Recipes

Skillet Brownies

One bowl, no mixer, and it goes to the table in the pan it baked in — underbaked in the middle, still warm, with ice cream melting into it. The brownie for when people are waiting, not the one for a tin.

Total time
45 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
30 min
Serves
8

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Main ingredient Chocolate

Techniques baking

Dietary looks vegetarian Inferred from the ingredients below, not a certification. Check them yourself if it matters.

Tags dinner-partyserve-warm

Ingredients

  • 255 g (1½ cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips, for the batter
  • 170 g (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
  • 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • 28 g (⅓ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 180 g (1½ cups) all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp coarse salt
  • 58 g (½ cup) walnuts, roughly chopped, optional
  • 85 g (½ cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips, for the top and to serve
  • cooking spray
  • vanilla ice cream, to serve, optional

Equipment

  • 20 cm cast-iron skillet (8 in)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F) with a rack in the middle.
  2. Put the 255 g of chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 60 seconds. Stir, then keep going in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, until the chocolate is completely smooth.
  3. Whisk in the melted butter and the sugar until fully combined.
  4. Whisk in the vanilla and the eggs. The batter will tighten and look slightly seized — that is expected, and it loosens again with the dry ingredients.
  5. Add the cocoa, flour and salt and whisk only until no dry flour is left. If using walnuts, stir them through with a rubber spatula now, holding a few back for serving if you like.
  6. Spray the skillet, scrape the batter in and level it with the spatula. Scatter half of the remaining chocolate chips over the top.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes, until the middle is no longer liquid but still wobbles a little when you shake the pan.
  8. Let it stand for 5–6 minutes, then serve straight from the skillet with vanilla ice cream, the last of the chocolate chips and any walnuts you kept back.

Notes & tips

From the source.

  • Cast iron holds heat well, which is what bakes the brownie evenly. Another 20 cm (8 in) ovenproof pan or baking dish will work, but the author warns the result may differ.
  • The chocolate can be melted over a pan of barely simmering water instead of in the microwave: set the bowl over a small pot filled about a quarter of the way, and stir now and then until melted.
  • Err on the side of underbaking — that is where the fudgy texture comes from.
  • Make ahead: it can be baked up to an hour before serving. Cover the skillet with foil and keep it in the switched-off but still-warm oven.
  • Storage: once cool, move it to an airtight container; it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  • Reheating: eat leftovers cold or at room temperature, or warm them in a 175 °C (350 °F) oven for 5–10 minutes. Single portions take about 30 seconds in the microwave.

Variations

  • Cakier: bake 5–10 minutes longer, until the centre is fully set.
  • Coffee: add 1 tsp espresso powder with the dry ingredients, or 60 g (¼ cup) freshly brewed coffee or espresso with the wet ones.
  • Peanut butter swirl: once the batter is in the skillet, dot 2–4 tbsp smooth peanut butter over it and swirl it through with a knife or chopstick before baking.

Other versions of this dish

Source

Chef Billy Parisi, billyparisi.com, published 2025-10-15. Instructions rewritten. The source lists 2 cups of chocolate chips as one line and uses them in three places — 1½ cups melted, ¼ cup on top, ¼ cup to serve — so they are split here into the batter and the topping. Weights are converted from the source's cups with this collection's table; the page's Metric toggle was not used, because its figures are the recipe plugin's own automatic conversion rather than the author's.