High Altitude Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

A big, soft, chewy and gooey high altitude chocolate chip skillet cookie baked in a cast iron skillet and served warm with ice cream. If you have a craving for chocolate chip cookies, you’ll love how easy this skillet cookie is to make. No mixer needed, no time spent chilling the dough or rolling cookie dough balls, just warm, delicious cookies in less than an hour!

Looking for more chocolate chip cookie recipes? Don’t miss my best high altitude chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookie dough truffles, cookie butter chocolate chip blondies, and double chocolate chip rye cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Perfect for a Crowd. For a night in with family or friends, a skillet cookie is such a fun dessert to serve. You don’t even need individual bowls, just scoop some ice cream on top of the warm cookie, give everyone a spoon, and let them dig in!

Easy and Fast. This recipe is about as easy as it gets when it comes to homemade chocolate chip cookies. I make the dough with melted butter, which makes it super easy to mix up by hand, no mixer required. You only need to briefly cool the dough for a few minutes before stirring in the chocolate chips. It bakes in about 30 minutes, and is fantastic served warm from the oven.

Make Ahead. You can make the dough earlier in the day, or even a few days in advance and press it into the pan. When you’re ready to bake it, just pop it in the oven.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• Unsalted Butter. To control the saltiness in a recipe, I always bake with unsalted butter and then add salt. If you use salted butter, just be sure to omit or reduce the extra salt.
• Sugar. A mix of both white granulated sugar and dark brown sugar adds moisture, sweetness and a hint of molasses.
• Vanilla Extract. For the best flavor in your chocolate chip skillet cookie, use a good-quality vanilla extract.
• Egg + Egg Yolk. Eggs give cookies structure and binds the dough together so they’re chewy, rather than crumbly. The extra yolk increases the chewiness.
• Flour. Plain all-purpose flour gives the cookies structure.
• Corn Starch. A little corn starch in cookie dough tenderizes the cookies, making them softer and chewier.
• Baking Soda. Leavens the skillet cookie so it puffs up as it bakes.
• Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the chocolate. I like my cookies to be noticeably salty, so feel free to cut the salt in half if you like a sweeter cookie. If you use a finer table salt, you’ll also need to reduce the amount, since fine salt is saltier than coarse salt. In addition to the salt in the cookie dough, I sprinkled the finished skillet cookie with flaky Maldon salt, which looks beautiful and tastes fantastic.
• Espresso Powder. Many chocolate chip cookie recipes use cinnamon or nutmeg to flavor the cookies, but I love to add a teaspoon or two of instant espresso powder. The coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate, while the bitterness balances the sweetness.
• Chocolate Chips. Use your favorite. I love to use dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks, but you could also use milk, white or butterscotch chips.

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325. Lightly grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet with butter or non-stick spray.
• In a bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir together the warm melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until it smooths out. Beat in the egg and egg yolk, for about a minute, until smooth and ribbony.
• Separately, whisk together the flour, corn starch, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture just until combined. Let the dough cool for 10 minutes (cooling the dough prevents the chocolate chips from melting when you add them).
• Stir 1 1/4 cups of the chocolate chips into the dough; it will be thicker now after cooling.
• Press the dough evenly into the greased pan, and sprinkle the top of the dough with the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.

• Bake the cookie on the center oven rack for 28-30 minutes. The edges should be puffed, and the cookie golden brown, but still a bit underdone in the center. Sprinkle the top with 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt.
• Let the cookie cool for 10-15 minutes and serve warm and gooey with ice cream, or let it cool for about 1 hour to cut it into bars.

TIP: If you don’t have an oven-proof or cast iron skillet, you can bake these cookie bars in a deep dish pie pan or a square baking pan. If your pan is smaller, the bars will be thicker and may need a couple extra minutes of bake time. If your pan is bigger, the bars will be thicker and will need a couple minutes less of bake time.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I use if I don’t have a cast iron skillet?

Cast iron skillets aren’t that expensive, and you can get one for around $15-30. Mine is 10 inches, which is the perfect size for today’s recipe. But, you can also make these bars in a deep-dish pie pan or a square baking pan. Keep in mind that a larger pan will make a thinner cookie, which will take a few minutes less to make. A smaller pan will make a thicker cookie which will need a few minutes more to bake.

Can I bake this in advance and re-warm it in the oven?

I think you would risk over-baking and drying the cookie out if you re-warm it. To make it in advance, just make the dough and press it into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to bake it, let it warm up to room temperature and bake as instructed. If you bake it cold from the fridge, you’ll probably need to add a few more minutes of bake time.

How should I store the leftover cookie?

Let it cool completely. If it comes out of your pan easily, you can slide the whole cookie out, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and freeze it for 3-6 months. Or, cut the cookie into bars, and store the cookie bars in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze them for 3-6 months.

What kind of chocolate chips should I use?

Use any kind that you like! Semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks are my personal favorite. But I think this would be delicious with a mix of milk, semi-sweet and dark, as well as white chocolate and butterscotch chips. You can also add chopped nuts, like pecans or walnuts, or even crushed toffee bits.

Is this a high altitude recipe?

Yes, I’ve based this on my high altitude chocolate chip cookie recipe. Since this is a skillet cookie (or a bar cookie), it would probably work at any altitude, although for lower altitudes, you may need to decrease the flour by a couple of tablespoons and increase the baking soda from 3/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon.

Will this recipe work with gluten free or whole wheat flour?

For a gluten free chocolate chip skillet cookie, just substitute your favorite measure-for-measure gluten free flour for the all-purpose flour. With whole wheat flour, I’d suggest substituting no more than 50% of the all-purpose flour with wheat flour, or it may make the cookie too coarse.

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