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One Perfect Cookie

When my family and I go out to dinner at this one particular restaurant, we always order the same appetizer. And that is a warm chocolate chip cookie, served in a mini cast iron skillet, topped with ice cream and/or whipped cream. Sure, it’s supposed to be a dessert, but we order it first. Some of us share it. Others eat it with a fork in each hand, one fork to eat it, the other to fend off encroachers.

I recently walked into the Perfect Pear, 51 Main Street, Chester, and saw the tiny skillets hanging on display. I got one for me, and one for each of my siblings. I tried it with this recipe from the Crazy for Crust blog, and it worked out great. The edges were all crisp, the middle was gooey and chewy, and it made the house smell great. It makes a cookie just big enough for you and your sweetie. Or just you, if you’d prefer. Dorothy Kern, who writes the Crazy for Crust blog, recommends topping it with a generous serving of Reddi Whip. I’m all for that, plus sprinkles too.

If you don’t have a mini-skillet, she says you can make it in a small round cake pan, a small loaf pan, or a muffin pan with liners, which, with this recipe, would result in four smaller cookies. She says the baking time might be affected if you switch up the pan, so keep an eye on how quickly it browns.

Visit www.crazyforcrust.com/small-batch-chocolate-chip-skillet-cookie-recipe for more details. While you’re there, check out her other recipes as well. She has a bunch perfect for Halloween, including Halloween Snack Mix, Halloween Toffee Bark, and a whole category of desserts made with leftover Halloween candy.

As for the skillet chocolate chip cookie—with ice cream or whipped cream, for just you, or for you and a someone special—maybe make it sooner rather than later.

Life is short, eat dessert first.

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie

Adapted from a recipe by Dorothy Kern, Crazy for Crust

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter, melted

8 teaspoons granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

(or other chocolate chips or candy)

Reddi-Wip, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Use a 6.25” mini cast iron skillet, or a 6” cake pan, or a 8 x 4” loaf pan, or make individual cookies in a muffin pan. If you are using a skillet, cake, or loaf pan, spray it with nonstick cooking spray. If you’re using a muffin pan, use liners for easy removal and serving (it will probably make about 4 muffin sized cookies).

• Melt butter in a large bowl. Stir in both sugars, then egg yolk, extract, baking soda, and salt.

• Carefully stir in the flour then mix in the chocolate chips.

• Optional: add 1/3 cup of your favorite kind of chips or candy.

• Bake the mini cast iron skillet for about 18 to 24 minutes. Place a sheet pan or aluminum foil on the oven shelf underneath the skillet to catch any dough that might drop off. Keep an eye on it. Bake until the edges are puffed and the center no longer looks translucent. Using another pan will affect baking time, so watch carefully.

• Serve warm, with lots of Reddi-Wip, and, if you want to make it even more fun, sprinkles.