Salted Caramel Filled Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie
This Salted Caramel Filled Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie is gooey, crunchy, and flowing with salted caramel! This is one treat best served with ice cream and friends.
When I posted my browned butter sage skillet cornbread a little while back, I mentioned how freakin’ excited I was to make skillet cookies and hinted that some would be coming. A lot of you got excited about that…well, the time has come. And ohmygoodness there is definitely reason to be excited.
This cookie is NO joke. I made it in a 6-inch pan. That’s relatively small, but 6 starving girls took on this cookie and we couldn’t finish it (there was valiant effort though). It’s soo rich, chocolatey, sweet, crunchy, gooey, and FILLED with salted caramel. As in, you dip you spoon in and caramel lava flows out of the cookie. It’s unreal. It’s something you need to experience with like, 8 of your closest friends.
The dough for this cookie is one of my favorite recipes, it’s super similar to the one I used for my White Chocolate Pistachio Cookies. It uses brown butter to give it an awesome, nutty, caramel-esque flavor, and brown sugar to amp up that flavor even more. A quick chill in the fridge blends all the flavors together for a seriously delicious cookie dough. It bakes up amazingly in this cookie, getting crispy on the top and bottom of the cookie and staying gooey and soft on the inside.
I added giant chocolate chunks, because that’s how I like my chocolate chip cookies. I prefer big hunks of melty chocolate over wimpy little chocolate chips that don’t stay melty very long. I highly recommend you try it and see the difference! I also added caramel bits to my cookie dough – they add a nice extra chewy element, but if you can’t find them, you can definitely leave them out.
The caramel in the middle is a key element here. Make sure you use a THICK sauce – nothing thin and runny or it’ll just seep into the cookie dough and you won’t get that caramel layer in the middle. Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramel would probably work well here! I used a homemade salted caramel…but I didn’t love the recipe so I’m not gonna share it here. Your favorite homemade salted caramel recipe will totally work. If it’s normally a thin sauce, just cook it a little bit longer to thicken it up a bit.
Of course, this cookie needs to be served up fresh out of the oven, preferably with ice cream and if you’re feeling naughty (like me!) more caramel sauce. I couldn’t resist:
My friends all said this was the best thing I ever made. Of course, their faces were covered in chocolate, caramel, and ice cream at the time, so you know they were happy. But seriously – it’s ridiculously delicious, and a Pizookie will just never compare once you’ve had a homemade one.
Grab your napkins and your spoons…enjoy!
PrintSalted Caramel Filled Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie
Ingredients
- 1 stick ((4 oz) unsalted butter)
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 3/4 (8 oz) cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz. dark chocolate (cut into 1/2 inch chunks)
- 1/2 cup caramel bits
- 2/3 cup thick salted caramel sauce (or add about 1 teaspoon salt to regular caramel sauce)
- Good quality salt (for sprinkling on top before baking)
Instructions
- Grease a 6-inch or 8-inch cast iron skillet with butter. Set aside.
- In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat, stirring nearly continuously. Butter will melt, then begin to foam. It will then begin to turn golden brown and smell nutty. As soon at the butter begins to turn brown, take the pan off the heat, and continue to stir for about 1 minute, to ensure carryover heat doesn’t continue to cook and subsequently burn the already browned butter. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let cool to room temperature, about 1-2 hours.
- When the butter has cooled down and started to solidify slightly, add the butter to a large mixing bowl. Add the sugars, and cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium high. Scrape down the side of the bowl.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix until completely incorporated. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Combine the flour, soda and salt in another bowl with a whisk to combine. With the machine on low, slowly add the flour. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula, fold in the caramel bits and dark chocolate chunks.
- Press about 1/3 of the dough into the bottom of prepared skillet (the entire bottom and sides of the skillet should be covered with dough). Fill with caramel sauce. Top with more dough until the top is completely covered and the caramel is sealed inside, you may have some left over – I had about 1 cup of dough remaining (see notes). Sprinkle the top of the cookie with flaky salt. Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve immediately with ice cream and more caramel sauce if desired.
Notes
Use the remaining dough to make cookies! Bake for about 11 minutes at 350º or until golden brown. The dough will keep in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer for 3 months.
Omg this looks amazing! I am all about the big hunks of melty chocolate girl.
