Just TRY not to eat this whole brown butter + dark chocolate hazelnut cookie skillet in one sitting – I dare you! It’s what cookie dreams are made of and there’s not a family member in sight, who doesn’t want a piece of this healthier dessert!

I’ve made this cookie skillet a healthy dessert by using sprouted flour in place of traditional, substituting dairy-free and clean ingredient chocolate hazelnut spread for the alternative… and using coconut palm sugar in place of brown sugar. My husband and one of our daughters are both allergic to dairy, and while we don’t believe in drinking cows milk, we have cut it out of our kitchen completely by dropping all dairy products aside from butter here and there. Honestly, none of us miss it. That being said, you could totally use a chocolate hazelnut spread that is made with milk and get similar results – maybe not AS rich as the dairy-free one I use  (insert drool emoji).

I know that many scoff at ‘substituting’ traditional cooking ingredients – but hear me out: sprouting grains before pulverizing them into flour, literally produces living, vital nutrients – providing more protein, vitamins and minerals than you would get from flour otherwise! It also neutralizes the phytic acid present in wheat, that inhibits nutrient absorption. The process of sprouting (see our post about sprouting) also makes digestion easier, as the starches are broken down into simple sugars, and there is less gluten. But guess what – sprouted flour is also less fattening than traditional flour! So, if you are gluten-sensitive but don’t have celiac disease or a gluten allergy, sprouted grains could be a game-changer for you! Why not try making the switch? It doesn’t change the taste of this drool-worthy, brown butter and dark chocolate hazelnut cookie!

While coconut palm sugar has the same number of calories as cane sugar, it is lower in glucose and fructose. It also contains inulin, which may help reduce the absoption of glucose, and makes it an alternative, for those who are diabetic. It also ranks lower on the glycemic index scale, if you’re watching that. The taste is similar to brown sugar, which is cane sugar with molasses added to it. This cookie is sweet without spiking your blood sugar through the roof.

Sometimes, I like to switch things up by using 1 c whole wheat (instead of white-wheat) sprouted flour and 1 c coconut flour. Either way, this brown butter + dark chocolate hazelnut cookie skillet, will have your tastebuds watering for more.

Brown butter dark chocolate hazelnut cookie skillet

Ingredients:

1 3/4 sticks of grass-fed butter, unsalted

3/4 c coconut palm sugar

1 mashed ripe banana

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 c sprouted flour (regular works just the same, but sprouted is healthier and easier to digest)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp Redmond’s Real Salt

1 c dark chocolate chips (or chop up a bar of dark chocolate)

3/4 c Nocciolata Organic, Dairy-Free Hazelnut Spread (or Nutella, but this other brand is cleaner)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a 12″ cast iron skillet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a saute pan, add the butter and patiently melt over low-medium heat; when it begins to sizzle, turn it down to a simmer and let it begin to brown – you’ll know it’s ready when you see brown bits on the bottom of the pan and smell a delicious nutty smell! That’s when you turn off the heat, and add it to mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer with whisk attachment); add in sugar and whisk until blended. Now you’ll need to wait about 20 minutes to allow the bowl to come to room temperature again.

In the meantime, take the same saute pan you used for the butter, and without washing it, put it back on low heat and add in the chocolate hazelnut spread – you just want it to get soft and gooey for easy spreading. Once the mixing bowl is cool enough to the touch, add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk in on a low setting just until combined.

Next, add in all of the dry ingredients and mix this just until combined. Gently fold in the dark chocolate pieces.

Rip a new sheet of parchment or wax paper and place it on your kitchen counter. Pour half of your cookie batter into the lined skillet, and the other half onto the parchment paper on your counter. Spread each out gently, making a round shape to the edge of the skillet, and making the other half on the extra parchment, look similar. Now pour the chocolate hazelnut spread over the cookie batter inside the skillet and gently spread the layer. Take the extra sheet of parchment with the other half of the batter spread out, and carefully flip it over on top of the chocolate hazelnut layer in the skillet. Scatter the top with some extra dark chocolate pieces for visual effect, and pop it in the oven for 25 minutes.

The goal for me, is to get a slightly gooey cookie to scoop out of the pan, but if you want it more traditional-cookie style, keep it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!