Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet

A delicious, festive skillet cookie is exactly what your Christmas dessert table needs this year! It's the perfect shareable treat that's rich with brown butter, sweet with melted chocolate, and festive with crushed candy canes to get you in the holiday spirit. Paired with some generous scoops of your favorite ice cream, there's no better ending to a big holiday feast!

For more holiday cookie recipes, try Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies, Spiced Apple Pie Cookies, Soft Gingerbread Cutout Cookies, and Salted Caramel Christmas Linzer Cookies.

Why you'll love this candy cane chocolate chip cookie skillet

• Soft & Gooey Texture: Just how you would imagine a giant cookie, this cookie skillet bakes up with a soft texture & gooey center!
• Festive Peppermint Flavor: The crushed candy canes inside AND on top of this skillet cookie give the taste of Christmas in every bite!
• Notes of Brown Butter: Just when you thought the combination of flour, butter, and sugar couldn't get any better... The depth of flavor that brown butter brings to this cookie skillet is unreal.
• Customizable Recipe: This chocolate chip skillet cookie recipe is totally customizable, so you can add your favorite mix-ins like white chocolate, butterscotch, sea salt, and more–the more festive, the better!

Ingredient Notes

• Chocolate: Use high quality dark chocolate for a unique flavor profile. Alternatively, you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips, or even milk chocolate chips.
• Candy Canes: Crush your candy canes into small pieces to put in the cookie dough and for topping.
• Sugars: You'll need both granulated sugar and either dark or light brown sugars.
• Unsalted Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for best overall flavor.
• Flour: Use high quality unbleached all-purpose flour best results.
• Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature quickly by placing them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Vanilla: Add a high quality vanilla extract for optimal flavor.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this candy cane chocolate chip cookie skillet recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

STEP 2: Brown the butter. In a small saucepan, add the salted butter and place over medium heat. As the butter melts, stir it with a rubber spatula to encourage even cooking. Once the butter has fully melted, it will alternate between rapid large bubbles and gentle small foamy bubbles. The butter will be ready once it turns a dark golden color and the fat solids have darkened and settled at the bottom of the pan. Immediately pour into a large bowl, scraping out the fat solids at the bottom, and weigh out to 255g (1 cup + 2 tbsp).

STEP 3: Add wet ingredients. To the brown butter, whisk in the sugars, then the large eggs, milk, and pure vanilla extract until well combined.

STEP 4: Combine wet and dry. Add the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.

STEP 5: Fold and smooth. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips and crushed candy cane pieces. Transfer the cookie dough to a prepared 10-inch cast iron skillet and smooth out into an even layer. Top with more chocolate chunks, if desired.

STEP 6: Bake and decorate. Bake the cookie skillet for 40-45 minutes or until evenly golden brown on top. Allow the cookie skillet to cool for a few minutes, then top with more candy cane pieces and a few scoops of vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!

Expert Baking Tips

• A note on browning butter... Start with a few extra tablespoons of salted butter, since water evaporates as it browns. Also, keep in mind that European-style butter has less water content, so if you're using American-style butter you might want to start with even more butter.
• Underbake the cookie skillet! To achieve a cookie skillet with chewy edges and a gooey center bake it until just golden brown on top and slightly underbaked in the center.

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x