Get Mini Pizookie Pans: Bj's Restaurant-Style At Home

BJ's Restaurant's signature Pizookie is a dessert made from a large cookie, usually topped with vanilla ice cream. It is baked in a small 8-inch frying pan and served warm. The Pizookie is a portmanteau of the words pizza and cookie, resembling a deep-dish pizza cooked in a skillet. The dessert is baked at a high temperature of 475 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 to 7 minutes, resulting in a brown exterior and a slightly gooey centre. While BJ's uses 6-inch deep-dish pizza pans, the Pizookie can be baked in any cake or pie pan with a bottom that is 6 to 7 inches across.

Pizookie pans are available in 6-inch and 8-inch sizes

While the 6-inch pan is traditional for this dessert, some variations and recipes call for an 8-inch pan. For instance, BJ's Restaurants' Monkey Bread Pizookie is served in 6-inch pans, but it is initially baked in a larger pan and then divided into sections and placed into the smaller pans for serving. Additionally, some recipes for Pizookies made at home suggest using an 8-inch pan, noting that the resulting Pizookie will be thicker and may require adjustments to the cooking time.

The size of the pan used can impact the baking time and the final texture of the Pizookie. A thicker Pizookie in an 8-inch pan may require a longer baking time to ensure it is cooked through, while a 6-inch pan will produce a thinner Pizookie that may bake more quickly. The desired texture is typically a crunchy, caramelized exterior with a soft, warm, and gooey centre.

Whether you opt for the standard 6-inch pan or go for an 8-inch variation, Pizookie pans are a fun way to create and serve this unique dessert, capturing the essence of a pizza combined with the deliciousness of a cookie.

The Pizookie is a combination of the words pizza and cookie

The Pizookie is a combination of the words "pizza" and "cookie". It is a dessert made from a large cookie, usually topped with vanilla ice cream. The name is a portmanteau of "pizza" and "cookie" because the cookie resembles a deep-dish pizza cooked in a skillet.

The Pizookie is a signature dish of the restaurant chain BJ's Restaurants. It is baked in small 8-inch frying pans and is meant to be eaten warm. The cookie is slightly underbaked, and it is best eaten directly from the skillet with forks, like a group dessert.

BJ's Restaurants was founded in 1978 in Santa Ana, California, and the dessert was created shortly after. The Pizookie has become one of the most well-known aspects of the company.

In addition to the classic Pizookie, BJ's has offered several variations, including the Monkey Bread Pizookie, which features freshly-baked monkey bread instead of a cookie. They have also released limited-time Pizookies to celebrate various holidays and events, such as National Cereal Day and National S'mores Day.

BJ's Restaurants was founded in 1978 in Santa Ana, California

BJs Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1978 by Jim Kozen and Leonard Allenstein in Santa Ana, California. The first restaurant was called BJ's Chicago Pizzeria, and the original name was BJ Grunts. However, due to a federal trademark conflict with RJ Grunts, a Chicago-based hamburger restaurant, the name was changed.

Mike Phillips and Bill Cunningham bought 50% of the company for $14,000 shortly after the opening of the first restaurant. Kozen and Allenstein left the group after the opening of the seventh store. Phillips and Cunningham then sold the company to their accountants, Paul Motenko and Jerry Hennessy, in 1991.

BJ's Restaurants is headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, and operates under the names BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, BJ's Grill, and BJ's Pizza & Grill. The chain offers a variety of dishes, including pizza, beers, appetizers, entrees, pastas, sandwiches, salads, and desserts. One of its signature desserts is the Pizookie, a freshly baked, hot cookie topped with vanilla bean ice cream and served in a deep dish.

The Pizookie is a signature dish of BJ's Restaurants

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse is known for its Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas and custom-brewed beers, but it is the Pizookie that truly sets it apart. The restaurant offers four varieties of this signature dessert, each served in a 6-inch deep-dish pizza pan. The Pizookie is baked in a pizza oven at a high temperature of 475 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in a cookie that is nicely browned on top and slightly gooey in the center.

The Pizookie has become so popular that BJ's Restaurants has introduced various flavor variations. The original version can be topped with fruits, chocolate chips, or scoops of ice cream, and there is even a recent variation called the Monkey Bread Pizookie. This version features freshly-baked monkey bread instead of a cookie, topped with caramelized butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean ice cream.

The Pizookie has also inspired home cooks to create their own versions, with recipes available online. These recipes often include similar ingredients such as butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. The cookie dough is then baked in a cast-iron skillet or a similar oven-safe dish, resulting in a warm and indulgent dessert.

Whether enjoyed at BJ's Restaurants or recreated at home, the Pizookie has become a beloved dessert that combines the best of both worlds—pizza and cookies!

The Pizookie is served in small 8-inch frying pans

The Pizookie is a signature dessert of the restaurant chain BJ's Restaurants. It is a large cookie, usually topped with vanilla ice cream, and served in small 8-inch frying pans. The name is a combination of the words "pizza" and "cookie", as the cookie resembles a deep-dish pizza cooked in a skillet.

The Pizookie is best served straight out of the skillet with multiple forks for sharing, or you can indulge in it all by yourself. The cookie dough is typically made right in the pan, creating a mess-free and easy process. The magic of the Pizookie lies in its warm, soft centre, resulting in a crunchy, caramelized outside and a gooey middle.

BJ's Restaurants offer a variety of Pizookie flavours, including chocolate chunk, white chocolate macadamia, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin walnut, and more. They also occasionally feature special editions, such as the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Pizookie for National Cereal Day and the Spooky Pizookie for Halloween.

You can recreate this delicious treat at home by following the steps outlined in the attached sources. The basic process involves melting butter in a skillet, adding sugars, vanilla, egg, flour, and baking ingredients, and then baking the dough in the oven. The Pizookie is then served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

For a true BJ's Restaurants experience, serve your Pizookie in a small frying pan, and don't forget to dig in while it's still warm!

Frequently asked questions