Name: Bakery Style Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 26 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour (or 00 flour) (130g)*; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (3g); 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (1g); 1/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon salt (2g); 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick) (113g); 3/4 cup sugar (148g); 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) packed brown sugar (25g); half of 1 large egg, lightly beaten, (room temperature) (25g); 1 tablespoon water, room temperature (13g); 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (6g); 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean powder (1g) (*optional but recommended); 3 ounces 70% dark chocolate (85g)

Jump to Recipe

This delicious homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe is something you might find at your favorite local coffee shop or bakery and tastes just as great! Wrinkled chocolate chip cookies get their signature look and texture from a fairly rudimentary professional baking technique known as "pan-banging". And true to their name, the cookies get a few good whacks during the last part of the baking process in order to achieve their distinct ridges. If you're a fan of chocolate chip cookies with a soft and chewy center and crispy edges dotted with chunks of 70% dark chocolate -- this cookie was made for you.

my hand holding a half chocolate chip cookie with chocolate oozing out of the perfectly golden brown buttery chocolate chip cookie

What's a Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookie?

Pan Banging Cookies have made their rounds on the internet. You know the ones -- wrinkled all over like a Shar-pei, buttery golden brown and dotted with chunks of chocolate. Pan-banger or Pan-banging cookies are essentially oversized instagrammable chocolate chip cookies that taste really great (and leave you with delightfully buttery fingers). Here are the attributes that make up a Pan-banger chocolate chip cookie:

They're made with all the usual suspects of a regular chocolate chip cookie, but with slightly less brown sugar than is usually called for. Plus, I made a slight tweak to Sarah Kieffer's original recipe because many reviews claimed the cookie is actually more of a crispy cookie than a soft and chewy cookie. I aimed for the best of both worlds with a chewier center and crispy outer edges and the small addition of cream of tartar helps with that.) You could also decrease the white sugar by a couple of tablespoons and substitute brown sugar to make the cookie a tiny bit softer.
Chopped chocolate chunks are used instead of regular chocolate chips to allow the chocolate to spread and "pool" which won't happen with chips.
Baking soda is used instead of baking powder.
Cookie dough is chilled 15 minutes in the freezer before baking which helps them to not spread out too much.
After 10 minutes of baking, the cookies get slammed on the countertop (or directly onto the oven rack) to create ripples/wrinkles. You bang the pans a total of 3-4 times at 2-minute intervals starting the pan-banging process only after the cookies have baked for 10 minutes first. This process sounds tedious, but it's fun to see how many wrinkles you can get.

brown sugar, white sugar and butter in a bowl

Vanilla beans in a bundle tied with raffia and one single bean off to the right.

eggs, vanilla, and vanilla bean powder in a bowl

flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar in a bowl

a bar of dark chocolate squares broken into 3 pieces

Chocolate chip cookie dough on a white rubber le creuset spatula.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Pan-Banging Cookies Ingredients

All you need is a good bar of chocolate and a few basic pantry staples to make these slightly sophisticated homemade chocolate chip cookies. Thin and chewy middles with an outer crispy edge give this cookie the best of both worlds. The addition of cream of tartar helps give this cookie its softness, but if you don't have it, feel free to leave it out (just know the cookies will be a bit crispier). And these make an excellent cookie choice to leave out for hardworking Santa Claus♡.

1 cup all-purpose flour (or 00 flour) (130g)*
¼ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar (1g)
¼ teaspoon + ⅛ teaspoon salt (2g)
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick) (113g)
¾ cup sugar (148g)
2 tablespoons (⅛ cup) packed brown sugar (25g)
half of 1 large egg, lightly beaten, (room temperature) (25g)
1 tablespoon water, room temperature (13g)
1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract (6g)
¼ teaspoon vanilla bean powder (1g) (*optional but recommended)
3 ounces 70% dark chocolate (85g)

*I use 00 flour when I'm in Italy, and King Arthur all-purpose when I'm in the States. And the weight of these different flours varies based on the humidity content of the flour and also the environment you're living in. No matter where you live, just be sure to use the 'scoop and level' method to measure your flour into measuring cups and spoons and the recipe works perfectly every time.

chocolate chip cookie batter portioned on a sheet pan

How to Make Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies -- Measure, Mix, Scoop, Chill + Bake.

Making homemade chocolate chip cookies gets a beautiful wrinkly upgrade with this professional baker technique known as pan-banging (or banging the pan of halfway-cooked cookies, multiple times in order to form the ridges. This process gets repeated at 2-minute intervals for a total of about 3-4 bangs.

