Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies

Salty and sweet, chewy and crunchy, these Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies have so much going on. They’re loaded with dried cranberries, white and milk chocolate, pistachios, and more – for a fun, festive cookie. Customize the add-ins and enjoy year-round!

 

Festive Kitchen Sink Cookies

These Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies are full of so many wonderful flavors and textures, with a nod to the holidays coming from dried cranberries, chopped pistachios, and chunks of white chocolate. A little red, green, and white, if you will. 

That said, you can easily adjust the ingredients to be festive for any other season and occasion…or just enjoy this version year-round!

Christmas baking has always been a treasured tradition in my family. Mom is a great baker, and she enjoys sharing her homemade treats with family and friends. I love that I’m passing along this tradition to our own girls, who are quick to don an apron, soften some butter, and crack a few eggs – all for the sake of baking together and sharing the goodies over glasses of cold milk.

What Are Kitchen Sink Cookies?

“Everything but the kitchen sink!”

That’s exactly what’s in these kitchen sink cookies. Ha!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that…a little bit of salt, a little bit of sweet. Also called compost cookies or garbage cookies, kitchen sink cookies are meant to be loaded with a combination of traditional cookie ingredients (like chocolate chips) to things a little off the wall, like potato chips.

After visiting Milk Bar in NYC and tasting one of Cristina Tosi’s famous compost cookies (and her awesome cereal milk ice cream – which I didn’t think I’d even like, but it turns out that I LOVE!), I couldn’t wait to create my own!

While there are many versions of kitchen sink cookies out there, I’m especially fond of this combination of dried cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate – which worked perfectly into this Christmas themed cookie. Add in a little cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg for warmth, plus the awesome salty crunchiness of thick rippled potato chips…and you have one pretty incredible Christmas kitchen sink cookie going on!

I’ve included the exact recipe that I’ve always followed for these cookies, but feel free to swap out any of the mix-ins. The great thing about these cookies is that they provide an opportunity for you to use up whatever you currently have in the kitchen.

What You’ll Need

Compost cookies are made with your basic baking ingredients plus a handful of fun, delicious mix-ins.

• Unsalted butter – At room temperature.
• Sugar – Both regular granulated sugar and brown sugar are used in this recipe.
• Light corn syrup – Keeps the cookies extra moist and chewy.
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Flour
• Baking powder & baking soda
• Salt
• Cinnamon & nutmeg – Give the cookies a warm, festive flavor.
• Mix-ins – My garbage can cookies include mini chocolate chips, white chocolate, dried cranberries, old-fashioned oats, potato chips, and pistachios.

Other Mix-In Ideas

You can add essentially anything you want to your compost cookies. It’s a great recipe for using up all the bits of this and that you may have leftover from other recipes. Here are a few ideas of other add-ins:

• Pretzels
• Toffee
• Dark chocolate (or other variety of chocolate), either chips or a chopped bar
• Pecans, walnuts, or other nuts
• M&Ms
• Reese’s pieces
• Sprinkles
• Butterscotch chips
• Peanut butter chips
• Shredded coconut
• Dried blueberries
• Dried apricots
• Raisins
• Sea salt
• Anything else you may have just a bit of in the pantry!

How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies

Cleaning out the pantry has never tasted so good!

• Make the dough. Cream the butter, sugars, and corn syrup for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly mix into the wet ingredients, just until combined.
• Chill. Stir in all of the mix-ins, saving the potato chips for last and gently folding them in. Chill for an hour.
• Bake. Drop tablespoons of chilled dough on the baking sheet. Top with adding toppings if desired. Bake for 11 minutes, until golden brown at the edges.

Tips for Success

Ready to make garbage cookies for the first time? Here are some tips!

• Don’t overmix. Mix the wet and dry ingredients just until combined. Then stir in the mix-ins until just evenly distributed, obviously leaving the potato chips for last.
• Be sure to chill the dough. The dough is soft and will already spread quite a bit, so you want to ensure that the dough gets chilled. Otherwise, you could end up with super thin cookies.
• Roll the dough in the toppings. For an extra touch, either press additional toppings onto the dough or gently roll the dough in some of the ingredients. This will let the “kitchen sink” ingredients appear more obviously on the top of the cookie!
• Leave room for the dough to spread. These chewy cookies do spread a bit during baking. Do not crowd the dough on the baking sheet.
• Include both sweet + salty / chewy + crunchy. When adding the ingredients, aim for both sweet and salty ingredients that are both chewy and crunchy. The contrast of flavors and textures is what makes these cookies so great!

How to Store & Freeze

• How to store. Compost cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Be sure to keep them in an airtight container.
• Can I freeze these? Yes, you can freeze both the baked cookies and the dough. To freeze the dough, flash freeze on a baking sheet then transfer to another freezer-safe container or baggie. Bake from frozen and just add another 2 minutes or so to bake time. Baked cookies can be frozen after they’ve cooled completely. Transfer to a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter.

More Cookie Recipes:

• Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
• Peanut Butter Blossoms
• Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies

Yield: 5 dozen cookies

prep time: 20 minutes mins

cook time: 11 minutes mins

total time: 31 minutes mins

Salty and sweet, chewy and crunchy, these Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies have so much going on. They're loaded with dried cranberries, white and milk chocolate, pistachios, and more for a fun, festive cookie. Customize the add-ins and enjoy year-round!

5 Stars (2 Reviews)

Print

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• ⅔ cup tightly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips
• 3 ounces good quality white chocolate bar chopped into 1/4″ pieces, plus more for poking into the top of cookie dough
• ½ cup dried cranberries plus more for poking into the top of cookie dough
• ½ cup old fashioned oats
• ⅓ cup roughly chopped pistachio nuts plus more for poking into the tops of cookie dough
• 1 cup crushed thick rippled potato chips aim for 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces, plus more for poking into the top of cookie dough

Instructions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat for another 7 to 8 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients to bowl of stand mixer and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add chocolate chips, chopped white chocolate, cranberries, oats, and pistachios. Mix just until incorporated. Do not over mix. Add the crushed potato chips and gently fold them in with a rubber spatula. Place dough in refrigerator to chill for one hour.
• Heat oven to 375° F.
• Using a teaspoon, drop chilled dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets in smallish mounds. These cookies are on the smaller side – only about 1 generous tablespoon of dough per cookie. Do not try to smooth out the surface of the dough – leave it as rough looking as possible. If desired, poke in some additional mini chocolate chips, white chocolate, cranberries, pistachios, and potato chips into the tops of the dough. This will let the "kitchen sink" ingredients appear more obviously on the top of the cookie!
• Bake for about 11 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown at the edges. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

adapted from milk bar’s original compost cookie recipe

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 Calories: 107kcal Carbohydrates: 14g Protein: 1g Fat: 5g Saturated Fat: 3g Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 15mg Sodium: 56mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.

Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!

© Brenda | A Farmgirl’s Dabbles

Cuisine: American

Course: Cookies

For the past two years, I have been sharing about the goodness of eggs with you, in collaboration with the American Egg Board. And they came to me with a request for the holidays. They asked if I would create a kitchen sink/compost cookie recipe to share with you!

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This post is sponsored by the American Egg Board. I am happy to be partnering with them again this year, bringing you delicious recipes powered by eggs. All opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make this site possible!