Browned Butter Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie

This is the BEST chocolate chunk skillet cookie made even better with nutty browned butter and scoops of cold vanilla ice cream! Nothing says summer like sharing a giant warm cookie with the whole fam right out of the skillet!

What makes this skillet cookie the BEST?

• Browned Butter. Browned butter is an easy way to take all of your desserts to the next level. It creates a deep nutty flavor that will have people begging for the recipe!
• High Quality Chocolate. I like to use a mixture of shapes and types of chocolate. For this recipe, I used these Mini Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips, and a Chopped Lily’s Dark Chocolate Bar.
• Mix of Flours. Bread flour is mixed with all purpose flour in this recipe to help the cookie maintain the chewiness I love in a cookie. It won’t change the flavor of the cookie at all, but the extra protein in bread flour helps develop more gluten and retain the moisture, which leads to a chewier cookie.

How to Make Browned Butter Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie

Brown the Butter

In a medium saucepan (I like to use this stainless steel one because the butter browns more evenly in stainless steel or cast iron than it does in a non stick pan) add the butter over medium heat. As the butter melts, swirl it around in the pan. Once it’s all melted, the milk solids will start to separate from the fat. Continue to let it cook and swirl the pan around occasionally. It will start to crackle and pop as the milk solids begin to toast.

Then, it will start to foam up, have a nutty aroma, and become quiet. That’s how you know its done. Swirl the pan again and see the golden browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Remove it from the heat and pour it into a bowl to cool.

*When you brown butter, some of it will evaporate. So, while you started out with 1 C or 226g of butter before browning, you’ll only have about 185-190g of browned butter. This is why weighing your ingredients is so important. If you end up with less browned butter than 188-190 grams, add a little extra melted butter so that you have the correct amount.

Make the cookie dough

Once the butter has cooled, add it into the bowl of your stand mixer along with the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. Cream with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes, or until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, as pictured below. Add the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix another 2 minutes. Mixing the eggs for a couple of minutes will allow them to emulsify and create a cookie that’s light in texture, so don’t skimp on the mixing time here.

Add in the dry ingredients and mix until mostly combined with a few streaks of flour remaining. Then fold in most of the chocolate, saving some back to sprinkle on top.

Bake and serve

Press the dough into an even layer in a 9″ cast iron skillet and sprinkle with remaining chocolate. I use this skillet from Le Creuset, but this one from Lodge would also work well! Bake at 350 for 23-25 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown, but the middle is still wet. The middle will seem pretty underdone and wobbly, but remove it anyway! Cast iron pans hold their heat for a long time and the cookie will finish baking outside of the oven.

To serve, sprinkle the cookie with flaky salt and top with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream. Hand everyone a spoon, and dig right in! Best served warm.

Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie FAQs

• How long does the skillet cookie keep? If you don’t put ice cream on top, it will stay fresh for up to a week on the counter. Once you’ve dug into it, I would recommend covering it so it doesn’t dry out.
• Can I make it Gluten Free? Yes. You should have no trouble making this recipe gluten free by using 2 1/4 C 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour in place of the all purpose and bread flour. The cookie might not be quite as chewy, but will still be delicious.
• Can I use Light Brown Sugar? I love using dark brown sugar, and you’ll see it in a lot of my recipes. Dark brown sugar has more molasses which gives it a deeper, caramel-like flavor. It also makes cookies (and this skillet cookie) darker in color. Using light brown sugar as a replacement will work just fine!
• Why does this recipe call for cream of tartar? Can I skip it? Cream of tartar is used in this recipe for its acidity. The acidity will help activate the baking soda and keep the texture of the cookie light. I don’t recommend skipping it, but it shouldn’t change the end result TOO much.

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If you loved this recipe for my Browned Butter Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie, be sure to leave a star rating and review below and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on Instagram and TikTok. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on any of the photos throughout this post.

For more recipes you’ll love, check out my

• Cookie Butter Skillet Brownie
• Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Browned Butter Oreo Brownies