Preheat oven to 350°F/176°C + Prepare the baking sheet. Line baking sheets with a nonstick Silpat, parchment paper, or aluminum foil.
Cream the butter + sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer) cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
Combine wet ingredients with the creamed butter mixture. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and water to the creamed butter mixture, and beat just until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and use a rubber spatula to gently incorporate the ingredients until no flour streaks remain. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
Scoop + chill the dough. Using a portioning scoop or ⅓ cup measuring cup, portion the dough and place scoops onto a prepared baking pan about 4 inches apart to allow for spreading. Pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes before baking to help them avoid spreading out too thinly during baking.
Bake the cookies. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar or sea salt and bake for 10 minutes. Open the door to the oven and lift the baking pan off of the rack about 3-4 inches and bang it down onto the rack creating your first "wrinkle". Bake for 2 more minutes until the cookie puffs up again and repeat the pan-banging. Bake for 2 more minutes and repeat pan-banging for the last time. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool directly on the baking sheet for a minute or two before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

*The cookies photographed here were baked for a total of 16 minutes until golden brown with 3 total pan-bangings: one at 10 minutes, 12 minutes, and 14 minutes.

Bakery Style Pan-Banger Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe step-by-step photos

chocolate chip cookie ingredients on a cutting board

adding egg to the cookie creamed butter and sugar

creamed butter and sugar mixture with egg and vanilla mixed in

flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar all added to the creamed butter sugar egg mixture

a mound of scooped cookie dough on a parchment-lined baking tray

a cookie as it bakes starting to puff up

banging the pan on the oven rack to give it wrinkles

Villa La Rotonda, Vicenza Italy -- Designed by Andrea Palladio and Built in 1571

a closeup of a sculpture of a Roman man opening the mouth of an animal

brick ceiling in herringbone pattern ceiling at La Rotonda under an awning

ancient round door knocker at La Rotonda

scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough on a sheet pan

Ways to Customize Homemade Bakery-Style Pan-Banger Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are all kinds of ways to enhance this chocolate chip cookie dough, but if you add too many add-ins (like chocolate or nuts) they won't spread as much or create the defining wrinkles that make them so special. Less is more with add-ins for pan-banging cookies. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

add 2 tablespoons of nuts like pecans, walnuts, macadamia, or even hazelnuts
top with candy sprinkles
substitute 55-60% chocolate
add a dollop of Nutella to the top of each cookie just before baking
add a dollop of salted caramel to the tops of each cookie just before baking
top the cookies with a tiny bit of sea salt
omit the chocolate chips, but note the cookies won't wrinkle as much (seen photographed at the bottom of the first post image)

a 3D model of Andrea Palladio's Villa La Rotonda on the premises in a glass case

Bakery Style Pan-Banger Chocolate Chip Cookies tips + tricks + FAQ's

Why are my cookies crumbly? Crumbly or dry cookies mean you may have either over-mixed the cookie dough or added too much flour, not added enough butter, or a combination of these things. You may be able to remedy this if you find your cookie dough is too dry by adding a little extra softened butter to the mix. Whatever you do, don't throw away cookie dough or cookies that aren't perfect. You can add them to a bowl of ice cream, or even use them to make a cookie crust for your next no-bake dessert or key lime pie!
Why are my cookies cakey? Usually, a cakey cookie means the flour-to-fat and sugar ratio is out of balance. Which means you may have added too much flour. It can also be if you've added more egg or a larger egg than is called for (a typical large egg should weigh about 50-55g once it's cracked in a bowl). Do not use cake flour which can also give you cakey cookies.
Why are my chocolate chip cookies hard? If your chocolate chip cookies are hard, you may have overmixed the cookie dough, or you may have baked them too long. Baking cookies longer than required leads to vital moisture loss from butter and eggs evaporating leaving you with a harder cookie. Also, don't leave them out uncovered for too long especially if you're in a dry environment. This can also zap moisture from your cookies.
How do you store chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate chip cookies can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days in an airtight container. They last up to two weeks in the fridge but keep them away from smelly foods. It's best to either freeze baked cookies layered between wax or parchment paper in freezer bags and pull out cookies as you want. This way they maintain their peak freshness. Alternatively, you may freeze portioned and frozen pan-banging cookie dough balls in freezer bags. When you want a freshly baked cookie add a dough ball to a lined cookie sheet and let temper at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before baking.
Why are my cookies spreading out so much? As mentioned above, too much flour in your cookie dough can make cookies crumbly and dry. Alternatively, too much butter and sugar can make cookies spread out and lose their shape when baked. Also, if you chill the dough beforehand, it will help keep them from spreading.
Can you overmix cookie dough? Yes, you can definitely over mix cookie dough. In fact, doing so will leave you with flatter, crispier cookies because overmixing adds more air to your dough which causes them to rise higher and then fall flat. But this method is great if you want extra crispy cookies.
What does cream of tartar do for cookies? Cream of tartar acts as a leavening agent in baked goods like cookies but also helps create a super soft cookie texture. If you don't have cream of tartar for this recipe, omit it altogether.