You’ll love these kitchen sink cookies crammed full of pretzels, potato chips, oats, graham crackers, chocolate, butterscotch and ground coffee. They’re unique and delicious, with chewy centers and crisp edges.
This recipe is a very close copycat of Christina Tosi’s famous Milk Bar Compost Cookies. I’ve made her cookies many times, and they are amazing! But her recipe uses a few ingredients that are hard to find, and it requires extra steps that I don’t always want to take.
And so I’ve lovingly borrowed her concept into my own recipe! These kitchen sink cookies are very close to the original, and dare I say, taste just as delicious.
What makes these cookies so special?
These kitchen sink cookies are slightly crisp on the outside and very chewy on the inside, due largely to the mixing method. Beating the butter, sugars and eggs together for longer than normal incorporates a lot of air bubbles into the mixture, which makes for a light and crispy exterior after baking.
But probably the biggest difference in flavor comes from all of the mix-ins! Semi-sweet chocolate chips, pretzels, oats and potato chips are common ingredients for “kitchen sink cookies”, but graham crackers, ground coffee, and butterscotch chips are fun and tasty surprises!
These cookies really are filled with “everything but the kitchen sink!”
Ingredients you’ll need
Let’s get baking! Here’s everything you’ll need to make these kitchen sink cookies (full recipe at the bottom of this article):
Make these cookies as written, or swap in your favorite mix-ins. Ingredient swaps listed down below!
These cookies are fairly straightforward, and not at all difficult to make. They’re your typical drop cookie recipe, just with a little something extra.
I will say, however, that reading this recipe all way through before starting makes it so much easier! And since it involves so many ingredients, it’s also beneficial to do a little “mise-en-place” if possible (which just means to have everything gathered and measured before starting).
How to make kitchen sink cookies
- Cream butter and sugars. Beat with an electric mixer or stand mixer on medium high (with paddle attachment if you have it) for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Add eggs, vanilla and beat. Mix eggs and vanilla in one at a time, mixing briefly between each addition. Then beat on medium high for 6-7 minutes until batter is light and frothy, pausing once to scrape down the bowl.
- Mix in dry ingredients. Stir together all-purpose flour, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to the mixer all at once. Mix until just incorporated.
- Add small mix-ins. Combine graham cracker crumbs, oats, coffee grounds, mini chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a bowl, then add all at once and mix until incorporated.
- Mix in potato chips and pretzels. Finally, add the pretzels and potato chips and mix for just a few seconds to incorporate them through the dough without breaking them up.
- Chill the dough. Portion cookie dough with a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon size #20) onto a sheet pan (and if desired, add a few more mix-ins to the top of each round), cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 1 hour and up to several days.
- Bake. Place chilled cookie dough about 4 inches apart on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375°F for about 10 minutes.
- Cool. Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for at least 5 minutes to finish setting up. Then enjoy warm, or transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cookie FAQs
I admit, there’s a lot going on in these cookies! Some of the mix-ins like the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, pretzels, potato chips and can be substituted, but I don’t recommend making other substitutions or omissions or the results won’t be the same.
If you want to play around with the larger mix-ins, here are a few ingredient substitution ideas: toffee bits, chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans, shredded coconut, white chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, chopped candy bars, dried fruit like cherries or cranberries
Note: try not to add more than 3 cups of total mix-ins.
Yes! I know it’s strange. These cookies don’t have a strong coffee flavor at all, and instead it adds an unusual but pleasing crunch and subtle flavor. You can use any coffee grounds you like except instant coffee, and make sure they are unused coffee grounds.
However, if you prefer, you can omit the coffee grounds completely.
Milk powder (or instant milk, they’re the same) adds flavor and improves the texture, making these cookies soft and chewy. Look for it in the baking aisle of any grocery store.
Note: I have not tested this recipe without milk powder.
