Your Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever Is Made in a Cast-Iron Skillet

It’s not hyperbole to say that we love our cast-iron skillets. The relationship between a Southern cook and their cast iron is one that’s forged over many years, recipes, challenges, and triumphs in the kitchen. Keeping it seasoned, tending it carefully, and using it regularly ensures it’s always ready to crisp up vegetables, bake a chicken pot pie, and even make mac and cheese. Seasoned home cooks know that cast iron isn’t just for dinner, though. It’s also a trusty tool that can help out when making dessert. There’s one dessert, in particular, in which cast-iron unexpectedly shines, and that’s in a deep-dish skillet cookie.

On Instagram, Southern Living has been inviting readers to bake along with us using the hashtag #SLBakes. There’s a new recipe each Sunday, and one week found us baking up our go-to, super customizable recipe for deep-dish skillet cookies. What did we find when we pulled our cookies out of the oven? A crisp, crunchy exterior (thanks to the hot cast iron) and an impossibly chewy interior. In a phrase? A perfect cookie. Once we let it cool and cut it into wedges for serving, we realized that this recipe is truly the best of all possible worlds.

If you want to dust off the cast iron and try your hand at this delicious recipe, you can find it at southernliving.com. Customize it to your heart’s content—the recipe on the website includes several variations, including pecan praline, strawberry shortcake, Mississippi mud, grasshopper, and hummingbird cookies. They’re all delicious, but we’re partial to the classic chocolate chip.

Cast iron has always been a go-to tool in our kitchen, and it can come through in a big way when making chocolate chip cookies—namely, our new favorite deep-dish skillet cookie. Try it for yourself and let us know how you like the chewy, chocolatey results. And for tips on taking care of your cast iron, check out our how-to guide.

Bake it: Deep-Dish Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

What cookie recipes have you baked in your kitchen lately? What are your absolute favorite cookie recipes of all time?