What could possibly be tastier than a chocolate chip skillet cookie made with brown butter and served with homemade hot fudge and caramel?
If you could have any birthday cake you wanted, what would it be? This is the question I’ve been asking members of my family this year. I tried to do it last year but I failed pretty miserably (then I kind of failed miserably this year because I didn’t make my mom a cake for her birthday, but in my defense I did cook her the dinner of her choice and we also had leftover cake AND rice krispies treats from my nephew’s birthday so….).
Philip chose Italian cream cake for his January birthday. Next up, my brother Tom’s March birthday. Last year, he got a the Irish cream and chocolate stout cheesecake, but this year his vote was either for red velvet cake balls or blondies with whiskey caramel. That worked out pretty perfectly for me because I had been tossing around the idea of blogging about some sort of chocolate chip skillet cookie, using my Lodge cast iron of course.
Cookie cake has always been one of those things that’s either really good or really disappointing. Now, I could eat that thick fudgy icing off of a a Great American Cookie Company cookie cake with a fork, but the white icing is pretty blah and the cookie is just okay (though I did recently discover that Federal Bake Shop makes a pretty fantastic cookie cake-WHY have I not blogged about them yet? Maybe because I would want to order everything in the case!).
This cookie cake, though…it’s not disappointing. Now in any way. Using the brown butter chocolate chip cookie batter from the cookies that I made back in July, I whipped up this chocolate chip skillet cookie and the angels sang. I added some salted whiskey caramel and thick hot fudge sauce. Amen and amen. I wish I had some right now, actually…but I sent it home with my brother. Because that’s just the kind of sister I am.
So, if someone were going to make you your perfect birthday cake, what would it be?
If you aren’t sure, this brown butter chocolate chip skillet cookie is a good place to start!
30 minPrep Time:
1 hrCook Time:
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Ingredients
- 8 ¾ ounces all-purpose flour (1 ¾ cup)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 ½ ounces granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 5 ¼ ounces brown sugar (¾ cup packed)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 ¼ cup chocolate chips (I like the 60% cacao Ghirardelli chips)
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons ((90 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons whiskey (I used Chattanooga Whiskey)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2/3 cup heavy cream (I used half-and-half)
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (I used natural, Dutch-process may be used; if your cocoa is particularly lumpy, sift it)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 6 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used 3 ounces 54% and 3 ounces 72%)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the caramel sauce: using a wooden spoon, stir the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and light golden in color. Be sure to stir constantly and don’t let it burn! Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, stirring each until melted before adding the next. Be careful as the sugar will bubble when add the butter and boiling sugar is essentially the same as boiling hot lava. Once all the butter is melted, add the heavy cream and, with the heat turned off, the whiskey. Turn the heat back on and boil for one minute, continuing to stir constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Allow to cool until no longer molten before serving.
- Make the hot fudge sauce: Bring cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, optional salt, and half the chocolate to a boil heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring frequently until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil for 5 minutes, continuing to stir constantly. Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla, and the remaining chocolate. Stir until completely smooth. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
- Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the flour and baking soda together in a bowl and set aside.
- Place 4 tablespoons of the butter into a large bowl. Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining 10 tablespoons of the butter to the pan. Cook and stir, watching closely, until the butter browns. Pour the browned butter into the bowl with the rest of the butter and let it sit, stirring occasionally, until the remaining butter melts.
- Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg/egg yolk to the bowl with the butter and whisk for thirty seconds. Let stand for three minutes then whisk for another thirty seconds. Repeat the standing and whisking two more times. Use a rubber spatula to stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel. Spread the cookie batter into the skillet and bake for 30-40 minutes, until light golden around the edges and set in the center. Be careful not to overtake! Cool before serving.
Notes
Cooking time includes time to make the sauces, which can also be made while the cookie is baking.
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