Kitchen Sink Cookies

Chewy kitchen sink cookies are a fun surprise every time we make them. They might be studded with chocolate and butterscotch chips, chopped candy bars, pretzels, nuts, potato chips, and more.

My cookies are typically made with whichever sweet or salty bits and pieces are left in the pantry from other baking adventures. You can make them even more special for your tastes, by customizing what add-ins you choose for them.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

What is a kitchen sink cookie? Simply put, it’s a great cookie base you toss a little bit of many things into.

Got a quarter cup of plain potato chips? Add those in! Half a cup of butterscotch chips and a cup of chocolate chips? In they go!

Half of your kid’s Easter bunny is languishing on the kitchen counter? Chop it up and chuck it in along with that couple of tablespoons of chopped walnuts and a handful of peanuts you have, too!

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies

To whip up these indulgent cookies, you’ll need the following list of ingredients:

• butter
• brown sugar
• eggs
• vanilla
• flour
• rolled oats
• baking soda
• kosher salt
• optional but tasty: Maldon flaked salt for topping

You’ll also need 3 cups total of a combination of the following suggested add-ins:

• semi-sweet, white, milk, or dark chocolate chips
• butterscotch chips
• toffee bits
• Caramel bits or caramel candies chopped into ½-inch pieces
• Reese’s peanut butter cups any size, chopped into ½-inch pieces
• M&M candies
• candy bars chopped into ½-inch pieces
• shredded sweetened coconut
• chopped nuts
• lightly crushed pretzels
• lightly crushed potato chips
• broken graham crackers

These cookies are a great way to use up odds and ends from various snacky things in your kitchen. You can even add pieces of other leftover cookies to these!

Kitchen Sink Cookie Recipe

Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

Once the butter is melted, remove from the heat and add the sugar.

Stir until the sugar is well incorporated and mostly smooth. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes.

While the mixture is chilling, combine the dry ingredients and lightly whisk to combine. Set aside. In a small bowl, stir together 3 cups of the add-in ingredients of your choice. Set aside.

Remove the cooled butter and sugar mixture from the refrigerator. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add the eggs and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer to combine.

Add the dry ingredients and beat again to combine. Add 2 cups of add-ins to the cookie dough and use your hands or a sturdy wooden spoon to make sure the add-ins are evenly distributed, if the mixer doesn’t handle it well.

Scoop into portions approximately 1½ tablespoons in size. Lightly roll in your hand to form balls. Lightly roll the cookie dough balls in the reserved add-in mixture, or press the top of each cookie dough ball into the reserved mixture.

Place the cookie balls on a baking sheet about a dozen at a time. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly puffed and golden at the edges.

Larger cookies will require an extra minute or two in the oven. Remove from the baking sheet after a minute or two, and cool completely on a wire rack.

For a few more fully loaded cookies to try, check out Heath Bar Cookies. They start with a chocolate chip cookie dough base, but in addition to those melting semi-sweet morsels, these rich buttery cookies contain the toffee-tastic magic of Heath bars.

Chewy mint chocolate chip cookies are flavored with a hint of peppermint and loaded to the max with whatever add-ins you like best in the world of chocolate and mint. I made my last batch with mint M&M’S, Andes mints, and chocolate chips.