"Stupid Good" Skillet Cookie

Well hello! The weekend is upon us. Do you have anything fun planned? 
Last week, we had a friend over for dinner. I was making Chef Joho's braised short rib recipe. Its not a complex recipe, but it ties up the oven for four straight hours.
My hubby asked if we could do a dessert as well. I was more than happy to oblige.  A) He NEVER asks for desserts and B) Desserts are far less of a temptation to me than say, potatoes or garlic bread. #ilovecarbs
Knowing that my oven was going to be tied up, I figured I'd check out what the store had in their bakery department.
I'm no food snob, but the grocery store cheesecakes and cupcakes looked less than appealing to say the very least.

That's when the skillet cookie came to mind. I knew that I could have this ready to go and just pop it into the oven while we were eating. 
I've seen many takes on this in the past year or two. I've tried a few recipes for "Pizookies". Truth be told, I find that they just over complicate classic goodness.
After a bunch of trail and error, I find the good, old fashioned Toll House Cookie recipe to be the best way to go. You don't need to change a thing, save from the cooking time. If you were running short on time, I'm fairly confident that you could buy the pre-made cookie dough and have it come out just as good.

I used the 10 inch skillet for this. 

One batch of cookie dough was enough to fill this 2/3 to the top, which is exactly what you want. Once it is baked, there will be some rising.

In the 10 inch skillet, 40 minutes at 350 was just right. It was golden around the edges and soft and gooey in the center. 
I let it cool for 15 minutes before cutting it up. As you can see in the 1st picture, we topped it was gelato and salted caramel sauce. It was SOO good. So much better and impressive than anything that was store bought, but just as easy. I'll tell you, its easier than scooping out individual cookies as well.
It reminded me of back in junior high and high school. When school got out for the year, my mom would bring my friend Kathleen and I to TGI Friday's.(To 14 year old me, this was the equivalent of dinner at 21. See Here if you don't get the reference) For dessert, we'd split their "Pie in the sky". It was a slice of cookie cake like this in vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and caramel sauce. Ahhh the happy memories!



               Stupid Good Skillet Cookie

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs, mixing well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 batches, mixing after each one. Stir in the milk and semisweet chocolate chips.
3. Spread the mixture into a 10-inch skillet which has been greased or sprayed with Pam and bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven, let cook for 10-15 minutes. Cut into 8 separate slices, as if you were cutting a pizza
4. Top with your favorite Ice Cream and toppings and ENJOY!!!!!