These extra large pan-banging chocolate chip cookies are perfectly crispy on the outside with gooey cookie centers. They are the ideal chocolate chip cookie!
When I first heard about these cookies, I was convinced that the phrase “pan-banging” in the title referred to the fact that they were so good you would be driven to bang pans around your kitchen while eating them in celebration.
A New Year’s Eve kind of scenario.
Well, yes. And no.
Yes in that they ARE that good and you WILL want to do that.
But no because it’s actually referring to the extremely technical (I kid) baking technique of lifting and dropping (ie “banging”) the pan in the oven while baking to create some truly delightful cookie ridges.
More ridges = more crispy cookie surface area, but also somehow more chewy cookie interior.
I don’t know the science of how it works, it just does.
So what you get is an XXXXL chocolate chip cookie with a crispy outside, chewy inside, and chocolate shards in every bite.
These masterpieces are the conception of Sarah from The Vanilla Bean Blog. They’re housed on her blog and in her first cookbook, but have also made some well-deserved rounds over the internet, from Food52 to The New York Times, and she is in the process of writing a cookbook centered entirely around variations on this cookie theme! Basically, they’re internet famous and soon to be famous in your own kitchen as well.
- 2 cups (284 g) all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ½ lb (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1½ cups (297 g) sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp water
- 6 oz (170 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bite-size pieces
- Heat oven to 350F. Line three baking sheets with aluminum foil, dull side up. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
- Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until creamy. Add in the sugars and cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the egg, vanilla, and water. Mix on low to combine. Add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add in the chocolate and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Divide the dough into 3½ oz (100 g) balls (about ⅓ cup each). Place 4 balls evenly spaced apart on one of the foil-lined baking sheets. Place in the freezer and chill for 15 minutes. Add the next baking pan of cookie dough to chill once you put this one in the oven.
- Place the chilled baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Lift the side of the baking sheet up about 4 inches and let it drop back against the oven rack. This will allow the unset center of the cookie down to fall back down and create ridges. Allow to bake for another 2 minutes, then repeat the lifting and dropping again. Repeat every 2 minutes until the cookies are done. Bake for a total of 16-18 minutes, or until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden brown but the centers are lighter and not fully cooked through.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.
I NEED a cookie as big as my head.
Drooling! What a cool technique to try…bookmarked.