Food + Drink Sweets

Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m just going to say this right now: I am NOT a baker. If you ask me the types of dishes I am most confident creating, it is always going to be savory ones. For some reason I have this terrible fear when I bake. When I’m making something savory, I taste things as I go. I can add salt, I can turn the heat up or down: I can make adjustments. But…once I put a pan of cookies into the oven, there’s not much control I have other than to watch through the oven window and hope I remove them before they burn. I really hate giving up control, I really do (anyone who knows me well is probably laughing, because they KNOW this to be true). But sometimes, there are baked goods that are just TOO enticing not to create on my own. That’s where these pan-banging chocolate chip cookies came into play.

You might be living under a rock if you have somehow not seen or heard about Sarah Kieffer’s pan-banging chocolate chip cookies. I laid my eyes on these rippled beauties a few months ago, and I just could not get them out of my head. But here’s the thing – I know how this whole baking thing goes with me. I see a gorgeous recipe with picture perfect cookies. I read the recipe. I gather all the ingredients. I follow the recipe. The result? My cookies turn out nothing like they’re supposed to. They look misshapen and sad. They will usually taste great, but they are never easy on the eyes.

Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies

But this time, I was determined to change the game for me. One evening, I decided it was time to dive in. These cookies would be mine, dang it!

So – I followed the recipe step by step. OH SO CAREFULLY. I lovingly rolled the dough, stood by the oven, and banged the heck out of the pans. And this…this was the beautiful result. I did it. I did it! This is probably the very first batch of photo worthy cookies I’ve created in a LONG time! Hooray!

Anyway, if you are as enthralled as I am with these gorgeous chocolate chip cookies, let me add a couple of extra tips that I found useful when I was making mine!

Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tips for pan-banging chocolate chip cookie success

1. Make sure you’re ready to devote a few hours to the kitchen. The pan banging technique requires you to bang the cookie sheet every two minutes at a certain point in the baking process. So, if you need to be elsewhere in the house while you’re baking, this is not a good time for these cookies! Me? I set up my laptop with Netflix and danced around the kitchen while I made them. It was a good time.

2. The cookie dough balls are going to feel ridiculously large when you make them. I have never used so much cookie dough for a single cookie. Just go with it. Trust me. My cookies turned out like those large bakery cookies that make you think you should be sharing with someone else…but you totally won’t.

3. The recipe says to place 4 cookies per baking sheet. I decided to err on the side of caution and put only 2 per sheet. I was NOT taking any chances, and I think that turned out well for me in the end. I think I could have gotten away with 3 on a sheet, but the cookies definitely spread quite a bit (because you’re banging the pan), and you don’t want to have them run together. Ok – this is when you’re realizing that I didn’t follow the instructions completely because I only made 2 cookies per sheet. I’m such a liar. But like I said, I was not taking chances.

4. You really have to bang the pan. Don’t be afraid. For the first “bang” at the 10 minute mark, I would usually have to take the pan completely out of the oven to bang on my kitchen counter. I had to really hit the pan quite hard in order to make the center fall down. Once I did the initial bang on the kitchen counter, the rest of the bangs were fine to do in the oven.

5. Speaking of pan banging – be aware that the constant pan banging might scare animals (or children). Lucia and Sherman bolted to our bedroom to hide from the noise. I felt like a terrible dog-mom. But it was for the cookies, dang it!!!! Sorry, sweet puppies.

Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Ok, if you managed to make it through all of that, I’m going to ask you to go grab that recipe and MAKE THOSE COOKIES YOURSELF. And maybe share one with me?

Visit The Vanilla Bean Blog for the pan-banging chocolate chip cookies recipe. Seriously people. Do it.

Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Tips for pan-banging chocolate chip cookie success

 

 

 

Looking for even more cookie goodness? You might want to check out:

Toasted Almond Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Toasted Almond Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

toffee squares

Toffee Squares

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

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