Chinese 5-Spice Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

I’ve been doing a lot of baking in my cast iron skillet. I just find it easier. Sure, there’s nothing like spending an afternoon dropping tablespoons of cookie dough onto a baking sheet and watching them rise and brown into discs of milk-dunking-love but I don’t have time for that. However, I always want cookies and can find room in my day for eating them, especially if the time between mixing and eating brilliant gooeyness is half the amount. After ridding the house of the halloween candy that was haunting my late night reality TV hours, I need a sweet nibble now and then throughout the week. This skillet cookie fits the bill.

It also fits my husband’s bill who is known to stash bags of store-bought cookies in the far corners of my kitchen’s far corner cabinets. (Notice I take ownership of the kitchen. That’s because after living here as long as myself, my sweet darling still doesn’t know where to put all the clean items found in the dish washer. What is that about?!) If you’ve never made a cookie in a skillet you need to try it. The helpings of thick wedges require a plate, unlike eating a cookie over the sink, and, therefore, you feel like you’ve consumed something more substantial. In other words, you won’t mindlessly eat three cookies thus over indulging. At least that’s what I tell myself. But the real selling point of this dessert is the Chinese 5-Spice. I know the baking world on Instagram is in a tizzy about sprinkling sea salt on their chocolate cookies (and, by all means, go ahead and do this too) but using the spice gives the pillowy cookie a blend of sweet and savoury flavour. Chinese 5-Spice features star anise, pepper, cloves, coriander and cinnamon so when paired with chocolate you have a rich blend of warm flavours. And, lets be honest, if you make this recipe you also have a big, honking gooey cookie in a skillet. So, need we say more?

Photo by Maya Visnyei