combine the cold, cubed butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl with an electric mixer is fine too).

Step 2: (above) Mix on medium-low speed for about 3 minutes, until the butter and sugars are well mixed. Stop and scrape the bottom and sides, and mix for another two minutes. 

Step 3: (above) Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture, and mix until well combined. Stop, scrape the bottom and sides, and mix for another minute. 

Step 4: (above) Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the wet mixture. Yes, this is correct. This is how we're going to keep it a one bowl situation and ensure even distribution of the leaveners. Give it a quick mix. 

Step 5: (above) Add the spelt flour to the bowl. 

Step 6: (above) Mix until just combined, but do not over mix. 

Step 7: (above) Add the dark chocolate chunks and dried cherries to the  bowl. 

Step 8: (above) Mix 'em in!

Step 9: (above) Liberally butter the bottom and sides of a large cast iron skillet. 

Step 10: (above) Press the spelt cookie dough into the skillet. 

Step 11: Bake! It'll take about 20-30 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your edges. 

Step 12: (below) Let your Cast Iron Skillet Cookie rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting into it, as the middle will still be quite gooey. This is the hardest part! 

Step 13: Serve!!! A scoop of vanilla ice cream is highly recommended. 

A few tips and tricks:

• Starting with cold butter and cutting it into cubes allows to you skip the step of softening your butter in advance. It mixes up just fine, and the texture of the skillet cookie is very forgiving.
• I use salted butter for practically 100% of my baking, because that's what I always have on hand. I usually reduce the salt that the recipe calls for by about 50% accordingly.
• This recipe calls for smoked salt, which is kind of a fancy pants ingredient. I think it's delicious, but it's also delicious with regular old flaky salt (I like Maldon). 
• This recipe calls for dried cherries, which are tangy and delicious fodder to the malty spelt flour and the dark chocolate. If you can't find them, just add extra chocolate. 

Can I make this recipe in advance?

You sure can. You can make the cookie dough, press it into the cast iron skillet, and throw the whole thing into your fridge until you're ready to bake it. Let me tell you, there is no more perfect way to finish of a dinner party than with a gloriously warm and gooey spelt skillet cookie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

You can also make the dough and freeze it unbaked. I'd recommend you wrap it in plastic, press it into the skillet, and then freeze it in that shape so you can easily pop it into the skillet and bake from frozen another time.

You can also bake the skillet cookie ahead of time and let it rest on the counter. Serve at room temperature, or gently re-heat individual slices in the microwave. 

Leftover skillet cookie can be broken apart and tossed into a freezer bag (I love these resuable silicon freezer bags) and kept for up to three months in the freezer. I assure you that it won't actually last that long, however. 

Can I use another kind of flour?

Yes you can. I use spelt flour because it's my favourite whole grain flour (and, absurdly, much easier to find that whole wheat flour where I live) but if spelt chocolate chip cookies don't sound appealing to you, feel free to use white whole wheat or even all-purpose flour instead. 

Hey Nutrition Lady, is this healthy?

Other tasty treats you might enjoy:

Peanut Butter Oat Bars
Fudgy Adzuki Bean Brownies
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Quinoa
Healthy Cherry Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chunks
Chickpea Blondies
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Yogurt Cake

This recipe was originally published February 14, 2013. It was retested, rephotographed, and last updated on April 15, 2020.