Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet (& 5 Year Blogiversary!)

DANG. Confessions of a Midnight Baker officially turns five today. Where on earth has the time gone?!

Granted, it hasn’t necessarily been a consistent five years. Life happens and the next thing you know weeks — sometimes months — have passed by in the blink of an eye. You get sucked into your routine and the busy-ness of life, and forget to pay attention to what’s happening right in front of you. I’m sure you guys can relate, right?

Tangent aside, one thing has remained true throughout this entire time — food has always been a way for me to connect & share with others. and I’ve never, ever stopped cooking.

I started this blog as a way to share my favorite recipes with family & friends, who were always asking about my latest kitchen creations and baked goodies. It became a creative outlet that combined a few of my favorite things — cooking, baking, photography and writing.

After my mom’s diagnosis, my baking started to evolve — whole wheat flour instead of white flour, coconut sugar instead of refined white and brown sugar, almond milk instead of cow’s milk. The goal was to bake the same treats I always had been — substituting healthier ingredients, without sacrificing taste. Sometimes I was successful and sometimes… not so much. Luckily, I had an army of taste testers at the ready, always prepared to give feedback on whatever I forced them to try ever-so-lovingly made for them.

Once I discovered my own food issues, my cooking & baking transformed even further. So long, gluten and dairy! I became a pro at deciphering ingredient lists and highly skilled in finding substitutions to meet whatever dietary need I happened to be cooking for.

I think most people would be turned off by the seemingly impossible recipe quandaries I always happen to find myself in. They are self-inflicted riddles, really. Kind of like my own personal game of Chopped — but instead of three mystery ingredients, I have a set of ingredients I need to avoid completely!

….wait, does that not sound like a fun game to you guys?!

I must say, this has resulted in some delicious (and interesting) recipes… flourless chocolate chip cookies (made with arguably the best nut butter). A snack made out of quinoa! Gluten-free AND dairy-free mac & cheese! In case it wasn’t already clear, I’m just a weirdo who loves puzzles (recipe or otherwise!) and finds it relaxing to buzz around the kitchen for hours each night.

Over the past five years, my taste buds have evolved — along with my interests. Wellness and self-care have both risen to the forefront of my google searches, instagram feed and daily conversations. (trust me, my bosses are less-than-thrilled when I take more of an interest in discussing nutrition with my clients than their bills and financial reports). My Wellness Wednesday posts are just a tiny glimpse into the chaos in my brain. And I’m fairly certain that Peter has gotten sick of me telling him that meditation will help balance the stress in his life and his coffee intake is wreaking havoc on his cortisol levels.

So what’s up next for Confessions of a Midnight Baker, you ask? Well… you may not be asking, but I’m gonna tell you anyway.

You can bet your bottom dollar that there will be lots more in the form of wellness posts — gut health and collagen and healthy fats, oh my! You can also expect plenty more gluten-free baking adventures — especially once the humidity moves out and that glorious fall weather descends upon us. After all, this GF gal still loves to indulge in chocolate chip cookies & donuts (far too often, if we’re being honest)!

I have a couple of other ideas that I’ve been mulling over for months, except — you guessed it — life got in the way and they never came to fruition. Think: travel posts (Norway, France, Thailand!) and city guides (Boston, NYC, GF favorites), along with lots more Wellness Wednesday shenanigans. I figure if I throw these ideas out onto the interwebs, it’ll hold me accountable to making them happen. That’s how this works, right?

In any case, I’m not going anywhere — and, by default, neither is Confessions of a Midnight Baker! Even if my posts are six months apart and the only person who reads them is my (incredible, wonderful, supportive) husband. I firmly believe that we all need a creative outlet. and I’d put money on the fact that I’ll never truly stop baking at midnight, which is reason enough to keep on keeping on!

Andddd let’s take a hard left. Speaking of chocolate chip cookies (weren’t we just talking about them? or maybe I was just dreaming of cookies..), raise your hand if you’ve heard of Rachael’s Good Eats. If so, I bet you’ve seen her magical chocolate chip cookie skillet parading around instagram for the past year. If not, I URGE you to check it out immediately. Just imagine: a GIANT chocolate chip cookie made in a cast iron skillet (my favorite is this Lodge 10.25 inch skillet). Melt-in-your mouth delicious, with chunks of dark chocolate in every bite. and bonus: it’s gluten- and dairy-free.

#WINNING

In celebration of five years, I wanted to share my (ever-so-slightly modified) take on Rachael’s delicious creation. The best part of this recipe is that there are no less than 92814873 different possible ingredient combinations (although probability & statistics were never my strong suit…). Feel free to use what I’ve suggested here as a starting point — you’ll also find my recommendations for different substitutions within the recipe itself. However, I truly think you can just open up your kitchen cabinets and make use of whatever you have on hand!

Also, you’ll notice that I’ve listed the serving size for this recipe as six…. but I promise I won’t pass any judgments if you eat the entire damn cookie in one sitting. I may or may not have already done so once this week…

Now. Kindly drop whatever you are doing and march directly to your kitchen. Make yourself this chocolate chip cookie skillet ASAP! and then top it with some ice cream and find a friend to share it with (or don’t). I promise you will NOT regret any part of this.

and #sorrynotsorry for being bossy.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet

 

Print

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Author: Talia

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• ⅓ cup creamy almond butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon almond milk
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 4 oz dark chocolate bar, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a 8-9 inch cast iron skillet (or cake tin, whatever you have available) by spraying with non-stick or coconut oil spray.
2. Whisk egg in large bowl. Add maple syrup, coconut oil, cashew butter, vanilla and almond milk; mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and sea salt. Add to wet ingredients, then fold in chocolate chunks.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly and topping with a few additional chocolate chunks.
5. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown (it's okay if the center is a bit gooey!). For extra crispy edges, broil on high for an additional 1-2 minutes, watching closely as not to burn. Let cool for 3-5 min before digging in!
6. Store at room temperature for 2-3 days (if it lasts that long!). It will last another couple of days refrigerated in an airtight container.

Notes / Variations

There are a LOT of substitutions that you could make to this recipe! My suggestion is to use whatever ingredients you have on hand and make it your own.

[flour] almond flour, gluten-free flour blend, oat flour, coconut flour (cut down to ⅓ cup or less), white whole wheat flour
[nut butter] cashew butter, almond butter, peanut butter, tahini
[oil] coconut oil, (grass-fed) butter, ghee, olive oil, avocado oil
[sweetener] maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, date sugar, brown sugar, white sugar

Recipe adapted from: Rachael's Good Eats | Cashew Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: ⅙ of skillet Calories: 329 Fat: 26g Saturated Fat: 7.7g Carbohydrates: 19.1g Sugar: 11.6g Sodium: 199mg Fiber: 4.8g Protein: 8g

3.5.3229

Here’s to five more years of sporadic blog posts, adulting struggles and single-serving cookie skillets!

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