The Easiest Ways To Tell When Your Skillet Cookie Is Perfectly Baked

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A perfectly baked skillet cookie is a thing of beauty. Warm, oozing with chocolate, and crispy around the edges, it pairs spectacularly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. Because of the sheer size of a skillet cookie, it can sometimes be hard to tell if it has completely cooked through. Removing it from the oven before it's done will result in a mushy, less-than-tasty cookie that is hard to cut and even harder to eat. Luckily, we're here to help by giving you some easy ways to tell that your skillet cookie is perfectly baked.

One cookie baking mistake that everyone makes is taking them out of the oven before they're done. It's important to practice patience when baking cookies and to check them regularly for doneness to avoid over- or undercooking them. You don't need any fancy tools to tell when your cookies are done baking – you just need to assess the cookie's color, shape, and texture.

First, make sure your cookie has even, golden brown edges that are slightly coming away from the sides of the skillet. Next, gently press on the center of the cookie with the pad of your finger. The center should be slightly firm. Then make sure the cookie is slightly puffed in the center and lower around the edges. Finally, you can insert a toothpick, bamboo skewer, or cake tester into the center of the cookie. If it comes out clean, the cookie is done.

One key to a perfect skillet cookie is using the right tools. While you don't need a cast iron skillet to make a skillet cookie, you do need to use a pan that is oven-safe. You can use an oven-safe skillet, a round ceramic baking dish or casserole dish, or an aluminum cake pan. If it doesn't matter to you that your cookie is round, you can even make sheet pan cookies on a rimmed aluminum baking sheet. Make sure to spray the pan or sheet generously with a cooking spray or grease it with butter and dust it lightly with flour before adding your cookie batter.

Properly pre-heating your oven is another essential tip for making skillet cookies. Pre-heating your oven is the best way to make sure the cookie bakes evenly at a consistent temperature. If you put your cookie in the oven too soon, it may end up with a raw center, burnt bottom, or burnt edges. Another crucial tip for baking cookies in a skillet or pan is to gently press the dough into the pan so that it reaches the edges or sides and is a fairly even thickness all the way around. This will help your cookie bake evenly.