Um...It's 12˚F this morning. Yeah. 12. Degrees. We have three foot long icicles hanging outside the kitchen window. I even ran out to grab the potted Christmas plants yesterday morning on the front porch and they were already frozen solid 😳. In conclusion, I will not be leaving the house for the foreseeable future. Did I have plans for cooking and baking this week? I sure did. Will I be doing any of those things? Nope. They involve a trip to the grocery store and with FREEZING RAIN in the forecast for the next 12 hours that's a hard pass. Time to raid the pantry amiright? Ergo, kitchen sink cookies!
TBH these cookies is a fantastic end of year, finishing up the holidays recipe. We have a "tradition" based on my Grandma of having Ruffles and onion dip at special dinners because she would just park herself at the kitchen counter and chow down. They were her absolute favorite and even though she's passed on, we continue to put a big ol' bowl of 'em out just for her (slash us because omg guilty pleasure). Why am I bring this up? Every year we have a massive surplus of ruffles bags. See those potato chips in the kitchen sink cookies? Bingo. Ruffles.
Now what about those pretzels? My husband's favorite. He eats them with any dip possible in several different flavors. AKA half eaten bags of pretzels are always chillin in the pantry.
Finally, after perusing the pantry, I head on over to the baking section. I always have a ton of random baking add-ins overflowing in that particular bin. Ergo, kitchen sink cookies = toffee bits and chocolate chips, this time around at least!
Kitchen Sink Cookies: Dough Base
We've got the "kitchen sink" aspect taken care of, but what about the actual cookie? I use my standard cookie recipe here with all it's tips and tricks: add an egg yolk, use a teaspoon of corn starch, and make sure to chill the dough. For more info, check out my brown butter chocolate chunk toffee cookies (yup that's where the toffee bits came from this year). I just didn't brown the butter for these kitchen sink cookies!
Kitchen Sink Cookies: Add-Ins
I went with ruffles, pretzels, toffee bits, and chocolate chips because that's what I had lying around. You can literally add whatever you've got! All I'll say is try to stick to about 4 things, use a chocolate something, and alternate between sweet and salty.
Other Options
- M&M's
- Salty potato chips
- Nuts
- Dried fruit
- Marshmellow bits
- Other cookies, broken up - vanilla wafers, oreos, ginger snaps...
- Crackers - graham crackers, saltines...
So many options! Ready to get baking?? Scroll down for the recipe!

Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: About 24 cookies 1x
Description
Absolutely addictive, soft and chewy cookies that use up leftover ingredients in your pantry!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1 medium egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup semi sweet/dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup toffee bits
- ½ cup salty potatoes (I used ruffles), roughly crushed
- ½ cup pretzels, roughly crushed
Instructions
Make the Cookie Dough
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, sea salt, and corn starch. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together cooled browned butter and sugars. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until thoroughly mixed.
- Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Gently fold in chocolate chips, potato chips, toffee bits, and pretzels.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Prepare a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper
- After chilling, scoop out balls of dough, about 2 tablespoons each, onto the prepared baking sheet. Roll into balls and gently squish into slightly flattened. Sprinkle with any remaining chocolate chips, potato chips, pretzels, and toffee bits if desired.
- Bake 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven).
- Remove the cookies from oven when they look almost but not quite done, just browning around the edges. They will still be soft in the center. Slam the pan down once to help the centers set.
- Let pan cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from the pan and let cool.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
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