Homemade with Heinen’s: Spring Cookies Save the Day

The following post, recipe and photography were provided by Barrington Illinois resident Liz Luby and were originally published at 365Barrington.com.

Does spring snow, cooler temperatures and gray skies have you feeling down after weeks of abiding by stay-at-home orders? I’m with you. When the sun goes into hiding and it’s too cold to play outside, a little cooking, Homemade with Heinen’s style, seems to help a lot. Sometimes baking is just what the doctor ordered!

A batch of chocolate chip cookies with special unicorn chips was the jolt of sunshine I needed during a particularly difficult day of distance learning last week with our kids.

Inspired by local kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Nisbet’s cheery kitchen cookie creations, we broke out our KitchenAid stand mixer on Easter Sunday for the first time in years. We put our own spin on a simple recipe for a spring skillet cookie and we made a big mess. It was fun to let my 5th grade daughter take charge of “project monster cookie.”

Spring Skillet Cookie

Makes 1 – 12″ cookie

Ingredients

• 3 sticks of butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups of sugar
• 1 ½ cups of packed light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. of vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1 ½ tsp. of baking soda
• 2 tsp. of baking powder
• 4 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup of white chocolate chips
• ½ cup of spring-colored M&M’s
• ¼ cup of sprinkles
• Whipped cream & vanilla ice cream topping

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Grease the bottom of a cast iron skillet with butter or cooking spray.
3. Mix the butter and sugar together on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Add in the vanilla and eggs one at a time until they are mixed in.
5. Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour on low speed and mix until combined.
6. Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate chips, candy and sprinkles until incorporated.
7. Transfer the mixture to the 12” cast iron skillet and smooth out the top.
8. Bake the pan in the oven at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned but soft in the center.
9. Top off with optional ice cream and whipped cream topping.

Click Here to Print the Recipe for the Spring Skillet Cookie.

By Heinen's Grocery Store

In 1929, Joe Heinen opened the doors of a small butcher shop on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, aiming to establish himself as the city’s purveyor of quality meats. As customers came into Heinen’s new shop for their meat purchases, they began asking him to carry groceries as well. Joe added homemade peanut butter, pickles and donuts and by 1933, business had grown enough to include a line of produce and canned goods. Heinen’s Grocery Store was born.