Holiday Kitchen Sink Cookies

Everything but the kitchen sink is an expression used to describe a recipe with lots of ingredients. My Holiday Kitchen Sink Cookies are prepared with a basic cookie dough, but packed with pretzels, candy, sprinkles, chocolate, and even crushed potato chips! It might sound odd, but these cookies are certainly delicious!

Sometimes, when I bake or cook for my little family, and not with the intention of posting the recipe to the blog, I tend to take some liberties. Holiday Kitchen Sink Cookies are a perfect example of when that happens. People who know me might remember hearing me saying something like, “Tonight we are having a clean out the fridge dinner.” This is when I place dinner on the table which consists of leftovers, opened cheeses, dips, or spreads, and whatever else I can find in the fridge that is nearing the end of its shelf life.

The expression “everything but the kitchen sink” refers to taking or using just about everything you can. For example, if one were going on a short vacation, but over packed, one might say, “they took everything but the kitchen sink.” It basically means not much was left behind. (I’m looking at you, Margaret!)

Margaret is one of my best friends and when we both worked together, we both travelled for conferences and other work-related trips. I remember one time we both were taking a flight to Vancouver for a conference. She showed up at the airport with an updo, wearing a ball gown, and toting three very large suitcases. We were only going to be in Vancouver for 5 days. She took everything but the kitchen sink!

The same logic applies to these cookies. I bake quite often, so I find that many times I might have leftover ingredients. Not enough to make a full recipe, but certainly enough to contribute to another recipe. I’m talking about a few raisins left in the bag. Leftover candy or chocolate. Pretzels that didn’t get eaten when we watched that movie last night. Or a box of cereal with not enough left to have a bowl. Get the idea?

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND NEVER MISS ANOTHER RECIPE!

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to my annual holiday-themed recipes. Traditionally, every year I share a series of recipes that you might already be familiar with. For example, I’ve previously shared 12 Holiday Trifles, 12 Holiday Bars & Squares, and even these 12 Edible Holiday Wreath recipes! Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

This year I’m doing it differently. Rather than sharing multiple back to back series, I’m sharing a new holiday-themed recipe almost every day from now until Christmas Eve. For those of you who have followed my annual Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas series, don’t worry, you will still get lots of new cookie recipes this year too. I will not, however, be publishing the cookies back to back in a 24-day series. This would have been my 8th year running the series and it becomes very exhausting, so this year, I’m spreading the recipes out so that I’m not sharing the same type of recipe every day.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! And, just in case you’re curious, you can see previous annual posts for my 24 Cookies of Christmas Series here!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature!
• Sugar
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Vanilla Extract
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder
• Salt
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• White Chocolate Chips
• M&Ms – I’m using red and green because it’s Christmas!
• Pretzels – A great way to use your leftover, broken pretzels.
• Potato Chips – I prefer to use Lays potato chips here, preferably ruffles. Kettle chips are too hard for these cookies. Save those to pair with your favourite sandwich!
• Sprinkles

HOW TO MAKE HOLIDAY KITCHEN SINK COOKIES

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and light yellow in colour. (About 4-5 minutes.) Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the butter and sugar mixture. Beat in the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat into the wet mixture until well combined. Once combined, use a wooden spoon to mix in the remaining ingredients.

Portion the cookie dough into 1 1/2 tablespoons. Roll into a ball and place onto the prepared baking sheet. (At this point, you can push a few M&Ms into the cookies and top with a few sprinkles.) Bake for 13 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

MORE KITCHEN SINK OPTIONS

So, in my pantry stash, I always have milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, cereal, and some mixed nuts. These can all help to form the base of my Holiday Kitchen Sink Cookies. What do you have in your pantry? What about Rice Krispies Cereal? You can use crushed Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, Special K, Cheerios, All Bran, etc., they will all do! Any type of baking chocolate or even specialty chips like Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips or even Cinnamon Chips will work!

You can add chopped dried fruit, like apples, apricots, dates, etc. Dried berries will be great too! I’ve even added popped quinoa once! Oh, and banana chips! And, of course, you can make them very kid friendly with the addition of sprinkles!

STORING AND FREEZING

These Holiday Kitchen Sink Cookies will last in the freezer for three months. Be sure you have a good container with a tight seal. Whenever I’m freezing cookies, I always double up on the seal action. Before I place the lid on, I always drape a sheet of plastic wrap on top. Then I push the lid on. I just feel that the lid fits more tightly. Any little thing I can do to keep the frost out, I’m going to do it! I like to use these.

Like I always say, if you freeze any baked goods, remove only the amount you want when you decide to thaw them. Fetch the container from the freezer and remove only what you need. Put the lid back on and get the container back in the fridge.

To properly thaw baked goods, place them on a plate or a wire cooling rack. Don’t pile them. Spread them out and give them some space. Let them sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. They will taste fresh and perfect every single time!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!