The Best Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cookies!
Clear out your pantries and preheat those ovens, because when it comes to these chewy, fully-loaded kitchen sink cookies, anything goes. Kitchen sink cookies, also called compost cookies, are an easy cookie recipe made from soft vanilla cookie dough packed with chocolate chips, salty potato chips, pretzels, and toffee bits. To stretch it a bit, they include everything but the kitchen sink, hence the name! Every bite is filled with a delicious combination of flavors and textures, for a truly satisfying and delightful homemade cookie. How long it takes: 30 minutes from start to finish. No chilling required! Equipment you’ll need: one bowl and a baking sheet Servings: 40 cookies
Why You’ll Love These Kitchen Sink Cookies
Soft, chewy texture. The soft vanilla cookie dough base is similar to my chewy chocolate chip cookies. It makes soft-baked cookies with buttery bottoms and crispy edges. Use what you have on hand. The purpose of kitchen sink cookies is to use up the random ingredients you have kicking around in the pantry. You can follow this recipe as written, or change up the sweet-salty add-ins to suit. Freezer-friendly. Make a BIG batch and freeze half for later! Kitchen sink cookies freeze well, so you can always have them on hand for last-minute desserts and gifting.
What Is a Kitchen Sink Cookie Made Of?
These are soft, chewy cookies packed with a bit of everything: something sweet here, a little something salty there, extra crunch, melty chocolate… they have it all! I’ve included some notes below. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card for the full recipe amounts and details.
Butter – Unsalted and softened to room temperature. Sugar – The combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar is key to a moist, chewy cookie. Vanilla and Egg – Make sure to use real vanilla extract. For best results, the egg should also be at room temperature. Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt – All-purpose flour works great here, or you can use whole wheat flour. Chocolate Chips – I like to use a mix of semi-sweet, milk, white chocolate, and butterscotch chips. Add-ins – Your choice of sweet and salty mix-ins. For this recipe, I use pretzels, potato chips (I recommend regular or ridged salted potato chips, not flavored), and toffee bits. Make sure that you don’t crush the pretzels and chips up too small. Flaky Sea Salt – This is optional but really drives home the salty-sweet flavors of these cookies.
How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
It’s time to throw the kitchen sink at these cookies! Here’s how to make these sweet and salty treats, step-by-step:
Make the cookie dough. Start by creaming together the butter and both sugars, followed by the egg and vanilla. Lastly, stir in the dry ingredients to form the dough. Add your mix-ins. Fold in all your add-ins, in this case, the chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, and toffee pieces.
Portion out the cookie dough. Next, drop spoonfuls of dough onto a lined baking sheet, leaving a bit of space between each cookie. Give the tops of the cookies a sprinkle of flaked sea salt if you like. Bake. Bake these kitchen sink cookies at 350ºF in the middle of the oven for 12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up before moving them to a wire rack to cool.
Can I Freeze the Cookie Dough?
Yes! If you’d like to prepare the cookie dough for your kitchen sink cookies in advance, you can scoop the dough into balls and freeze the whole batch, or freeze the dough balls individually to bake later.
To freeze the cookie dough, pre-freeze the portioned dough balls on a baking sheet until solid. Afterward, transfer the frozen dough to a freezer bag to keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. To bake the cookie dough from frozen, place the frozen dough on a baking sheet and bake at 325ºF (instead of 350ºF) for 16 to 18 minutes.
Recipe Tips
This recipe makes a lot of cookies! Remember to bake in batches and follow these tips for the best kitchen sink cookies:
Use room temperature ingredients. Room-temperature butter and eggs combine more evenly with the other ingredients. If you’re in a hurry, warm cold butter in the microwave for a few seconds, and place your eggs into a bowl of warm water. Don’t crush the potato chips too finely. Small crumbs will lose their crispy texture. Use a cookie scoop. It makes portioning out the cookies so much easier and ensures that your cookies bake up the same size. I recommend a #40 cookie scoop for this recipe. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. It helps prevent the cookies from over-spreading and keeps the bottoms of the cookies from browning too much. For a pretty presentation, save some of your add-ins (especially the potato chips) to press into the tops of the cookies before baking. This way they won’t get lost in the dough! Don’t overbake the cookies. This is rule #1 for perfectly chewy cookies! Your cookies might look a little underdone when they come out of the oven, and that’s OK. They’ll continue to set up as they cool on the baking sheet. If you happen to love crispy cookies, go ahead and bake them a bit longer.
Make These Kitchen Sink Cookies Your Own
You can get as creative as you’d like with different flavor combinations. Try these ideas:
Add chopped nuts. Mix in toasted pecans, almonds, walnuts, or a mix of nuts. Macadamias, peanuts, and hazelnuts are easy options, too. Caramel. Chop up caramels to add to the dough, or drizzle homemade caramel sauce over the baked cookies. Candy. Try M&Ms, chopped candy bars, Andes mints, or funfetti sprinkles. Dried fruit. Stir in dried cranberries, dried cherries, or raisins. More mix-ins. For extra texture, add shredded coconut, rolled oats, or crushed-up graham crackers. Add a glaze. Borrow the sweet icing from my iced oatmeal cookies and dip or drizzle the tops of your kitchen sink cookies.
How to Store
To Store: Cool cookies completely. Store your kitchen sink cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Freeze: Kitchen sink cookies freeze great! Stash the cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag and keep them frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost the cookies on the counter before serving.
