Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies
Amazing Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies that are GIANT (big-as-your-head!) and crinkled, with soft, chewy centers and crispy edges. My family goes crazy for these!
I Have a Special Love for Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mom’s homemade chocolate chip cookies, warm off the cooling rack, will always be my favorite chocolate chip cookies. Having grown up on those cookies, there’s definitely a nostalgic factor built in.
But I’m betting that if you asked any of my close childhood friends, including all my cousins, those chocolate chip cookies would rank way up high on their lists, too. Mom’s cookies were a regular request. And if we ever ran out, Mom was quick to reload her stash.
It’s good to be loved for your cookies, don’t you think?
Right now I have a special love for these Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies, a recipe from Sarah Kieffer’s The Vanilla Bean Baking Book. These giant cookies are worthy of dreaming about. Because believe me, I have.
Giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies recipe
I first enjoyed one of these big-as-your-head chocolate chip cookies this past summer. I was completely blown away, as I’d never seen or tasted a cookie like this before.
And Sarah made them herself. How awesome is that?
At that time, Sarah’s book The Vanilla Bean Baking Book was to be released shortly. I was chomping at the bit to get ahold of it. For this recipe ALONE.
It was obvious to me that these giant cookies contained a large quantity of butter and some really great chocolate. But I was beside myself as to how I could accomplish the amazing crinkled textures of this chocolate chip cookie on my own.
That ultra flat cookie, with a soft and chewy center, surrounded by crinkly, wrinkly prettiness that is the perfect texture of crispy.
Sarah is a local Minnesota food blogger friend who is known for her baking. And she is as lovely in person as she is on these pages.
The Vanilla Bean Baking Book is a collection of delightful recipes accompanied by Sarah’s signature simple-yet-elegant photography and thoughtful writing. I have spent many of this winter’s evenings reading through her cookbook, flagging all the beautiful things.
So many beautiful things!
At the very top of my list is this recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
The cookies are extraordinarily beautiful, with enticing folds of pooled dough baked to crispy absolute perfection.
Special steps for making chocolate chip cookies from the vanilla bean baking book
Some of the magic in this recipe is due to the enormous size of each cookie. I’ve never made a singular cookie with this much dough!
The rest of the magic comes from the generous amount of butter in the cookie dough, plus Sarah’s baking method, a bit unique.
A couple key items in the recipe’s directions include lining baking pans with foil dull-side-up and freezing the dough balls before baking (not so unconventional, but absolutely key in getting cookies that bake just the right way).
And the really fun – and somewhat bizarre – step is slamming the baking pans of dough balls in the oven every two minutes while baking. I’m not even kidding. Just trust me – it works.
It’s why people call these Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies!
After you freeze gigantic dough balls and slam a few pans, you too can enjoy chocolate chip cookies just like this.
Just be sure to share.
Because remember, it’s always good to be loved for your cookies.
Like this cookie recipe? Save it to Pinterest!
Here are a few more cookie recipes you might like:
- Apple Peanut Butter Cookies
- Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies with Sea Salt
- Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream Brownie Cookies
- Chocolate Turtle Cookies from Bake at 350
- Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies from Fifteen Spatulas
- Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookies from Baked by an Introvert
Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Vanilla Bean Baking Book
Ingredients
- 2 c. 284 g all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¾ tsp. kosher salt
- ½ lb. 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1-1/2 cups 297 g sugar
- ¼ c. 50 g packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 T. water
- 6 oz. 170 g bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bite-size pieces averaging 1/2″ with some smaller and some larger
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line three baking pans (I find that commercial-grade 12″ x 17″ rimmed pans give me the best results with this recipe) with aluminum foil, dull side up. This helps create the crinkles in the cookies and lends an extra-crisp, golden brown bottom.
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a beater blade, beat the butter on medium until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and water and mix on low to combine. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until combined. Add the chocolate and mix on low into the batter.
- Form the dough into balls weighing 3-1/2 ounces (100 g) each. This is approximately a heaping 1/3 cup each. I wanted my cookies to match Sarah’s as much as possible and measured each dough ball with a kitchen scale. If you make the dough balls smaller, you won’t get as many ridges on the outer layer, and your centers won’t be as gooey. Place four balls an equal distance apart on prepared pan and transfer to the freezer for 15 minutes before baking. Do not skip freezing the dough, as it’s essential in keeping the dough from spreading too much, and aids in the creation of the crinkly outer layer. After putting the first baking pan in the oven, put the second one in the freezer.
- Place the chilled baking pan in the oven and bake 10 minutes, until the cookies are puffed slightly in the center. Lift the side of the baking sheet up about 4″ from the oven rack and let it drop down against the rack, so the edges of the cookies set and the inside falls back down. To quote Sarah, “this will feel wrong, but trust me”. After the cookies puff up again in 2 minutes, repeat lifting and dropping the pan. Repeat a few more times to create ridges around the edge of the cookie. Bake 16 to 18 minutes total, until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden brown but the centers are much lighter and not fully cooked.
