Let me take a break from our regularly scheduled recipe post to let you all know that my first cookbook, Food Swap, is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Yes, it won’t actually be released until May, which seems like ages from now, but will be here before we know it!
The book is partly a guide for anyone interested in joining the national food swap movement and partly a cookbook with 80 recipes for items that would be good to bring to a food swap (but would also make terrific edible gifts or bake sale goodies). Things like soups, baked goods, candies, granola, jams, pickles and more. I can’t even beging to tell you how excited I am and how beautiful the book looks, thanks to the amazing team at Storey Publishing.
Next spring, when Food Swap comes out, I will be doing lots of touring and events to support it. So please keep an eye on my calendar because I may be coming to your city and I would love to meet you and sign your copy of my book! But in the meantime, if you would like, feel free to pre-order a copy, or two, of Food Swap.
Now, onto to today’s recipe. Remember that movie from the 80’s, The Gods Must Be Crazy? Well, this recipe should be titled The Mom Must Be Crazy. Because I have taken my children’s Halloween candy and turned it into filling for a skillet cookie. What. The. Heck.
I was utterly sick of looking at the basket of leftover Halloween candy on my credenza. Yet when my husband suggested bringing the fun-sized chocolate goodness to his office, the kids and I shouted him down. Just give away Kit-Kats and Twix? Is he mad? Something had to be done.
There are so many ideas out there for using up leftover Halloween candy. Consider this my entry into the category. I took my favorite skillet chocolate chip cookie recipe and replaced the chocolate chips with M&Ms and chopped chocolate bars. Because of my daughter’s allergies to tree nuts and peanuts, I used only candy bars that do not contain those ingredients. But that still left me with plenty of delicious choices.
What I love about this skillet cookie recipe, which is adapted from Martha Stewart, is that is so quick and easy to make. This is my go-to recipe when I want to surprise the kids with a homemade dessert on a weeknight. By baking the dough in the skillet instead of scooping out individual cookies, you save quite a bit of time. And the result — a sort of cookie cake that you can slice and top with ice cream if you are feeling especially indulgent — is extra fun.
For the candy, I recommend a mix of M&Ms and candy bars that will hold their shape well in baking. Try Heath bars, Nestle Crunch, Kit-Kats, or whatever you have laying around. I like to chill the chocolate before chopping to make it easier and less messy.
So, if your kids are getting bored with their Halloween candy, or you are sick of looking at the leftovers that you didn’t give away to trick-or-treaters, I promise that this skillet cookie is an easy and absolutely delicious way to deal with that weighty and serious problem. Does that make me crazy? Perhaps so.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 oz. unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 TB pure vanilla extract
- 9 oz. chopped chocolate bars and M&Ms, chilled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
- Gradually add the flour mixture, and beat until just combined.
- Fold in chopped chocolate and M&Ms.
- Transfer dough to a 10-inch ovenproof, ungreased skillet, and press to flatten. (This is best done with clean hands.)
- Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool before slicing.
