Valentine's Day dessert

My husband and I had decided earlier in the week to just call for takeout on Valentine's night, since we rarely get takeout and did not want to deal with the Valentine's day crowds. I did want to make a special dessert nonetheless. So I decided to make this recipe that I'd been wanting to try for a Skillet-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie that fit the bill (i.e. not very time consuming so I could kick back and relax).

Problem is, while at work on Thursday I realized I didn't have chocolate chips at home. I didn't want to make a supermarket run after work, especially since it's not a convenient trip (I actually have to drive past my house to get there). So I used my noggin and I stopped at a CVS downtown (which I could just walk to on my way out of work to the parking garage). I bought a couple of candy bars - one dark chocolate, one milk chocolate and cut those up to make more of a chocolate chunk cookie. Either way, the results were delicious. We served warm this with ice cream of course. Nothing better than a giant chocolate chip cookie on a cold winter's night!


Skillet-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie
(from MarthaStewart.com)



2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (about 9 ounces) mixed milk- and semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; mix until they are fully incorporated. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Transfer dough to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (I actually used my 12-inch skillet and cut down the cooking time to about 30 minutes), and press to flatten, covering bottom of pan. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Don't overbake; it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into 8 wedges. Serve warm; top each wedge with a scoop of ice cream.