- Transfer the baking pans to a wire rack; let cool completely before removing the cookies from the pan.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
I received a copy of The Vanilla Bean Baking Book for my use and review. All opinions are 100% my own. We LOVE these cookies!
Just made these, first time baking since moving into our new home. I needed a special cookie to initiate the oven. These were fun to make and they came out beautifully. Show stoppers and so, so good. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
These look amazing! I will have to give them a try! Pinned it!
Hi Brenda,
Wow they came out perfectly. I do have a question: I literally only baked two cookies. Am I able to freeze the dough for an extended period of time and what method would you suggest?
I followed the recipe exactly… but did not end up.with ripply cookies :(
I had high expectations. I found these cookies quite greasy. I also think they’d be better with semisweet chocolate. In my opinion, they’re too high maintenance….not worth the effort (dropping the pan every 2 mins x 3 batches).
These are not a quick cookie, but a special cookie experience. They definitely ARE high maintenance. But in my (and my family’s and many of our friends’) opinion, totally worth it. Sorry you found them greasy. I like to think of them as rich in butter. :)
The original description it was said that it may be both crispy and soft because of all the butter. If you have a low tolerance for lots of butter maybe you should shy away from recipes like this that express how buttery they are and go with dry granola bar cookies. These may not be for everyone but nobody forced you to make them. Next time read your ingredients more carefully and the same goes for wanting a lower sugar content.
Most recipe’s can be made your own way and that’s part of the love of baking, changing and stirring up things to make them your own.
Wow..such thinly veiled vitriole on a recipe page..lol. I know you are defending the recipe author, but this actually does the opposite. Kinda ugly.
I have never tried the originals but decided to make your recipe. They were very good, my man loved them. They turned out looking exactly like your picture. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you so much for coming back to comment. I’m so glad these cookies were a hit. And I think I need to make them again SOON!!!
I love this recipe and these cookies. Thank you.. Also I believe the saying is champing at the bit.
Hi Leah, so glad you like these cookies! Your comment about that idiom had me looking it up. And you’re right – although “chomping” has been deemed (sometimes??) acceptable to use, “champing” is the original way this phrase came to be. Thank you!
Have you or anyone ever tried making these cookies with almond flour, coconut flour, or any type of paleo baking flour? I try not to eat wheat but am really wanting to make these! I’m just wondering if a substitution would work or if anything else in the recipe would need to change.
Hello Joanna – I have not varied from this recipe myself. Please let me know if you play around with it!
Thanks so much for the recipe.. I Mostly love trying new chocolate chip cookie..
Hi Brenda.
I don’t usually leave comments but after trying this recipe today, I wanted to let you know that these giant cookies hit the spot! They came out perfect. I just followed your instructions. Thanks for not leaving anything out.
These cookies are my new favorite. Thank you!
I made these cookies today and they are absolutely lovely!! The best of both worlds….crunchy on the edges and chewy in the middle! Thanks for sharing!!
I love your site. Ive bookmarked several recipes! I cant wait to try this cc cookie recipe! I have a spreadsheet of over 40 recipes I have tried. I am a bit obsessed. hahahahahah. You mentioned your moms cc cookie recipe…..is it on your blog or is it a secret family recipe?
Thank you!
Betty B! You are bad ass with your CCC spreadsheet. I love it (and I want it)!
Brenda, I don’t know what kind of farm girl you are, but these cookies resemble cow pies.
Your comment made me laugh. I know that they do. But, ohhhhhhh. If you could taste these. SO GOOD!
I made these cookies exactly as you stated including weighing the dough and they were delicious. I wonder how it would be to add walnuts. Thanks for sharing recipe
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this recipe! I crave these cookies!!
Should I used dark brown sugar or light brown sugar?
I also followed the directions and my mixture came out more watery than a dough type consistency so I added more flour. Dropped like suggested and got not a ridge lol. Cookies still taste good.
Thanks so much for the recipe! If I were to reduce the sugar a bit do you think that would greatly impact the cookie?
Hello Deanna – yes, it would affect the cookie.
These cookies look delicious and I can’t wait to try them! I was just wondering if you need to spray the dull side of the foil with nonstick cooking spray prior to putting the cookie dough on it? I wasn’t sure if that was needed to help with the cookie spreading? Thank you so much!
Hello Erin – do not spray the foil!
Just made these….crazy good!!! My new favorite cookie recipe! :-) Thanks for sharing!
YAAAAAAYYYYY!!! So glad you love these, too!
Saw these on my Instagram feed and knew I’d soon be making a batch! This weekend’s bake project. So keen to try this new choc-chip cookie. Thanks for sharing the recipe.