This skillet cookie looks incredible, Rachel! I’m loving all that gooey caramel in the center. Sounds perfect!
Oh my God, delicious recipes, I can’t wait to bake a few if them.
Thank you.
Eeep! This is one epic skillet cookie! I LOVE IT!!!
This salted caramel treat looks delicious and the time lapse video is so cool to look at. I keep looking at it over and over again…lol.
Thanks so much Chineka! I took those pictures and thought it might be fun to try something new with my newly downloaded photoshop…glad you like it! :D
OMG this looks so ooey-gooey amazing. I think I’d eat the whole thing myself. I love the GIF you made too!
Thanks so much Julia!!
Oh my! Is there anything better than a warm and melty chocolate chip cookie? This looks divine!
This looks amazing! You make some pretty amazing things so this cookie must be out of this world!!! Pinned! ps- love the GIF…so cute!
My mouth is just watering over here looking at your incredible images.. I can only imagine how good this skillet cookies must have tasted, especially with all the melting ice cream and caramel sauce!
What a beautiful, delicious and creative idea Rachel! Pinned and will try it when I get a chance!
Your photos are gorgeous!! So excited to be your newest follower everywhere and keep up with your recipes!!! By the way, this skillet cookie looks KILLER!!!
This looks insanely delicious, Rachel! I’m loving the salted caramel sauce GIF… too good! I’m with you on the huge chunks of chocolate, too – there’s nothing better!
This looks incredible! I love the gooey center and those huge chunks of melty chocolate! Irresistible!
Rachel! I am kinda loving the fact that we’re both on skillet cookie kicks! How cool is that?! This looks 100% dangerous and addicting. DYING over that salted caramel and all that dark chocolate goodness!
Oh wow this cookie looks beyond fantastic!!!
Rachel, this is insane! I’m totally dying to scoop up a spoonful of this skillet cookie. I finally got a cast iron skillet (idk how I went without one for so long!) and I am totally going to make this as soon as I can. I need this lava caramel filled cookie in my life!
Yes you absolutely do!! Aren’t cast iron skillets the best?! I’m in love with mine. Thanks so much Beth :D
Good lord, Rachel! That is one amazing cookie. When you say eight of your friends, I’m invited, right? PLEASE!?
OMG, this skillet cookie is beyond amazing. My mouth is literally drooling.My skillet pan is definitely coming out
Wow. Just, wow! That looks like all kinds of amazing, and it definitely made me want cookies and ice cream! Pinned!
Wow! Good idea. Looks lovely! :)
STOP IT NOW RACHEL. STOP THIS MADNESS I’M STARVING.
This skillet cookie looks absolutely incredible! I’m convinced that everything tastes better when it’s cooked in a skillet. I need an excuse to go make this now. Pinning!
So… if I don’t want to share with 5 or 6 of my friends, it’s totally fine to eat this all by myself right?? :D
Oh my this looks too perfect!! And that gif is awesome! It’s not often that you see gifs of food on food blogs, but yours is great! Pinned!
I don’t even want to share this with my 8 closest friends – I want to eat it ALL by myself. Just shove my face right into that pan. That gif is making my stomach grumble – gorgeous photos as always!
This pizookieee looks amazing! I can only imagine how much your friends loved it (it honestly looks to die for!). Making desserts in a skillet just looks so homey and elegant – I definitively need to try this skillet cookie! Pinned :)
Thanks so much for the love and the pin, Ceara!!
WOW! This looks out of control amazing, girl! I want all of this ooey gooey gorgeous cookie all to myself! Pinning!
Oh my! I’m pretty sure I could handle this 6 inch cookie by myself! Your beautiful photos top it off for me! I need to get in the kitchen and make this!
Thanks Miranda!! You’ll love it :)
this is INSANE, Rachel! seriously, this must be one of the most delicious recipes you’ve ever posted, and that’s saying a lot… maybe the gif has something to do with it. :)
anyways, this is totally going on my too-make list. that salted caramel – yum!!
*to make list (i might be a bit of a grammar nerd, haha :) )
I would totally share this with my girlfriends. But I would only invite about 4 of them so we could stuff ourselves more. Is that selfish?
Oh my goodness this is the best thing I have ever seen. I keep watching the caramel drizzle gif. *drool*
Rachel these are awesome! I want this right now!
oh my god, this looks incredible Rachel! My mouth is literally watering!
