Warm Skillet Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream
My brownie problem used to be dry middles, no matter what pan I used. Then a friend baked one in a cast iron skillet, set it on the table with a pint of vanilla ice cream and a couple of spoons, and the center was still soft enough that the scoop sank right in and pooled into the cracks. The pan does that. The edges go chewy and a little crisp while the middle stays underdone. So pull it when the center still jiggles and looks slightly too wet. It finishes setting on the counter while you dig out the ice cream scoop.
- Total
- 45 minutes
- Makes
- 6 to 8 servings
Recipe
Warm Skillet Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream
- Prep
- 13 minutes
- Cook
- 18 to 22 minutes
- Rest
- 5 to 10 minutes
- Total
- 45 minutes
- Makes
- 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
For the brownie
For serving
Instructions
- 1
Prep the pan
Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 6.5-inch cast iron skillet. An 8-inch works too; the brownie will just be thinner, so shave 3 to 4 minutes off the bake.
- 2
Melt the chocolate
Melt the butter and chopped chocolate together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring now and then, or microwave in 30-second bursts. Let it cool for 5 minutes so it doesn't scramble the eggs.
- 3
Mix the batter
Whisk both sugars into the chocolate, then beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Switch to a spatula and fold in the flour, cocoa, and salt just until you don't see streaks of dry flour anymore. Overmixing is how you lose the fudgy middle.
- 4
Bake
Spread the batter into the skillet and bake 18 to 22 minutes. The edges should look set and a tester poked near the edge should come out with moist crumbs, but the center should still jiggle slightly. It firms up as it sits.
- 5
Serve
Rest the skillet for 5 to 10 minutes, hot enough to melt the ice cream but not so hot it turns everything to soup. Top with a generous scoop of ice cream, drizzle warm fudge over it, and dust with powdered sugar. Serve it in the pan with spoons and let everyone go at it.
Estimated nutrition
Per serving (1 of 8)
- Calories
- 405 kcal
- Protein
- 4.8 g
- Carbs
- 45.4 g
- Fat
- 23.3 g
Calculated from the listed amounts. Optional or unmeasured additions are excluded; brands, substitutions, and cooking losses can change the result.
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Warm Skillet Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream
Nutrition · Per serving (1 of 8)
- Protein
- 4.8 g
- Carbs
- 45.4 g
- Fat
- 23.3 g
405 Cal
Estimated · optional extras excluded
Warm Skillet Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream
Prep the pan
Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 6.5-inch cast iron skillet. An 8-inch works too; the brownie will just be thinner, so shave 3 to 4 minutes off the bake.
For this step
All ingredients · 12
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Shortcuts and substitutions
Boxed brownie mix
For the record, a good boxed mix baked in a buttered skillet at 350°F until the edges set and the middle jiggles gets you about 85% of the way there. Nobody at the table will know.
No cast iron
Any 6- to 8-inch oven-safe pan works, or use a small cake pan. You lose the crispy edges, but the fudgy middle survives just fine. A pie plate is another backup.
Gluten-free
A 1:1 gluten-free flour blend works in the same amount.
The ice cream
Vanilla bean is classic, but strawberry, salted caramel, or even coffee are all good here. Use whatever's in the freezer. The hot skillet forgives almost anything.
No bittersweet chocolate
Use semisweet chips and skip the chopping. They melt fine.
Hot fudge from scratch
Warm ½ cup heavy cream, pour it over 4 ounces of chopped chocolate with a pinch of salt, wait a minute, and stir. That's it. Or just microwave a jar of store-bought fudge sauce for 20 seconds.
Recipe notes
Both of these should come out of the oven looking slightly too soft in the center. They finish setting from residual heat, and if you wait until a toothpick comes out clean you've baked a cake, not a skillet brownie.
A whisk and a spatula are all you need to mix the batter once the butter and chocolate are melted.
You can mix the batter, press it into the buttered skillet, cover, and refrigerate for up to a day. Add 3 to 5 minutes to the bake time straight from the fridge. The hot fudge keeps a week refrigerated and reheats in the microwave.
Estimated nutrition is for 1 of 8 portions of the brownie. It excludes ice cream, powdered sugar, extra butter for greasing the pan, and hot fudge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this in a bigger skillet?
Yes, but scale the recipe up. A 10-inch skillet needs roughly double the batter. Keep the same temperature and start checking around 20 minutes.
Why did my brownie come out cakey?
Too much flour (spoon and level it, don't scoop) or too long in the oven. The jiggle test is more reliable than the toothpick here.
Can I bake this ahead and reheat?
It's best within an hour of baking, but a 20-second blast per portion in the microwave brings back most of the gooey texture. Don't reheat the whole skillet in a hot oven; the edges dry out before the middle warms.
Is the powdered sugar just for looks?
Mostly, yeah. But it melts into the ice cream and fudge and adds a little extra sweetness to each bite.
