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This warm and gooey skillet chocolate chip cookie is the best chocolatey vegan dessert! Deliciously chewy with melted vegan chocolate and sweet flavors in every bite, this easy treat is perfect for serving to your family and friends.
The Best Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
Have you ever wanted to eat a vegan chocolate chip cookie like a cake or a pie? I have some amazing news for you: with this Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, now you can!
This cast iron cookie recipe (AKA a snookie/pizookie/frying pan cookie) is making the world’s best cookie the star of the dessert table. Vegan chocolate chip cookie dough is baked in a cast iron skillet until the top and edges are crispy and the middle is soft and gooey. It comes out of the oven looking and tasting just as show-stopping as my creamy vegan chocolate pie and easy chocolate depression cake.h
You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that baking one big vegan chocolate chip cookie in a cast iron skillet is even easier than baking individual cookies. This recipe uses all of the same ingredients as the classic cookies, and with no rolling, scooping, chilling, or batch cooking necessary, all you have to do is press the dough into the pan and then bake.
Slice up this impressive cast iron vegan chocolate chip cookie and serve with generous scoops of vegan vanilla ice cream. It’s a dessert you, your friends, and your family won’t soon forget!
Looking for more vegan chocolate chip treats? Check out our cinnamon chocolate chip cookies, banana chocolate chip bars, vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!
The Ingredients and Substitutes
- Flax eggs: Mixing ground flaxseed and water together creates the most amazing vegan egg replacer! If you don’t have ground flaxseed, use ground chia seeds instead.
- Oil: Use a neutral-tasting oil, like canola oil or vegetable oil. Melted coconut oil works, too.
- Sugar: I used granulated white sugar but coconut sugar or brown sugar will both work as substitutes.
- Molasses: Fancy molasses is best but blackstrap molasses also works (it’ll give the cookie a stronger molasses flavor). Do not use molasses if you make the vegan skookie with brown sugar.
- Vanilla extract: To help balance the sweet and chocolatey flavors.
- Flour: We’ve only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. To make a gluten-free skillet cookie, experiment with a quality all-purpose gluten-free flour instead, like Bob’s Red Mill.
- Baking soda: To help the vegan cookie rise.
- Salt: Just a pinch rounds out the rest of the flavors.
- Vegan chocolate chips: Use your favorite semi-sweet or dark vegan chocolate chips or a chopped-up dark chocolate bar instead. Both regular and mini chocolate chips will do!
What Could I Add to a Vegan Cast Iron Cookie?
Make the vegan skillet cookie of your dreams by folding more than just vegan chocolate chips into the cookie dough! Here’s what we suggest adding:
- More dairy-free chocolate: Double up the chocolate by folding vegan chocolate chips, vegan white chocolate chips, and/or chocolate chunks into the batter. You can even press a few more chocolate chips/chunks into the top of the cast iron cookie before baking for even more decadence.
- Peanut butter: Chopped-up vegan peanut butter cups in the dough create a peanut butter chocolate chip skillet cookie!
- Nuts: Like chopped peanuts, almonds, pecans, or macadamia nuts.
- Citrus zest: Some freshly grated orange zest would complement the dairy-free chocolate chips perfectly.
- Dried fruit: Add raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, or chopped dates.
- Candy: Add chopped vegan toffee, candy-coated chocolates, vegan mini marshmallows, rainbow sprinkles, or chopped candy canes for a festive touch.
- Pretzels: Chopped salted pretzels would be so tasty!
How to Make a Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Whisk the flax meal, water, oil, sugar, molasses, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl until smooth (it should look like caramel).
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until you have a thick dough.
- Finish by folding the chocolate chips into the dough.
- Dump the cookie dough into a cast iron pan.
- Use a spatula to press the dough out to the edges of the pan.
- Bake the vegan frying pan cookie until the edges are golden and the middle is somewhat firm.
- Set the cookie aside to cool, then slice it into wedges and serve with a scoop of vegan ice cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce. Enjoy!
