Skillet Cookie for Two
A chocolate chip cookie baked in one pan over coals. Dessert that justifies carrying a skillet.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 138
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 45 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 1 1/4 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| White sugar | 1/3 cup | |
| Brown sugar | 1/3 cup | pack it; it carries the moisture |
| Baking soda | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cream of tartar | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Powdered whole egg | 1 tbsp | stands in for 1 egg, no cooler needed |
| Butter powder | 1/2 cup | or 6 tbsp real butter if you have a cooler |
| Neutral oil | 3 tbsp | butter powder has no fat to speak of |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp | a small dropper bottle |
| Chocolate chips | 3/4 cup | |
| Flaky sea salt | a pinch | over the top at the end |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals well before you want dessert. You need low steady heat, not flame.
- Dump the premixed dry bag into the skillet or a pot. Add 3 tbsp water, the oil, and the vanilla.
- Stir until it comes together as a stiff dough. Add water a teaspoon at a time if it stays sandy.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and press the dough flat across an oiled 8-inch skillet.
- Cover with foil or a lid. Set the skillet on a bed of coals raked flat, and shovel a few coals onto the lid.
- Bake 18 to 22 minutes. The edges should be set and browned and the middle still soft. Rotate the pan a quarter turn every five minutes so one side does not burn.
- Pull it off the heat, scatter the flaky salt, and let it sit five minutes before anyone attacks it with a spoon.
A pizookie is a normal cookie recipe that stops baking early on purpose, so the center stays raw enough to eat with a spoon. That underbake is what makes it work on a fire, where even heat is a fantasy. You are aiming for set edges and a soft middle, which is exactly what an inconsistent bed of coals gives you anyway.
The home version leans on cold butter and a fresh egg. Butter powder plus oil replaces both jobs — flavor from the powder, fat from the oil — and powdered egg handles the binding. Cream of tartar with baking soda supplies the lift without a fridge or a leavening packet that has gone flat. The coals on the lid matter: heat only from below gives you a scorched bottom and wet dough on top.
Packing
Flour, both sugars, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, egg powder, and butter powder go into one zip bag at home. Chocolate chips ride separately so they do not melt into the flour on a hot day. Oil and vanilla in dropper bottles.
Variations
- Skip the butter powder and use 6 tbsp real butter and a fresh egg if you have a cooler; drop the oil to 1 tbsp.
- A layer of chips pressed into the top browns into a crust instead of hiding in the crumb.
- No skillet: line a pot with foil, bake the same way, and lift the whole disc out by the foil.
https://homeandkind.com/blogs/food-recipes/pizookie-chocolate-chip-cookie-in-a-skillet-recipe