Batter Blaster

I love my boyfriend.

Sometimes we watch weird commercials on late night tv and talk about how bizarre certain organic, canned, pancake batter products are.

Then one day he brings home this.

He's the best.

Monster Cookie

Growing up, every time I walked past the cookie stand in Del Amo mall, I lusted after the enormous, pizza sized chocolate chip cookies they sold. “How cool would it be", I wondered, “to have one of those for my next birthday?”

But unfortunately the attention span of a child is akin to that of a goldfish, and my birthday would come and go with the giant cookies present only as a distant memory.

Flash forward almost twenty years and Diesel's mother had entrusted me with the awesome responsibility of contributing the cake for Diesel’s 33rd birthday party. Nervous to impress, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. “I don’t like cake,” was his only reply.

How was I to impress his family with the centerpiece of the birthday meal if he didn’t want cake?? Didn’t he know that I needed him to have a preference for the traditional dessert I was expected to provide??

And then I thought of cookies. Iced cookies, chocolate cookies, ice cream sandwich cookies – all of which would probably satisfy the peculiarly picky sweet tooth of my aging boyfriend, but none that packed the WOW factor I was hoping to deliver.

And then it came to me. What I really needed was one of the man-hole sized cookies from my childhood.

I ended up making two cast iron skillet sized cookies, instead of the monstrosity of my day dreams, but the end result was no less impressive. I served one cooled and frosted with the traditional birthday message, and one hot and melty - straight out of the oven, just the way he likes it. Accompanied by vanilla and homemade cheesecake ice cream, the dessert set a delicious tone for an exciting new year.

** My icing job did not do this cookie justice. Luckily, it didn't effect the taste.

Monster Cookie
(courtesy of the queen, Martha Stewart)
12 servings

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until mixture lightens and becomes fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until they they have become fully incorporated into the butter mixture. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

2. Transfer dough to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, and press to flatten, evenly covering the bottom of the skillet. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Don't overbake; it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into 12 wedges. Serve warm for the yummiest effect.