“Everybody has their taste in noise as well as other matters; and sounds are quite innoxious, or most distressing, by their sort rather than by their quantity.” -Jane Austen, Persuasion
This is how local cookie expert and cookbook celebrity Sarah Kieffer begins the chapter dedicated to the dessert that set her apart and initially brought her sweet treat fame and glory: Pan-banging cookies.
What are pan-banging cookies, you ask? Well, just like it sounds, they’re cookies that you make by, well… repeatedly dropping a metal pan.
But let me back up and share more about this method and how it came to be. Kieffer writes,
“When I first came up with the pan-banging chocolate chip cookie recipe, I had no idea that it would become its own hashtag. I get asked a lot of questions on the technique, how it evolved, and how to troubleshoot when problems arise, so here is some backstory and a few tips for you.
…In the ninth grade I began a quest to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I spent hours after school determined to make one heads and tails above the rolls of cookie dough my mom brought home from the grocery store. One day, out of frustration at a particular cookie recipe that refused to spread as I wanted, I picked up the pan slightly and hit it on the oven rack. Across the top of my cookie there was a beautiful crack, and the edges of the cookie set. Ever since that day, I have been tapping my pan on the oven rack when baking cookies.
When writing the cookie chapter for my last book, I had been using this tapping method on my chocolate chip cookies and was experimenting with a dough for thin and crispy cookies. While they baked, I found that the dough kept spreading, so I kept tapping. Each time I did so, a ripply edge appeared on my cookie. I was intrigued by how the cookies looked but more impressed with the final result: The cookie had the crisp outer edge that I had been searching for, while the center remained soft and full of melty chocolate. My husband declared them his favorite, and my kids said they were better than any cookie I had made in the past, so I added them to the cookie chapter and they soon became our house cookie.
Bakers tapping their cookie pans in the oven isn’t new, of course, but the pan-banging technique I use here is unique in that the pan is tapped in the oven every few minutes, creating ripples on the edge of the cookie. This creates two textures in the cookie: A crisp outer edge, and soft, gooey center. So, when I write about my “pan-banging” cookie technique, I am referring to this outer-edge rippled method. This technique did evolve out of the simple tap motion, but to my knowledge, it hasn’t been used in this particular way before.
I wasn’t sure how the people baking out of my cookbook would feel about the extra work that went into the cookies, but I stared finding people were making them and loving them as much as I did. Soon #bangonapan and #panbanging hashtags were born, and the cookie went viral after the recipe was included in the New York Times. I am constantly overwhelmed by how many people make them throughout the week and share them with me. I’m excited to bring you a handful of new pan-banging cookies here.”
Well, there you have it: A new type of method for a new type of cookie. Admittedly I had never heard of pan-banging cookies before becoming acquainted with Kieffer’s cookbook, but I quickly learned that this technique is what skyrocketed her to fame and local baking legend. So, always looking to experiment and try something new, I decided it was finally time to give her recipe a whirl[1].
So, here it is. The recipe that started it all.
As Kieffer instructed, I began by adjusting the rack to the middle of the oven. Then I preheated the oven to 350°F and lined three sheet pans with aluminum foil, dull-side up[2].
Then, in a small bowl I whisked together flour, salt, and baking soda. Separately, using my electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle, I beat two sticks of butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Next, I added granulated and brown sugar and beat the mixture on medium speed until it was light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
After that, I added an egg, water, and vanilla and mixed it all on low speed until everything was nice and combined. Then I added the chocolate and mixed it on low speed until the chunks were evenly incorporated throughout the entire batter.
Once the dough was complete, I formed four ¼ cup balls and placed them equally spaced apart on my sheet pan. I baked the dough until the balls were spread flat but still slightly puffy in the center, about 9 minutes. Then I opened the oven and lifted one side of the sheet pan a couple inches from the rack and suddenly dropped it, allowing the metal to loudly and dramatically drop down so that the edges of the cookies set and the center fell back. I let the cookies bake for two additional minutes before repeating this approach again, making sure I dropped each corner of the pan about three or four times each. (It was very loud and created quite the ruckus!) Then, I baked the cookies for four additional minutes before removing them from the oven, sprinkling them with salt, and allowing them to cool for a minute or two before transferring them to parchment paper.
Overall, I’ll say this: Kieffer’s recipe is loud, vocal, and unafraid to make a statement. As I carefully followed the steps and walked through the progression of literally banging my pan against my oven rack, I was both a little startled and a little energized by this refreshing, untraditional approach to baking. Who knew a little noise, clamor, and chaos was just what your recipe needed? I so appreciate Kieffer’s out-of-the-box thinking and was happy to mix things up in my cookie-baking repertoire.
The end product was crisp, defined, buttery, and unlike any other chocolate chip cookie I have ever sampled. This morsel almost takes on the consistency of a dense shortbread or sable, and while I personally prefer an ooey-gooey, soft-in-all-the-right-places type of cookie, I was pleasantly surprised by Kieffer’s concoction. Her pan-banged chocolate chip cookie was crisp, different, and delicious in the best of ways, and I was more than happy to have sampled something new and dabbled with a different way of baking.
So, give it a whirl: Make your next round of cookies a pan-banging batch. I’m curious to see what you think, what you taste, and what you learn throughout the entire process.
[1] Plus, it is the season of love and all things sweet, and let’s be real: I was craving a little chocolate.
[2] Well actually I didn’t follow this step because when I went to unravel my roll of aluminum foil I realized my past self had created quite the shitshow. What was left on the roll was tattered, torn, and utterly unusable. Frazzled flustered, and willing to take my chances, I decided to forgo this step and just bake with a naked pan.
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