28 Jun Milo Chunk Pan-banging Cookies

Admittedly I’m a bit behind on this one, but better late than never I say! Just a few weeks ago, I came across pan-banging cookies for the first time. They’ve actually been around for almost 2 years now, and were made famous by Sarah Kieffer of The Vanilla Bean Blog.

What makes these cookies special is the banging of the baking tray several times during baking and again after baking, resulting in an incredible texture. The cookies form glorious ripples and wrinkles, making them crispy at the edges, and chewy and soft in the middle. I think it’s important that there is a chunk of chocolate in each bite, or in this case a chunk of Milo!

It is possible to make Milo chunks by simply spreading some Milo out onto a plate and leaving uncovered for a few days. The Milo will absorb moisture from the air and within a few days clump together all by itself! The speed at which this happens obviously depends on the humidity where you are, and if you leave it out too long it goes sticky. So for a more reliable method I simply mix the Milo with enough chocolate to form a thick paste. Once spread out and left to set, you can chop it up into delicious chunks.

I can’t deny that these are a bit more labour-intensive than your regular, run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookie. Don’t let that put you off! Who wants run-of-the-mill anyway?

Love Milo? Why not try these Mini Milo Trifles.

Ingredients:

Milo Chunks:
150g dark chocolate
100g Milo

Cookie dough:
215g butter, softened
200g white sugar
100g light brown sugar
1 large egg
7,5ml vanilla essence
30ml water
280g flour
2,5ml bicarbonate of soda
2,5ml salt
250g Milo chunks

Directions:

• To make the Milo chunks, finely chop the dark chocolate and place in a heat-proof bowl. Melt the chocolate, either over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave at 30-second intervals.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then stir in the Milo. Spread the mixture about 1cm thick onto a sheet of baking paper and leave to set. Once the block is solid, chop it into chunks.
• Line 2 baking trays with foil, shiny-side down. Adjust your oven rack to be in the middle.
• To make the cookie dough, cream together the butter and both sugars for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Mix together the egg, water and vanilla essence, then add to the creamed mixture and beat well.
• Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, then add gradually to the creamed mixture. Mix only until there are no more flour streaks, do not overmix. Lastly, stir in the Milo chunks.
• Use an ice cream scoop to form domes of cookie dough and place well spread out on the baking tray. I could fit 5 on each tray.
• Freeze the baking tray for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the cookies direct from the freezer for 8 minutes – they will spread out and be almost flat.
• Now lift the side of the baking sheet up about 10cm and let it drop down against the oven rack, so the puffed-up centres fall back down. After the cookies start to rise in the centre 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 for 14-16 minutes in total, until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden brown but the centres are still quite soft. Bang the trays one last time on your kitchen counter after removing from the oven.
• Meanwhile repeat with the second tray – scooping, freezing, baking and banging. Allow to cool completely on the tray, then store in an airtight container.