Cast Iron Cookie Pie
Is there such a thing as a bad chocolate chip cookie? Unless you’ve totally bamboozled the recipe or burned them to a crisp, I don’t think so. There’s just something about flour, butter, sugar and chocolate that are a marriage made in cookie heaven.
So, when this chocolate chip “cookie” recipe from Lodge Cast Iron, a company that’s right up the road from my hometown — Chattanooga, Tenn. — I ran to my cabinets, pulled out my cast-iron skillet, grabbed what I needed from my pantry and refrigerator, preheated my oven and got to work.
The beauty of this cookie comes in its simplicity. There’s no need to spend time making dough balls. Just pat the dough in the skillet, put it in the oven to bake and you’re done. The cast iron produces a crispy crust outside and tender, moist inside. Use chocolate chips or M&Ms. But just for fun, I tried both and that worked, too. Serve with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. Or if you can’t wait, pour yourself a glass of wine or cup of coffee and have a warm slice of cookie.
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips or M&Ms or mixture of both
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat both sugars and the butter until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir well with a wooden spoon. The dough will be stiff. Stir in the chocolate chips or M & Ms.
Oil or butter a 10-inch cast-iron skillet (or spray with cooking spray). Pat the cookie dough evenly into the skillet. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake.
Remove the skillet from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Cut the cookie into desired wedges and serve it directly from the skillet using a pie server.
