Pan Banging Sugar Cookies with with Sprinkles

I saw this highlighted as one of the cookie articles in WSJ. I tried this new “pan-banging” cookie technique from Sarah Kieffer. The cookies turned out quite nice and had those ripples on the outside. The sprinkles also make the cookies very colorful. The idea is that after the cookies are puffed up, you take them out of the oven and gently left a side of the aluminum foil that they are baking on so that it deflates and you get these ripples.

My modifications:

Made the dough up until before adding ¾ cup of sprinkles and split it into 3 batches to add ¼ cup of three different types of sprinkles. Then separately rolled them in ½ tablespoon sprinkles+ 1 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar.

Instead of making 12 large cookies, I made 10-11 smaller cookies with each batch of a dough for a total of ~30 cookies.

Baked for 7 min, then took them out to do the pan-banging. Baked for 2 more minutes and then did the pan-banging. Finally baked for 1 min and 30 seconds.

Pan Banging Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles (~in WSJ, adapted from “100 Cookies” from Sara Kieffer).

Ingredients

2 cups [284 g] all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup [2 sticks or 227 g] unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 3/4 cup [350 g] granulated sugar, divided

1 large egg

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

¾ cup sprinkles, plus 2 tablespoons for coating

Directions

1.      Set oven rack in the center position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three sheet pans with aluminum foil, dull side up.

2.      In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. 

3.      In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add 1 1/2 cups [300 g] of the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low speed to combine. Add the flour and mix on low speed until combined.

4.      Add ¾ cup sprinkles and mix until combined (I split the dough into 3 equal batches and added ¼ cup sprinkles to each of batter)

5.      Mix remaining ¼ cup sugar with 2 tablespoons sprinkles (I combined 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon sugar with ½ tablespoon sprinkles for each of the 3 batches of dough).

6.      Form the dough into 3 oz [85 g] balls [1/4 cup]. Roll each ball in the remaining 1/4 cup [50 g] of sugar + sprinkles. Place 3 or 4 cookies an equal distance apart on the sheet pan (I made 10-11 balls with each batch so a total of ~30 cookies). Bake the cookies one pan at a time. Bake until the dough balls have flattened but are puffed slightly in the center, 8 minutes (baked 7 min). Lift one side of the sheet pan up about 4 in [10 cm] and gently let it drop down against the oven rack, so the edges of the cookies are set and the center falls back down. 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 edges of the cookie. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes total, until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden brown but the centers are much lighter and not fully cooked. (Baked initially 7 min, then 2 more min, and finally 1 min 30 sec so a total of 10 min and 30 seconds)

7.      Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days (or refrigerate for up to 3 days).