And Now for Something Completely Different…….”Get it On” — Banging Cookies Recipe–

And Now for Something Completely Different…….

I  had two jobs to do yesterday. Dye my hair and try out a new Instagram viral recipe called Pan Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies. In looking over the recipe there are a lot of things I shake my head at. I don’t usually put aluminium foil at the bottom of my pans but, apparently this is the magic that causes these cookies to crinkle— along with banging the baking pans. Yes, banging the pans! Are you still with me? My cooking doesn’t correspond to anything on the Food Network– trust me.

I realize I can’t begin to make this recipe with dirty dishes in the sink because of my Grandmother. Her Cowansville, Quebec kitchen was always “a ball of confusion” to put it mildly, but darned if her dishes weren’t always done. You couldn’t really see the clean dishes under the melee going on in there– but they were done. 

I get out my cookie pans and realize they are not the commercial grade the recipe calls for. I worship the Food Network, but honestly, I still rely on pans that I buy on sale once in a while at Walmart or the Dollar Store. A pan is a pan. I have a cookie sheet that has turned black from age and wear, and it’s the only pan I use for cookies. CNN drones on in the background and again I realize how much I am like Mary Louise Deller Knight. Montreal based radio station CJAD always blasted throughout her kitchen mixed with her constant non-stop chatter. 

My dollar store measuring equipment is pried and ready and I grind the baking soda before I put it in. The reason I do that is years ago I served cookies to my kids and their friends and the baking soda had clumped. As they picked out pieces of the baking soda in the cookies they joked with their friends that their mother put cocaine in the cookies. I can reassure you that cooking mistakes never happened again as gossip travels fast through a small rural town. I have no Kosher salt so regular salt goes in the bowl. I wonder if Kosher Salt needs to be blessed like other Kosher products. I say a prayer over the salt.

The recipe calls to beat the butter on medium until creamy in the bowl of a stand mixer, for about 2 minutes. “We” don’t beat butter, we microwave it in this house, and if butter had not been on sale this week we would have been using margarine. Once upon a time I used to have a retro 60s Sunbeam mixer but I traded it with my friends Mindy and Rei in exchange for an ancestry.com DNA test. True story!

The recipe calls for 6 oz. (170 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bite-size pieces averaging 1/2″ with some smaller and some larger. In a perfect world chunks of chopped Toblerone would be nice but, instead, wanting something larger than regular-sized chips I buy the small medallion cooking chocolate. You are not supposed to snack at Bulk Barn, but for the first time in my life I broke a rule and tasted the wafer to make sure it was okay.

The recipe calls for me to make the dough into balls weighing 3-1/2 ounces each. This is approximately a heaping 1/3 cup each and the author even got out her scale to measure the weight of each ball. No thank you -I’m not that sort of gal, so I measured out the size of a ⅓ of a cup and found a giant spoon the same size. Works for me.

Now the banging begins.  For the love of all things bright and beautiful, don’t bang them in the oven–take them out of the oven and then slam them down on the counter. I wanted inspiration so I blasted an 80’s favourite Bang a Gong by Power Station. First bang did nothing, the second one was most excellent, and then I saw the first crease. By this time I am listening to Duran Duran songs as I still adore Andy Taylor more than any cookie in the world. Word was the musician had a cocaine habit– but in reality was he just caught with clumped baking soda like I was?

You’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl

Get it on, bang the gong, get it on

Get it on, bang the gong, get it on

My Grandmother used to tell me that if I just ate one of her cookies life would be a lot better after. In reality, I have eaten so many cookies in 71 years it should all be lollipops and rainbows by now. My theory is, when nothing goes right, just go left– and remember big journeys in life begin with a single step and a fresh baked cookie. Honestly, I’d give all of you a cookie, but they are all gone. Go big or go home!

Bang a cookie today!

PAN-BANGING CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

The yield was  for 10 very large cookies ( I got 11 and 3 weird shaped ones)

https://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/chocolate-chip-cookies-from-the-vanilla-bean-baking-book/

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FROM THE VANILLA BEAN BAKING BOOK

Yield: 10 very large cookies ( I got 11 and 3 weird shaped ones)

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. (284 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups (297 g) sugar
1/4 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




DIRECTIONS:

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three baking pans (I find that commercial-grade 11″ 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.



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 even got out my scale to measure the weight of each ball. If you make the dough balls smaller, you won’t get as many ridges on the outer layer, and your center 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.

from Sarah Kieffer‘s new cookbook The Vanilla Bean Baking Book

From farmgirl’s dabbles

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Holiday Popcorn– Lanark County Recipes

Granny’s Maple Fudge —Lanark County Recipes

Albert Street Canasta Club Chilled Pineapple Dessert

Recipes from Lanark County–Glazed Cranberry Lemon Loaf

Gum Drop Cake — Lanark County Holiday Recipe

Gluten Free–

Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? Pastry Chef Ben White

“Sex in the Pan” Memories – A RIP Fashion Violation Photo Essay

Katherine Hepburn Did Eat Brownies

I Want Them to Bite into a Cookie and Think of Me and Smile

Friday October the 13th– 6:30.. meet in front of the old Leland Hotel on Bridge Street (Scott Reid’s office) and enjoy a one hour Bridge Street walk with stories of murder mayhem and Believe it or Not!!. Some tales might not be appropriate for young ears. FREE!–

Here we go Carleton Place– Mark Your Calendars–
Friday October the 13th– 6:30.. meet in front of the old Leland Hotel on Bridge Street (Scott Reid’s office) and enjoy a one hour Bridge Street walk with stories of murder mayhem and Believe it or Not!!. Some tales might not be appropriate for young ears. FREE!–

Join us and learn about the history under your feet! This year’s St. James Cemetery Walk will take place Thursday October 19th and october 21– Museum Curator Jennfer Irwin will lead you through the gravestones and introduce you to some of our most memorable lost souls!
Be ready for a few surprises along the way….
This walk takes place in the dark on uneven ground. Please wear proper footwear and bring a small flashlight if you like.
Tickets available at the Museum, 267 Edmund Street. Two dates!!!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1211329495678960/

OCT 28th
Downtown Carleton Place Halloween Trick or Treat Day–https://www.facebook.com/events/489742168060479/