Gaby Dalkin is one of those chefs that is big on all the platforms, her Instagram is in the six figures and her TikTok isn’t far behind. Her consistent messaging of clean California living via delicious and indulgent (but healthy) food has clearly struck a chord with her loyal followers and fans.
We caught up with Gaby freshly off Maternity leave and dove right into her world of grilling anything and everything, including decadent dessert treats like the interestingly named Snickerdoodle Pizookie (i.e. a cookie grilled in a pizza-style pan), which she relates back to her days of tennis practice in Arizona. After our chat, we’ll run you through how to make the perfect pizookie on your next camping trip or backyard grill sesh.
Make it this weekend and tag @UproxxLife on IG to share your results!
To start — what is a pizookie?
Pizookie is half pizza, half cookie. So it’s a traditional cookie dough base that you bake in some form of a pizza tin or a small skillet. It’s phenomenal. You can do chocolate chip, you can do snickerdoodle, you can do M&M. If you want to add nuts, I support you, but don’t invite me over. You do with it what you will.
I love nuts, but not in something with chocolate. I need my mouth to get to the chocolate as fast as humanly possible, so the nuts get in the way.
You mentioned that you use a skillet, what are some alternatives to using a skillet if you don’t have one at home? Or is that a must?
I use a 9-10 inch skillet. Any oven heat-safe baking dish is totally fine.
I like the skillet because it’s a little bit thicker than just a traditional baking tin. If you are doing this (recipe) on a smoker or a grill, you have a little bit more of a barrier between the pizookie and the heat source. If you are cooking this in a traditional oven, which you totally can, then a regular baking pan is fine.
What are the benefits of using a smoker for this recipe?
My latest cookbook is all about grilling, so everything in the entire book was either done on a smoker or a grill of some sort. It all started because during COVID, we didn’t have a kitchen, so I was cooking everything on my grill or my smoker, including frittatas, cookies, etc. I wanted to test to see if baked goods translated as well in an outdoor setting, and they do. If you’re firing up ribs and steaks and you’ve already got a grill or smoker going, you might as well throw a delicious dessert on there, too, so you’re not heating up your oven if it’s a hot summer day.
Are there any flavor benefits to using a smoker?
If you are smoking for a long period of time, it would change the flavor profile, but this bakes for a short amount of time, so it doesn’t take on any smoking flavor.
Why use unsalted versus salted butter for this recipe? And then is there a specific brand that you prefer for that?
If you looked at my freezer right now, you would see the extra creamy unsalted butter from Tillamook is there, probably with eight four-packs. I’m a diehard fan of the Tillamook butter. I tend to always bake with unsalted because I add my own salt to the recipe. If you wanted to use the Tillamook salted butter, absolutely. Be my guest. Just omit the salt at the end of the recipe because that butter is delicious and salty enough.
Why large versus other size eggs? And do you have any brands that you prefer or tips for picking out eggs?
I’m a Vital Farms egg girl. At the store you’re looking for eggs with uncracked shells, and you want to check the date on the egg carton to make sure it hasn’t expired. All the other tests for making sure your eggs are really fresh are things you can’t do at the grocery store. It’s like the float test, when you place an egg in a bowl of water, and if it sinks and turns on its side, it’s fresh. If it sinks and it doesn’t tilt, it’s older. So you definitely can’t do that at the grocery store because you’re not bringing a bowl of water to your local Ralph’s.
As far as the flour, is there any specific brand you recommend?
I’m a Bob’s Red Mill flour kind of girl – all-purpose works or their gluten-free all-purpose substitute because it’s a one-to-one ratio. If you’re looking at other kinds of flours, an almond flour or anything like that, you’re getting into different flour protein ratios, and those don’t translate in this recipe as well. So all-purpose is the way to go for this one.
Cream of tartar, what is that, and what does that contribute to the recipe?
Cream of tartar is used in baking and baked goods to prevent them from deflating. It’s a stabilizer, essentially. You don’t want to make an incredible pizookie and it inflates in oven and then deflates when it comes out. The cream of tartar helps keep its thickness even when you remove it from the oven.
What are the biggest challenges that somebody looking at this recipe wouldn’t expect that could happen during the process of this?
The most alarming part of this recipe people might freak out about is the fact that we’re doing it in a smoker, but I also say you can heat your oven to the same temperature, 375, and then you’re not dealing with the wood pellets. I think that’s probably the only hold-up as far as people looking at this recipe and not knowing what to do.
Otherwise, I would say all of this is very pantry staple. The Tillamook vanilla bean ice cream is a freezer staple. It’s all ingredients that people are readily familiar with.
How To Make A Snickerdoodle Pizookie, According to Gaby Dalkin
Ingredients
Method
and let it heat up with the lid closed for at least 15 minutes.
(300 g) of the sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth.
tablespoon of the cinnamon, the baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until
everything is incorporated.
teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
the batter. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, until still slightly gooey in the middle and golden
around the edges. Remove from the pellet smoker (or oven) and let rest for a few minutes.