This cookie dough absolutely must be chilled for at least 1 hour before baking, otherwise they’ll spread and melt all over your sheet pan.
The unique crisp and chewy texture of these cookies dries out faster that other cookies, like chocolate chip cookies, and I recommend you enjoy them within 1-2 days of baking. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container.
Yes! Cookie dough stores very well in the fridge and the freezer. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in a plastic freezer bag in the freezer for a month or more. Let frozen dough balls thaw while the oven preheats.
Because there are so many delicious things crammed into the cookie dough, some dough balls are packed more than others, causing them to not spread out evenly as they bake. (Half of my cookies turned out perfectly as shown in this post, the others were pretty wonky and had to be reshaped.)
To reshape lumpy cookies, simply use a spatula to gently push edges back into a round. This has to be done right when the cookies come out of the oven, before they get a chance to set.
It’s likely that the butter you used was too warm. Start with butter that is slightly soft at room temperature but not at all melted. Your finger should leave a small indent when pressed, but should not easily press through the butter.
Also make sure to put cookie dough balls on a cool baking sheet. A pan that’s still warm from the oven will cause cookie dough to melt.
Be sure to measure flour correctly! All of my recipes are tested using the spoon and level method (more info through that link). Measuring with grams and a kitchen scale is also helpful.
If you measure the flour differently, it’s likely you’re adding more flour than you should, changing the ratio of ingredients and outcome of the cookies.
More fun cookie recipes
- Rice Krispie Treat Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
- Monster Cookies
- Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Kitchen Sink Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons butter , softened to room temperature (140 grams)
- ½ cup light or dark brown sugar (107 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (195 grams)
- 1 tablespoon milk powder/instant milk
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup crushed graham crackers (50 grams, about 5 graham cracker squares)
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (30 grams)
- 2 teaspoons coffee grounds (see Note)
- ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (90 grams)
- ½ cup butterscotch chips (85 grams)
- 1 cup mini pretzels , broken up (40 grams)
- 2 cups potato chips (70 grams)
- Coarse or flaky salt , for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer or stand mixer on medium high (with paddle attachment if you have it) for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Mix eggs and vanilla in one at a time, mixing briefly between each addition. Then beat on medium high for 6-7 minutes until batter is light and frothy, pausing once to scrape down the bowl.
- In a separate bowl stir together all-purpose flour, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to the mixer all at once. Mix until just incorporated.
- In a separate bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, oats, coffee grounds, mini chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a bowl, then add all at once and mix until incorporated.
- Add the pretzels and potato chips and mix for just a few seconds to incorporate them through the dough without breaking up the potato chips as much as possible.
- Portion cookie dough with a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon size #20) onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (and if desired, add a few more mix-ins to the top of each round), cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 1 hour and up to several days.
- Place chilled cookie dough about 4 inches apart on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375°F for about 10-12 minutes.
- If cookies bake up misshapen (because there are so many mix-ins this is common), use a spatula to gently push hot cookies back into a round right after they come out of the oven. If desired, sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for at least 5 minutes to finish setting up. Then enjoy warm, or transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can use salted or unsalted butter, per your preference.
- To make graham cracker crumbs, seal in a ziplock bag and crush with something heavy. It’s okay if some crumbs are bigger than others.
- You can use any coffee grounds you like except instant coffee, and make sure they are unused coffee grounds. If preferred, they can be omitted entirely.
- Thicker, kettle-style potato chips are preferred for this recipe. Do not break up before adding to cookie dough.
- If you don’t have a #20 large cookie scoop, you can use a ¼ cup measuring scoop. Cookies need to be on the larger size because of all the bulky mix-ins.
- Cookies will be best the day they are baked, but will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for several days.
- Chilled cookie dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week and baked as desired.
- To freeze cookie dough, freeze for 30 minutes on a sheet pan, then transfer to an airtight freezer bag and store for a month or more. Let cookie dough rounds thaw while oven preheats.
Nutrition
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