Oh my gosh … so gooey!! This looks amazing!
I’m just going to jump on the whole “omg,” “oh my goodness,” “oh my god” train here! Holy cow, girl, I need this like right now! Pinned!
Ok, seriously… I’m obsessed! I can’t get over the animated gif of the caramel being drizzled all over the cookie! I might faint!
Thanks so much Olivia!!! :D
Now that’s a great idea…a large cookie. I’m afraid that if I make it I will eat it all by myself :)
GAHHHHH SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want all the ooey gooey deliciousness!
Ahh!! This looks SO yummy!! I cannot wait to bake this and share (maybe share a little bit ;) ) with my family! I have a couple of questions: Is it okay that my iron skillet has a wood handle? I can’t think if that’s dangerous to put in a stove! I fear the wood will burn, but I’m not sure! Also, should the caramel be hot when you pour in the cookie, so you would have to make it mid-recipe, or should it be made beforehand? Thanks!
Hi Audrey! I’m not 100% sure…but I’m not how sure the wood would fare in the oven. You can maybe look up if your make of skillet is oven safe? Other wise, a 8″ round cake pan is a good alternative! As for the caramel, cooled caramel sauce is fine. It should be already prepared and cooled at least a little bit when you put it in the cookie. Hope you love it!
Would it be wrong to have this for breakfast? Pinning!
Oh my. This gooey goodness is definitely a keeper! I subbed in butterscotch chips in lieu of caramel bits, and let me tell you, I’d do it again this way! So so delicious with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. Great great recipe – thank you! I’ll be back!
Thank you Colleen, I’m so glad that you liked it!! Sounds great with the butterscotch chips :)
Ready and willing to tackle this treat; one question on direction #5 the last line as published looks like it’s missing a word which I have bracketed:
“…Sprinkle the top of the cookie with [. . . . . ]. Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days.”
Thanks for the intriguing and beautifully illustrated recipe.
Thank you so much for pointing that out, Randy! The word should have been salt, I added it back to the recipe. Hope you love the cookie, thanks again Randy!
Made it,and it lasted literally 6.5 minutes before disappearing. Best thing EVER according to husband and kids. And me :-) Thank you Rachel you wonderful lady x
Woohoo! So glad that you and your family loved it Sophie :)
You are seriously going to kill someone with this awesomeness!
These chocolate chip bars look great! what a treat they were!
Hi rachel i was wondering would it be okay to double this? i hope to make this in the future for my family of 12 people
Hi Stephanie. The cookie recipe itself would easily double, but you will need to separate the dough between two skillets and fill them separately. This cookie is VERY rich though and pretty big – a little goes a long way! Enjoy :)
Do you bake it with the foil on our off????
Hi Kimberly – bake the cookie without the foil on top so you get a nice browned top. Enjoy!
Hi! :) Just wanted to say that I made this a few days ago and it was EXCELLENT! I was impressed that my version looked just like the one in the picture. More often than not the finished product never comes out looking like the blogger pix so thank you for that. I ended up making mine in an 8 inch skillet and the finished cookie filled out the pan just perfect. I did end up having to bake for somewhere around 35-40 minutes, it was a lot of dough! One thing I wanted to mention is that we had leftovers so I put the cookie(in skillet) covered in the fridge(I only use my skillet for skookies so it was fine). 2 days later I pulled it out and stuck it in my toaster oven to reheat for about 5 minutes. O.M.GOSH. AMAZING!! I don’t know why I liked it so much better than fresh out of the oven…the edges got all nice and crispy and the middle was still warm and gooey. The flavors to me were way better than the first day. The next time I make this I’m going to make it 2 days ahead and reheat in the toaster oven again. Sorry for the super long review, I got a little carried away. lol Also, I think I will skip the browned butter step because it’s time consuming and I’m too lazy/impatient. ;) Thanks a million for sharing this awesome recipe, it’s a definite keeper!!
Yay so glad to hear you loved it, and omg the toaster oven tip is brilliant!! Thanks for commenting Shelley!
Confused about the flour measurements. Can you confirm it is 1 and 3/4 cups of flour? Not sure about the 8oz and fear I may have added too much.
Hi Samantha, yes it is 1 3/4 cups flour, which equals 8 ounces of flour. Hope this helps!