Pan-banging pecan snickerdoodle cookies are huge rippled cookies made with toffee bars, pecans and cinnamon, slammed on the counter mid-bake. That makes them a showpiece Christmas cookie for a cookie exchange or a gift box, since each one spreads to the size of a saucer. The batch makes 13.
You bang the pan twice, not once. The first comes at about 10 minutes, when the edges have melted but the center is still domed. The second comes 3 to 4 minutes later, once the middle has puffed again.
These are not really snickerdoodles. There is no cream of tartar and no cinnamon sugar roll, which are the two things that define one. The cinnamon sits in the dough instead, so you get spice without the tang.
Pan-Banging Pecan Snickerdoodle Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA rich butter and brown sugar dough studded with chopped toffee bars and pecans, frozen in large scoops and baked one tray at a time. Banged twice on the counter so the centers collapse into ripples.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
Five 1.4-ounce chocolate toffee bars, such as Heath or Skor, chopped
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
Directions
- Heat the oven and mix the dry: Set an oven rack in the middle position and heat to 375 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with foil. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda together in a medium bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugars: Beat the butter in a stand mixer with the paddle on medium high until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add both sugars and beat 4 minutes more, until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg.
- Finish the dough: Add the dry ingredients on low and beat only until just combined. Stir in the chopped toffee bars and pecans by hand.
- Scoop and freeze: Scoop leveled 1/3 cup mounds onto the lined sheets, spaced well apart, and roll each into a ball. Put one sheet in the freezer for about 20 minutes, until firm.
- Bake and bang: Bake the frozen sheet about 10 minutes, until the edges have melted and the center is still domed, and put the next sheet in the freezer. Bang the hot sheet firmly on the counter until a ripple forms at the edge, return it for 3 to 4 minutes, then bang again until the edges are rippled and golden and the center is soft. Cool 10 minutes on the sheet, then move to a rack and repeat with the other two sheets.
Notes
- Three sheets baked one at a time comes to about 45 minutes of oven time, not the 25 on the original card. You need freezer space for a half sheet pan throughout.
FAQs
Do I really need three baking sheets?
Yes, and freezer space for them too, because one tray bakes while the next chills for 20 minutes. Only one sheet goes in the oven at a time, on the middle rack. Without three sheets you are rescooping dough between batches and the timing falls apart.
Why does the card say 25 minutes of cooking?
Each tray takes about 14 minutes, counting both bangs, and there are three trays baked one after the other. That is closer to 45 minutes of oven time. The 2 hour total on the card still works out, but the cooking figure does not.
Why foil instead of parchment?
Foil sits flat and conducts heat faster, so the edges melt early while the center stays domed. That is exactly what you need before the first bang. It also takes the knocking without sliding around the counter.
What are chocolate toffee bars?
Heath or Skor bars, the hard buttery toffee coated in milk chocolate, chopped straight into the dough. Five of the small 1.4 ounce bars comes to about seven ounces. A similar mix of nuts and caramel shows up in these salted caramel pecan chocolate chip cookies.
Can I make the dough ahead?
Scoop the balls, freeze them solid on a tray and bag them for up to three months. Bake from frozen with no change in time. For a true cream of tartar version, there are these Trisha Yearwood snickerdoodles.
