I have been on a cookie BENDER lately- and as we head in to my birthday and the holiday season, there are no signs of that changing anytime soon! While my signature Salty Triple Chocolate Chunk and White Chocolate Peanut Butter Miso Cookies will forever be my favorite, I’m determined to master many more varieties, starting with these Kitchen Sink Cookies.
Just like ice cream, the best thing about these cookies is the MIX-INS! And while these were inspired by What’s Gaby Cooking’s Dad’s Kitchen Sink Cookies, I’ve changed the ratios and switched up the candy to combine some of my favorite flavors- peanut butter, white chocolate, cinnamon, and salt! Plus, the chewy sweetness of the raisins, and the fruity tartness of the craisins, they really keep your tastebuds guessing and entertained.
There is so much going on in these cookies, it’s hard to decide what my favorite part is! Well, that’s a lie, my favorite part is eating the dough before they’re baked, because it is NEXT LEVEL (especially when you use more pretzels to *scoop* it up).
When it comes to Kitchen Sink Cookies- you can truly throw in *anything* when it comes to mix-ins to make these cookies your own. While I use two specific chips- the Tollhouse Funfetti and Hershey’s Cinnamon– the funfetti can simply be swapped with white chocolate, and the cinnamon could be swapped with Reese’s peanut butter chips, chocolate, or anything else you fancy!
As a sucker for the sweet and salty combo in anything, I initially created this recipe with two cups of pretzels mixed in. However, I found that after the pretzels sat inside the dough, and then they were baked- the pretzels ended up soggy, and the salty crunch was totally missed. So, I found just baking them on top allowed them to stay in more of their true form, and I’d encourage you to press as many pretzels on top of each cookie as possible, because they’re a damn good edition 😉
On top of how good they taste- don’t they just look SO FUN?! One of my favorite parts about baking with m&ms is the colorful JOY they add to any recipe- like this Popcorn Cake! These Kitchen Sink Cookies truly are treat for your eyes and your mouth… enjoy!
- Yield: 18-22
- Prep Time: 1h 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Kitchen Sink Cookies
Sweet, salty, nutty, chewy, and just the slightest bit tart... these Kitchen Sink Cookies have a little something for everybody!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 sticks butter - room temperature!
- 1 1/3 cup light brown sugar - packed
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs - room temperature!
- 1T pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups pulverized oats - oats ground in food processor 15-20 seconds
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup peanut butter m&ms
- 3/4 cup funfetti or white chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup cinnamon chips - Hershey's brand, I don't know of another brand!
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1-2 cups pretzels
Instructions
- Cream the butter and two sugars together until fluffy, 2-5 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and the eggs, mixing just until combined.
- In a blender or food processor, add 3 cups of oats, and pulse 15-20 seconds until somewhere between oats and flour.
- Add the oats through the sea salt to the sugar mixture, and mix just until barely combined, 15-30 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients- except the pretzels- and stir until evenly mixed throughout the dough and the flour is blended.
- Refrigerate 1 hour before baking.*
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Use a heaping 1/3 cup to scoop dough and roll into a ball (3-3.5ounces). Gently "flatten" the ball of dough on to a cookie sheet, and press as many pretzels as you can in to the surface. (Don't entirely "flatten" the ball, just enough to create surface area for the pretzels).
- Repeat with remaining dough, leaving 3-4 inches in between each cookie for baking. (You may have to bake in batches).
- Bake for 8 minutes. At the 8 minute mark, open the oven, pick up the cookie sheet, and gently "bang/tap" the cookie sheet against the oven rack to remove air bubbles. Bake another 3-5 minutes, until golden and to the "doneness" of your liking. (The center often stays slightly underbaked when I make them- the best!) When you pull the cookie sheet out of the oven, drop the pan on the counter top again, to remove any more air bubbles.
- Allow to cool a couple minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container. Best when eaten within a few days.
*Note: I would not recommend chilling much longer than this, as the oats absorb a lot of moisture and that will impact how the cookies "spread" when baking. If you need to make the dough further in advance, just allow the dough to sit at room temperature 30 minutes before baking
