How To Make A Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie Without A Cast Iron Skillet

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Chocolate chip cookies are hands down one of the best desserts out there. Not only are they relatively versatile and easy to enhance with your favorite add-ins, but everyone seems to have a recipe for how to make the best batch. Another underscored benefit? These cookies are small and easy to eat — though they don't always have to be pint-sized. 

Enter: the skillet cookie. Traditionally, this recipe starts by mixing up your normal cookie ingredients — like the butter, flour, eggs, sugar, and chocolate chips — into a dough. But instead of shaping your cookies into 2-tablespoon balls on a cookie sheet, the dough is pressed into a cast iron skillet and baked in the oven until it's golden brown on top and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Once the cookie is baked, it can topped with your favorite vanilla ice cream, sliced like a pie, and served to your awaiting guests. 

But what if you don't have a cast iron skillet? Luckily, you can swap this workhorse of a pan for a non-stick, oven-safe skillet. This lightweight swap that will still give you a delicious cookie — no seasoning required. 

Traditionally, cast irons are used for skillet cookies because of they're really good at retaining heat. But, the big drawback to using a skillet — besides the fact that it weighs a ton and you need to stay on top of seasoning it — is that you have to properly preheat it before you can press your dough into it and bake your cookie. While the preheat is important, as it will crisp up the edges of the cookie and give you the crunchiness and golden-brownness that you're looking for, it also can take a ton of time. 

If you use an oven-safe, non-stick skillet, you won't have to do the preheating step. The one thing you will have to contend with, though, is that your cookie might not have the same perfectly browned edges and crispiness that it would if it was baked in cast iron. This is because other pan materials just don't retain heat quite like a cast iron does. 

The key here is that the skillet you swap for the cast iron needs to be non-stick and oven-safe. Therefore, anything with a wooden or plastic handle is out of the question, as is any non-stick coating that would melt the second it hits the oven. Caraway, for example, makes a non-stick, oven-safe skillet that can be used for this recipe, as well as for normal stovetop cooking.