FAQs
Yes, you can bake the cookie dough in a round cake pan or a spring-form baking pan with a diameter of 10 inches. Remember to first grease the pan and/or line it with parchment paper.
Yes, you can make mini cookie skillets by baking the cookie dough in mini cast iron skillets or ramekins instead. Remember to reduce the baking time for these smaller servings.
Absolutely! Feel free to prepare the cookie dough, cover it in plastic, and leave it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days before transferring it to the skillet and baking. I haven’t tried freezing the cookie dough, though that may also work (for up to 1 month).
Pro Recipe Tips
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough: Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet mixture by hand will take some elbow grease but try not to overwork the dough. Only mix until the dough is thick and the flour is just incorporated.
- How to tell it’s done baking: You’ll know the cookie is baked perfectly when the middle feels slightly firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cookie comes out clean.
- Slightly underbake the vegan cookie: It’s better to slightly underbake the cookie to achieve the gooey cookie goodness! Keep in mind that it will keep baking for a few minutes out of the oven, so you’ll be okay to take it out even when it feels slightly underdone.
- Let the cookie cool: Set the baked skillet vegan cookie aside for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. If you slice it when it’s too hot, it will crumble or fall apart.
Storage Instructions
Store the cooled and sliced skillet cookie in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
You can also freeze the skillet cookie for up to 2 months. Remember to wrap the slices in a layer of plastic wrap, then store them in an airtight container to avoid freezer burn.
To reheat, place the cookie back in a skillet and cover it with aluminum foil. Bake in a 350ºF oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until it’s warm and gooey again. You can also zap the individual slices in the microwave in 15-second increments.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
- Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Easy Snowball Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- Triple Ginger Vegan Cookies
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of flax meal
- ½ cup of water
- ⅔ cup of canola oil
- 1 ¼ cup of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of molasses
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ¾ cup of vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flax meal, water, oil, sugar, molasses, and vanilla until smooth. Mixture should look like caramel sauce.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir until combined. (This will take a little elbow grease. Dough will be quite thick. To avoid over-mixing, stir until flour is just incorporated.)
- Fold in the vegan chocolate chips.
- Dump the cookie dough into a well-seasoned, 10" cast iron pan. Press evenly into pan.
- Place the pan on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until edges are golden and middle has firmed up somewhat to the touch. When pressed, the dough in the middle of the pan should give a little, but a tester toothpick should come out clean.
- Allow the cookie to cool and slice into wedges.
Notes
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough: Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet mixture by hand will take some elbow grease but try not to overwork the dough. Only mix until the dough is thick and the flour is just incorporated.
- How to tell it’s done baking: You’ll know the cookie is baked perfectly when the middle feels slightly firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cookie comes out clean.
- Slightly underbake the vegan cookie: It’s better to slightly underbake the cookie to achieve the gooey cookie goodness! Keep in mind that it will keep baking for a few minutes out of the oven, so you’ll be okay to take it out even when it feels slightly underdone.
- Let the cookie cool: Set the baked skillet vegan cookie aside for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. If you slice it when it’s too hot, it will crumble or fall apart.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Although plantbasedonabudget.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Plantbasedonabudget.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
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Can I use glutenfree flour?
Hi! We’ve only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. To make a gluten-free skillet cookie, experiment with a quality all-purpose gluten-free flour instead, like Bob’s Red Mill.
Is there a substitute for the oil? Thanks!
Hi! Melted coconut oil works, too.
Was excited to try this recipe but that’s a LOT of sugar!
Hoping if I cut that amount in half if it will still be okay
Liking the idea of the molasses but not the white sugar
Let us know how it turns out for you 🙂
The best skillet cookie!
This came out very well. I used jaggery powder as I was out brown sugar. Also did not use molasses. But jaggery powder has enough molasses as it is least processed of all the sugars.
Awesome! So glad you gave it a go and enjoyed it!