Surely no one with a sweet tooth and a pulse can resist a skillet-size giant chocolate chip cookie (above). I certainly can’t. It’s so much easier and quicker than the usual cookies you have to scoop and bake in batches, since here you just press the dough directly into the pan. The payoff is eating the slices fresh from the oven, when the slightly too hot wedges sting your fingertips and the chips are just gooey enough. This is the chewy, chocolaty, brown sugar-filled treat that you deserve right now, and it’s an utter snap to make.
Featured Recipe
Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
If, unlike me, you’re the delayed gratification type, you might whip up Millie Peartree’s buttery 7Up sheet cake. This rich and sweet Southern dessert is perfumed with a combination of lemon and lemon zest, in addition to the soda, and has a crackly citrus-scented white icing.
Both the cookie and the cake would pair delightfully with an iced coffee lightened with Gabriella Lewis’s sweet cream cold foam. Inspired by the creamy toppings popularized in coffee and tea chains, the foam is thinner and looser than standard whipped cream, enough to marble into your cold brew with a plush, cloudlike float on top. Flavored with optional vanilla extract, rose water or ground cinnamon, it makes a perfect midday pick-me-up.
And for something savory and substantial: An Italian hero sandwich. Ali Slagle’s recipe has an optimal ratio of rich and fatty ingredients balanced by cool, crisp ones. Her mix of pickles, lettuce and onions adds just the right texture to layers of salami, ham and cheese, all drizzled with an oregano-spiked, red wine vinaigrette. Serve it with Eric Kim’s watermelon and feta salad for a juicy, refreshing contrast to all that deli meat. A perfect WFH lunch.
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Improvise Your Melon Salads
To make Eric’s watermelon salad even more colorful, substitute sliced cucumber and cantaloupe for some of the watermelon. Or use any combination of melons here; the simple olive oil, feta and basil dressing will work brilliantly with whatever you have. To make it vegan, replace the feta with a handful of torn, pitted Kalamata olives.
