Every weekend I'm living it up with a batch of cookies on Friday nights baked for my family. Warm cookies after dinner and then leftover cookies to enjoy with coffee over the weekend is always magic. That, however, is not an easy task when it comes to picking a cookie everyone agrees on.
Just make kitchen sink cookies which are the ultimate have it your way treat. Moist, soft and chewy these gigantic cookies are made with melted butter and lots of brown sugar. Wildly adaptable to any palate, these mix-ins hit chocolatey, salty, nutty, sweet, and sticky notes for a deeply flavored cookie.
The only difficult part about making these cookies is figuring out what mix ins to use (because I've already done all the work to figure out how to make it perfect). Since they come together quickly (no mixer needed), these are a wonderful anytime treat.
Where In the World Is The Name Coming From?
Kitchen sink cookies take "everything but the kitchen sink" literally. The idea is that the cookies are packed with all of the things you thought to do them, salty or sweet of everything in between. The resulting cookies hit that flavor note on all counts when packed with mix ins.
A Guide to Mix-Ins
This cookie's greatest strength is how riff able it is. However, my favourite combination of these ingredients (listed in the recipe as well, along with your standard semi sweet chocolate chips, salted, ridged potato chips, salted pretzels, roasted peanuts and toffee bits), are pretty much your oyster here when it comes to mix ins.
I've even tried to balance the cookie so there are amounts for each mix in (chocolatey, salty, nutty, and chew and sticky). Below are examples of mix-ins that fit into each category with my tips on each:
Chocolatey:
For example, semi sweet, milk, dark, white chocolate chips or chunks, or chocolate candies like M&M's or peanut butter cups. Milk cookies will lean sweeter, all M&M's or white chocolate will be a bit sweeter, semi sweet will be in the middle (my own preferred preference), and the dark chocolate will be a little less sweet. If you use all semi sweet chocolate I suggest either using all or a combination of chocolates (all milk and dark or half peanut butter cups and half semi sweet).
Salty:
Some examples of them are potato chips, pretzels, etc. If you can get your hands on both, I personally mix them, but you can certainly use just one. For measuring or weight using a scale, be sure to crush the chips or pretzels. If I'm using potato chips I'll use a plain old, salted, ridged potato chip. When baked in the cookie they are crisp, but not hard and have the best texture I have found, so far, of all the ridged chips. For pretzels I like salted twist pretzels (though skinny sticks work) for brains I like mixed berries. Don't use the bigger, thicker rods.
Nutty:
There are examples of peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, and/or unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut chips. I like unsalted, toasted nuts here (save coconut from toasting) for flavor. Be sure and chop up any whole nuts you may have first before measuring by volume. This will let you chop things and make better distribution and texture.
Chewy/sticky:
These include toffee bits or finely chopped caramels or dried fruits. For larger dried fruits, chop them before drying: after all, you wouldn't want to measure a whole cherry by weight! Plain toffee bits aren't always available, but a good substitute for me is chopped chocolate covered toffee bar, or Heath. They're chopped very fine you get a nice chew, but they can be pretty sweet, so keep an eye on the rest of your ingredient mixture.
And even MORE Mix In Variations and Substitutions!
These ingredients will do for the four categories in this recipe, but without even more, what would these kitchen sink cookies be? If ingredients from one category overlap with those of another, cut some of the mix ins from each.
Alternates:
Don't like chocolate? No problem. For example, use peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips instead.
Additions:
Inspire yourself to try swirling a spoonful or two of peanut butter (like Skippy) or Nutella into the dough. Make streaks through the dough and don't try to fully combine.
Alternates/Additions:
& this is the part where the candies are usually, Twix, chocolate pretzels, peanut M&M's, Snickers, Rolo and Reese's pieces.
How to Freeze
Like most drop cookies, the dough can be scooped, frozen and baked at a later date. When you're ready, scoop the dough and place onto a lined baking sheet as the recipe directs it. Place the baking sheet into the freezer and freeze for 15 minutes to an hour. Instead of baking, transfer the cookie dough portions in a single layer into a resealable plastic bag, sealing and pressing out all air. Refrigerate the bag for up to 2 months and return to the freezer.
Preheat the oven and the baking sheets just as the instructions tell you to. You can bake the cookie dough from frozen but will need to bake a little longer once the pans have been rotated.
