Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

          Lately I have seen recipes for skillet cookies everywhere, so I've been dying to try my hand at one.  I absolutely love my cast iron skillets.  They will be a work horse for you in the kitchen.  I adore the fact that they can do double duty for you—meaning you can use them on your stovetop as well as in your oven.  For years I have used my cast iron skillets for baking cornbread, but never something sweet.  So here is my experience baking a cookie in my skillet:

          The recipe I used gave the suggestion of using chocolate chips and toffee chips, which I loved, but if you’re not a toffee person, you can just use more chocolate chips in place of the toffee chips.

          First step is melting the butter in your skillet. 

          Add the sugars and vanilla extract, and let it rest for about 5 minutes.

          Add your egg and stir well.

          Add dry ingredients. 

          Here is where I began to have a problem.  This recipe suggests doing everything right in your skillet, which I think is great—in theory.  However, I am apparently a messy cook who doesn’t have the time or patience required to mix all of this in a skillet without making a huge mess.

          Once the dry ingredients are combined, stir in your chips and/or toffee pieces (insert more messiness on my part here).

          I made sure the dough was spread evenly throughout the skillet, then placed it in the oven. 

          Recipe said to bake for 15-20 minutes.  That’s when I snapped this picture:

         

          However, when I cut into it, I felt like it was just way too gooey for my preferences, so I put in back in the oven for five minutes.  It was still pretty soft in the center when I pulled it out but I didn't want my edges too dark so I went with it.

          I served it up warm with vanilla ice cream, and it was delicious!  It is so much better than a plain, ordinary cookie.  I was a little disappointed when I saw this recipe was for an 8” skillet because I didn’t think that would be enough, but a little slice goes a long way.  This is very rich. 
          The one thing I would change is mixing everything in the skillet.  I don’t know if that is supposed to have some special effect, or if its just to save you from having a bowl to clean up—but I’d rather clean the bowl than to try to neatly mix everything in the skillet again.  It wasn’t good.  Next time, I’ll whip this up in a bowl, and spread it out in my skillet.  I see many more skillet cookies in my future.  Enjoy!

Sipping Chocolate

            Have you ever indulged in this decadent drink?  I had heard of sipping chocolate, but never experienced it until recently.  I made a run to Trader Joe’s this week to replenish my stock of Cookie Butter, among other things, and saw this product:

            Chocolate was pretty much the only word I needed to suck me in, but sipping chocolate?  Oh, yes.  The name alone suggests something you get to spend time with and enjoy slowly.  My family is aware of my passion for hot chocolate.  I enjoy a cup of cocoa no matter what the weather—rain or shine, whether it is cold or hot out, it is one of my loves; therefore, it wasn’t a hard sell for me to pick up a container of this.

            After viewing some photos online, it seems sipping chocolate from scratch is probably a lot thicker than this mix turns out, although some photos did appear to look more like hot chocolate.  Maybe this is simply about preference.  No matter what is “standard” for sipping chocolate, this mix from Trader Joe’s is delicious. 

I used 1/3 cup whole milk, and the 3 Tablespoons of mix the directions call for to make Sipping Chocolate.  It also gives instructions for hot chocolate. Doesn't it look delicious?

           

            It has inspired me to make it from scratch in the near future.  Until then, I’ll be enjoying a cup of this every once in a while.  Today I am linking up with Time Warp Wife.  

Give it a look.  Blessings!