Posted by Erin
Here’s a fun fact about me: I love to bake but I have no self-control around really good homemade desserts. Like, NONE. I’ll nibble and take a bite here and there throughout the day and, before I know it, I’ve eaten the majority of the pan of brownies or half a pie. It’s why I’ve been in Weight Watchers going on 17 years! I recognize my own weaknesses so I’ve learned to make portion controlled desserts. My favorite is this skillet cookie. On a night when I need something rich, warm, and decadent but don’t want a pan of desserts sitting around all weekend to tempt me, I make this cookie. It’s big enough for my husband and me to share but, I’m not going to lie, I usually eat it all by myself with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. So, go ahead and make one for you and one for your husband. Wait until your kids go to bed and that will save you from having to share. Ha! Oh, don’t act like you haven’t done it. 😉
I always make this cookie in small cast iron skillets that I got one year for Christmas. They were part of a little skillet brownie kit. That mix’s brownies were BLECH (if you haven’t tried our family brownie recipe, you really need to do that for yourself), but the skillets are awesome so if you see any of those sets around the after-Christmas sales this year, grab a few! If you don’t happen to have a cast iron skillet yet, you can just make these in a regular baking pan too.
Ingredients:
- 2 T. butter (I always use real butter for baking.)
- 2 T. firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 T. granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk
- ¼ c. all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ c. roughly chopped pecans, optional (but SO good – I usually add extra!)
- Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 7″ or larger skillet/pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the butter in 10 second increments until it’s soft and just beginning to melt. Blend softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla together with a spoon. Add the egg yolk and stir until it’s well blended. Add flour and baking soda and stir again until combined. Lastly, stir in chocolate chips (and pecans, if desired). Heap the dough into the center of skillet/pan and flatten slightly. No need to spread it to the edge; it will spread as it cooks. Bake for 10 -12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly. Do me a favor and wait until it’s not scalding hot before you dig in. It will be the longest few minutes of your life. Top it with ice cream, and eat it straight from the pan!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- • 2 T. butter (I always use real butter for baking.)
- • 2 T. firmly packed brown sugar
- • 1 T. granulated sugar
- • Pinch of salt
- • ¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- • 1 egg yolk
- • ¼ c. all-purpose flour
- • ¼ tsp. baking soda
- • ¼ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- • ¼ c. roughly chopped pecans, optional (but SO good – I usually add extra!)
- • Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 7" or larger skillet/pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the butter in 10 second increments until it’s soft and just beginning to melt.
- Blend softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla together with a spoon. Add the egg yolk and stir until it’s well blended.
- Add flour and baking soda and stir again until combined. Lastly, stir in chocolate chips (and pecans, if desired).
- Heap the dough into the center of skillet/pan and flatten slightly. No need to spread it to the edge; it will spread as it cooks.
- Bake for 10 -12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly.
- Do me a favor and wait until it’s not scalding hot before you dig in. It will be the longest few minutes of your life. Top it with ice cream, and eat it straight from the pan!
How many smart points?
I have no idea, to be honest. We are not an exclusively Weight Watchers blog even though we do post a lot of Weight Watchers recipes (3 of us are Weight Watchers). When we bake, we use real butter, whole milk, etc. because we believe some things are worth the splurge.
We just save these treats for weekends and special occssions.
Goodness, I love a good skillet cookie!