Chocolate Caramel Skillet Cookie

A delicious brown butter cookie with chocolate chunks and melty caramel pieces, baked in a cast iron pan or a cake tin. Serve it as a dessert with vanilla ice cream.

Course Baking

Cuisine Cookies

Keyword chocolate and caramel cookie, chocolate and caramel skillet cookie, chocolate chunk skillet cookie, cookie pie recipe nz, giant cookie pie, skillet cookie recipe, te reo Māori

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Total Time 45

Servings Giant Skillet Cookie

Equipment

1 x 20 - 25 cm cast iron pan or the same size cake tin.

Ingredients

The Brown Butter - Te Pata Parauri

210 g pata (butter, cut in to cubes)

Spiced Pecan Nuts - Nati Pēkani (Optional add-ins, skip if you want to)

⅓ C (50 g) nati pēkani (pecan nuts)
2 tbsp marahihi māpere (maple syrup)
1 tsp hinamona (cinnamon)

Te Pokenga - The Dough

½ tsp tote (salt, fine)
¾ C (150 g) huka hāura (brown sugar)
⅓ C (65 g) huka one (caster sugar)
2 teaspoon (10 ml) wanira (vanilla)
2 C (300 g) puehu parāoa noa (plain flour)
2 hēki iti (small eggs, size 6)
½ tsp pēkana paura (baking powder)
¼ tsp pēkana houra (baking soda)
200 g tiakarete parauri (dark chocolate). Use whatever mix of chocolate you want - this is a guide.
7 - 8 (100 - 140 g) chocolate covered salted caramels

Instructions

Preheat the Oven:

Preheat the oven to 175 °C bake or 165 °C fan bake.
Grease a 20 cm - 25 cm cast iron pan or the same size cake tin with butter.

Brown the Butter:

Add the chopped pata (butter) in to a medium sized pot or pan.
Set it over medium heat.
First, melt the butter, stirring occasionally.
As the heat continues the milk fats will start to separate (these are the white, floaty bits).
Stir occasionally here so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
Keep it on the heat until the butter starts to foam. Stir it a little bit until the brown bits float to the top. It should smell nutty. (Use the pictures and video as a guide).
From here, stir it a little for another 30 seconds or so, so the butter browns further. This may smoke a little but a little bit of smoke is ok.
Remove from the heat and pour it straight in to a bowl.
Note: Don't use a glass bowl like I did in the video - I broke mine that way and yes, it was not a bright idea!
Leave it to cool for 10 minutes.

Make the Spiced Pecans (Optional):

Chop the nati pēkani (pecan nuts) in to small pieces.
Then add them in to the same pan as the brown butter (no need to clean it).
Toast them over medium heat.
Once they are toasted, add the marahihi māpere (maple syrup) and hinamona (cinnamon) in to the hot pan. Stir for 30 seconds on the heat and watch it sizzle.
Remove from the heat and set them aside to cool.

Make the Brown Butter Cookie Dough:

Add the tote (salt), huka hāura (brown sugar), huka one (caster sugar) and iho hūperei (vanilla) in to the slightly cooled brown butter.
Mix together with a whisk for a minute.
Don't worry if the mixture looks a little separated, the eggs will fix that.
Add one hēki (egg) and whisk for 20 seconds. The mixture will start to come together. Add the second hēki (egg) and whisk again for 20 seconds.
Add the puehu parāoa (flour), pēkana paura (baking powder) and pēkana houra (baking soda).
Whakaranuhia (mix to combine).

Add the Chocolate:

Place the tiakarete (chocolate) to a papa tapatapahi (chopping board) and chop in to chunks.
Add it all to the mixture, along with the nati pēkani (pecan nuts), if you are using them.

Press the Cookie Dough in to the Pan:

Press all of the pokenga pihikete (cookie dough) in to the prepared cast iron pan or cake tin.

Add the Caramels:

Tapahia ngā karamea kia haurua (chop the caramels in half).
Nestle the karamea (caramels) in to the pokenga pihikete (cookie dough).
At this point, the unbaked cookie can be covered and refrigerated for up to five days and baked fresh whenever the moment calls.

Bake the Chocolate Caramel Skillet Cookie:

Add the cast iron pan or cake tin in to the oven.
If you are using a 20 cm pan or tin: Bake for 25 minutes.
If you are using a 25 cm pan or tin: Bake for 20 minutes.
Check the cookie after the time specified to see if it is cooked to your liking.

Serve the Chocolate Caramel Skillet Cookie with Ice Cream:

This is perfect as it is but is also quite dreamy with a couple of scoops of aihkirīmi wanira (vanilla ice cream).
Give everyone a spoon and dive on in.

Storing the Cookie:

This will keep well for up to five days once it is baked.
Keep it in the cast iron pan or transfer it in to a sealed container.
Note: If you are using the karamea (caramels), reheat the cooled pihikete (cookie) before eating it. These caramels can be a bit hard on the teeth if they are cold and set. Warming the cookie melts them down again and brings back the and the gooey factor.