Bake a warm, gooey skillet cookie in your air fryer in less than thirty minutes. Top with ice cream and caramel sauce to create the easiest cookie sundae ever!
Do you have as much leftover Halloween candy as we do? It was cold and, yes, snowy in Chicago on Halloween, which definitely caused some trick-or-treaters to stay home. As a result, I have even more leftover fun-size Hershey bars and KitKats than usual.
(You see, we used to live on a street that regularly saw 400-500 trick-or-treaters and for the past three years have lived on a street that gets very few trick-or-treaters, but someone I am incapable of adjusting my candy-buying habits.)
One of my favorite tricks for leftover Halloween candy is to bake a giant skillet cookie with chopped candy bars, M&Ms and whatever other treats you want to throw in there. I love that recipe, but it does take a while – nearly 45 minutes – in the oven. Sometimes, you need that skillet cookie like right away. Well, I have the recipe for the easiest, quickest skillet cookie ever. The secret? Bake it in the air fryer!
When I was writing my new cookbook, Epic Air Fryer, I developed a recipe for a chocolate chip cookie baked in a small cake pan sized for the air fryer. Topped with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of hot fudge or caramel, this pan cookie becomes a decadent cookie sundae.
This recipe is without question the air fryer recipe my kids ask for the most. What did you think it would be? The Maple-Soy Brussle Sprouts? That one is actually pretty darn good as well. But no kid is going to ask for Brussel sprouts more than a cookie sundae. Let’s be real.
The thing about the air fryer pan cookie recipe is that it is so quick and easy to make – even on the spur of the moment. You can decide to make it right before dinner, and have it ready before dinner is over. You make the batter in one bowl with a hand mixer – no need to get out the big mixer and create a lot of dishes. And it takes just 15 minutes in the air fryer to achieve warm, gooey cookie perfection. This recipe is so easy, my kids can make it themselves.
So this year, instead of making my leftover Halloween candy skillet cookie in the oven, I made a leftover Halloween candy air fryer skillet cookie. It was pretty spectacular, as you can see and I didn’t have to wait 45 minutes for it to be finished baking.
Would you like more quick, crowd-pleasing recipes for the air fryer like this one? If so, be sure to pre-order my new cookbook Epic Air Fryer. It comes out December 10 – just in time for the holidays – and it has 100 original air fryer recipes for every meal of the day.
These recipes are inspired by global cuisines, as well as old-fashioned favorites, and use real, wholesome ingredients – no processed foods or shortcuts. These recipes will help you get the most out of your air fryer and make healthy, delicious meals in a hurry. (Plus there is a whole chapter of desserts and special treats, like this one!)
Ingredients
- 1 stick (4 oz) butter, softened
- 3 TB granulated sugar
- 3 TB brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chopped chocolate OR chocolate chips
- Vanilla ice cream
- Hot fudge or caramel sauce for serving
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugars together using a handheld mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until combined. Add the chocolate or chocolate chips and mix.
- Preheat the air fryer to 325 (300 for toaster oven-style machines) for three minutes. Lightly grease a round cake pan insert for the air fryer.
- Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Place the pan in the air fryer and cook for 12-15 minutes, until the top is browned and the middle is gooey but cooked. Remove pan from the air fryer.
- Place one to two scoops of vanilla ice cream in the center of the cookie and top with hot fudge or caramel sauce, as you prefer. Pass around spoons and eat the cookie sundae right out of the pan.
