My Favorite Unique Christmas Cookies
These everything but the kitchen sink cookies are a spinoff of my Cowboy Cookies meets Compost Cookies. Trust me when I say that all the ingredients work together really well and even though you may raise an eyebrow, I promise am not leading you astray. The cookies are soft, chewy, there is tons of texture from all the add-ins, and if you love salty-sweet treats, these will be a new favorite for you. For all those inquiring minds, the potato chip flavor isn’t very pronounced at all. They add texture and saltiness, and are a great addition. The same can be said for the pretzels, although the pretzels definitely give more noticeable crunch than the potato chips. Make these Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies next with your extra pretzels.
What’s in These Kitchen Sink Cookies?
For these easy Christmas cookies, you’ll need:
Butter Brown and granulated sugars Egg Vanilla extract All-purpose flour Baking soda Chocolate chips/chunks Holiday colored M&M’s (I used Plain) Pretzels (I used skinny rods) Potato chips
How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
These cookies follow a very typical cookie-making protocol. Cream the butter, add the sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat everything together before adding the flour and baking soda. Add in all the remaining add-ins, scoop into mounds, and chill the dough before baking the cookies
Do I Have to Chill the Cookie Dough?
Yes! It is very important to chill the dough because otherwise these cookies will be very prone to spreading. I recommend 3+ hours in the fridge (or overnight). You can probably get away with chilling the dough for 30-ish minutes in the freezer, but I haven’t tested that method personally. You want to chill the dough in individual cookie mounds, not in one big bowl that you stash in the fridge. Otherwise you’ll be trying to chisel out rock hard dough from a bowl and it’s very difficult, crumbly, and not advised.
What Else Can I Put in the Cookies?
This is a very flexible recipe with regard to the add-ins. If you feel like omitting some of the add-ins and swapping them for something else, go for it. Exact quantities will vary based on what you add and what you eliminate, but you can experiment and see how things go, and play it by ear as long as you’re a somewhat experienced baker. If you’re not an experienced baker, I recommend sticking with the recipe as written the first time you make the cookies. If you have any of these items in your pantry and are feeling experimental, they could be fun add-ins:
Chopped pecans Chopped walnuts Toffee bits Diced candy bars pieces (Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Milky Way, Rolo, etc.) White chocolate chips Peanut butter chips Butterscotch chips Old-Fashioned Whole-Rolled Oats (if you try this, I’d go with 1/2 cup and then reduce the flour by 1/4 cup and see how the dough consistency looks) Sweetened shredded coconut (same advice as with the oats above) Cereal (Special K, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies; same advice as with the oats above)
Tips for Making This Kitchen Sink Cookie Recipe
Note that you can make the dough up to 5 days in advance and let it sit covered in the fridge and then bake off only as many cookies as you want or need at one time. You can even freeze the dough for up to 4 months before baking it. When you’re baking the cookies, keep a close eye on them because in my oven, at 8 minutes they’re underdone, and anything over 11 minutes and they are prone to burning on the bottom, so watch for that perfect sweet spot in your oven. Exact baking times will vary based on the exact size of your cookies, your oven, and ingredient variances. Always watch your baked goods and not the clock when determining doneness.
More Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes:
ALL OF MY CHRISTMAS RECIPES! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! 25 Holiday Cookie Favorites – The tried-and-true favorites are all here! If you need a holiday cookie recipe, this collection has you covered!!
12 Easy No-Bake Holiday Desserts – No time to bake? Here are 12 FAST and EASY no-bake recipes! Whether you want chocolate, peanut butter, cheesecake, bark, or truffles, these recipes have you covered!!
Soft and Chewy M&M’s Chocolate Chip Cookies – If you’re looking for a new M&M cookie recipe, this is THE ONE! Soft, buttery, and irresistible!!
Soft Frosted Holiday Sprinkles Cookies – Tender, buttery cookies topped with cream cheese frosting and loaded with sprinkles! Easy, no-roll holiday cookies that everyone goes crazy for!
Ritz Cookies (No-Bake Christmas Cookies) — If you need a ridiculously easy, no-bake dessert for a party, holiday cookie exchange, or just have a spur of the moment craving for chocolate and peanut butter, these Ritz cookies are perfect!
