Once upon a time, I got impatient while baking. I needed some chocolate to melt faster, and in order to speed up the process, I put a bunch of cookie dough in a pan on the stove. I took it off the stove after a few minutes and nothing had really happened (so much for my great shortcut), but I was curious to see what would happen if I left cookie dough on the stove for more than a few minutes. Could I really make a skillet cookie in a big skillet on the stove?
This experiment began with a control:
I used premade Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough for each attempt. As a baseline, I put some in the oven, following the cooking directions on the package. I made 6 regular cookies and one large (skillet) cookie. Just as you would expect, they were perfect. Adjusted for altitude, after 12 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, the cookies were golden brown, with melted chocolate chips.
Then things got weird:
I imagined that a ball of dough would not rise and cook on the stove, so I started with a flattened disc. I put the stove on a low heat so as not to burn anything before they even got started. Using a well greased pan, we got to work.
Skillet:
I hoped that if I left the cookies on the stove long enough, they would cook through from the bottom. This was quickly ruined as the dough essentially melted. The bottom looked like it was starting to cook, but I probably would have had to wait forever for it to actually cook. Getting it out of the pan was also a mess as the disc lost its shape and completely fell apart.
Another attempt with regular sized amounts of dough yielded the same results. I tried a piece and got warm cookie dough. It was definitely a salmonella hazard as the dough was not even close to fully cooked.
Pancake style:
I then decided to try making the cookies like pancakes, flipping the dough after a few minutes to cook on both sides. This did not exactly work out for the skillet size cookie. The dough melted again and was too unstable to flip. It simply broke and made a mess.
I tried again with regular size cookies (starting with discs). These were only marginally better. After several flips, the outsides looked crisp, so I took them out. Sadly, while the outsides were cooked, the inside was still raw. While it actually tasted good, I would not recommend eating these as the raw egg had likely still not cooked.
Conclusion
While this “experiment” was actually quite fun, I would not recommend it. If you want raw cookie dough, follow these directions for egg-free dough and consume without the risk of salmonella. Cookies are easy to make and that is for a reason. Don't try to mess with perfection and just pop them in the oven for 10 minutes, and enjoy all of the properly baked cookies that your heart desires. For more inspiration on real skillet cookies, check this out.