Sweet & Salty Kitchen Sink Cookies
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Sweet & Salty Kitchen Sink Cookies are the dreamy dessert you have been waiting for.
They are made with odds and ends from leftover baking ingredients and can easily be customized every time you bake them. These are sweet and salty cookies that are practically screaming your name.
You can’t resist this copycat Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie!
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Sweet & Salty Kitchen Sink Cookies
Being a fan of all things sweet, these kitchen sink cookies are seriously a dream come true. Adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that creates these “oh so yummy” salty cookies that rock my world. Who would have that sweet and salty make such an amazing pair? I used to be afraid of mixing chocolate with salty ingredients, but now I know it’s one of the best duos ever.
You know how much I love cookies in general. I honestly never get tired of sweets, and even when I am trying to behave, I still want lots of sweets. If you can relate, you are going to LOVE these cookies.
Chewy caramel, pretzels, and chocolate together in one cookie…finally at last!
Why Is It Called Kitchen Sink Cookie
The reason why it’s called a kitchen sink cookie is that you can literally add anything to them except for the kitchen sink. It’s meant to be a joke and makes me laugh when I think of the name. But, in all seriousness, you can add all sorts of yummy goodies into these cookies, and they will turn out well.
Variations to Recipe
I wanted to share a few ideas with you to consider adding to your kitchen sink cookies. I love my recipe, but I also like to change it from time to time. Here are my favorite ideas to try:
- White Chocolate – Either chips or chopped up white chocolate.
- Toffee Bits – You can buy them in the chocolate chip section of the store. They are heavenly.
- M&M’s – All cookies are better with some M&M’s in them!
- Coconut – If you are a fan of coconut, go ahead and sprinkle some in the batter. Yum!
- Nuts – Any kind of nut would be good. Pecans, walnuts, or even peanuts are great.
- Peanut Butter Chips – I could pretty much eat plain peanut butter chips by themself, so adding them to cookies just makes sense.
- Marshmallows – Get some mini marshmallows and mix them into the batter. So tasty!
- Butterscotch Chips – If you love butterscotch, add some chips into the cookies. Delicious!
- Raisins – People have been adding raisins to cookies forever, so go ahead and toss some in!
Can You Freeze Cookie Dough Raw To Bake Later
Yep! You can save the cookie dough and bake later. You just need to roll the dough into balls and freeze them on a cookie sheet, so they aren’t touching. Once they are frozen, remove them from the baking pan and place them in a freezer bag.
Label the bag with the temperature and time it takes to bake them. When it’s time to cook the cookies, just simply add 1-2 minutes to the baking time, and you’ll be all set.
Ingredients
Keep in mind the ingredients are the basics that I have added. However, you can easily make adjustments to the add-in portion. Go wild and add all sorts of ingredients.
- Unsalted butter, browned
- Pure vanilla extract
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Two eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Sea salt
- Broken pretzels
- Caramel bits
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
First Step: Begin by lining a large cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking. Then warm up the oven to 350F degrees.
Second Step: Next you’ll need to brown the butter. Use saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Then begin whisking as it melts. It will begin to foam, bubble, and eventually, little brown bits will begin to form, and it turns an amber color.
Third Step: Next, you’ll then need to pour into a large heatproof bowl. Take a spatula and carefully scrape all the little brown bits into the bowl.
Fourth Step: Beat together the vanilla and sugars in the butter. Do this for a couple of minutes, until it lightens a bit in color.
Fifth Step: Slowly add in the eggs for about 30 seconds. Be sure to add them one egg at a time.
Sixth Step: Sprinkle in the baking powder, 1/2 tsp of salt, and about a third of the flour.
Seventh Step: Add another third of the flour very slowly. Then mix and add the last of the flour until just combined.
Eight Step: Stir in the pretzels, caramel bits, and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. I find a spatula works the best.
Ninth Step: Scoop out huge balls of dough and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between. I use a cookie dough scoop for even cookies.
Tenth Step: Add more broken pretzel pieces, caramel bits, and chocolate chips to the tops of the dough balls to preference.
Eleventh Step: Sprinkle with sea salt.
Twelfth Step: Bake 13 minutes until golden around the edges
Thirteenth Step: Remove and allow to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes
Fourteenth Step: Then, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely
Fifteenth Step: Serve up these salty kitchen sink cookies for any and every occasion.
Enjoy!
Now, remember to save this recipe on Pinterest for later 🙂
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Sweet & Salty Kitchen Sink Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 C unsalted butter, browned
- 1 and 1/2 TSP vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1/2 C granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 and 1/2 C all-purpose flour
- 2 and 1/2 TSP baking powder
- 1/2 TSP sea salt + more for sprinkling
- 3/4 C broken pretzels + more for top
- 1 and 1/2 C caramel bits + more for top
- 3/4 C semi sweet chocolate chips + more for top
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Instructions
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- To brown the butter: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, whisking as it melts, foams, bubbles, and eventually little brown bits form and it turns amber
- Immediately pour into a large heatproof bowl and use a spatula to scrape all the little brown bits into the bowl.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the vanilla and sugars into the butter for a couple minutes, until it lightens a bit in color.
- Beat in eggs for about 30 seconds doing one egg at a time.
- Add the baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, and about a third of the flour.
- Mix slowly, add another third of the flour, mix, and add the last of the flour until just combined
- Stir in the pretzels, caramel bits, and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. I find a spatula works the best.
- Scoop out very large balls of dough and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between. I use a cookie dough scoop for even cookies.
- Add more broken pretzel pieces, caramel bits, and chocolate chips to the tops of the dough balls to preference
- Sprinkle with sea salt
- Bake 13 minutes until golden around the edges
- Remove and allow to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes
- Then, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely
- Serve up these salty kitchen sink cookies for any and every occasion.
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Cookies are one of the easiest desserts to make for events and parties. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite cookie recipes that I am sure you are going to enjoy.
Almond Joy Cookies – Another classic recipe that is filled with coconut and chocolate. Yum!
Toffee Brownie Cookies – Toffee and chocolate are so dreamy together. Bite into one of these beauties, and you will fall in love.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Make a batch of these yummy oatmeal cookies to impress your friends and family. They are soft, chewy, and delicious.
Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies – Bakery style cookies right in your own kitchen. Talk about a huge win! They are one of the best things you will sink your teeth into.
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