Big cookies containing a bunch of add ins have become very popular. Panera Bread and Martha Stewart make a “kitchen sink cookie” and Milk Bar has their famous “compost cookies”, but each of these recipes contain things that I wouldn’t have added to my own. Now, of course, they are fabulous recipes and have gain much popularity for good reason, but each time I thought about making one, I was reminded that they contained add ins that I wasn’t in love with, so today I am making my own version of this wonderful cookies…
May I introduce you to the everything cookie. I gave them this name because they contain everything that I wanted in my giant over stuffed cookie. The cookie base is a similar to your standard chewy chocolate chip cookies, but in addition to chocolate chips, there are toffee bits, m&ms, dark chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips and pretzels in these ones and holy smokes do those six add ins work perfectly together.
These cookies are big (like 6 inches wide!) and the addition of some flaky sea salt over the top makes them hit all of the notes you want in a dessert. I am 100% positive that you will love these cookies.
Let’s get them started…
The cookie base is similar to a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. You will need 2 sticks of butter at room temperature, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour.
This cookie dough can be started in a stand mixer or by using an electric hand mixer, which is what I am using today. This dough gets really stiff, so you end up finishing it by hand anyways, so why get the stand mixer involved?
Start by combining 1 cup of room temperature butter with 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar until creamy.
Whisk in 1 large egg and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until fully combined.
Add 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix until just combined. The dough will be fairly thick at this point.
Now, for the fun stuff…
Add 1/2 cup of toffee bits, 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of M&Ms, 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chunks, 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips and 1/2 cup of crushed pretzels into that thick cookie dough and start mixing. Your arm still may be fatigued from the mixing you did earlier, but there is just a little bit more to go. You can do it. I like to think of it as burning the cookie calories in advance. Smart, right?
Due to the large number of goodies added into these cookies, they are meant to be baked large. The best way to form the cookies evenly is to spray a 1/4 cup measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray, fill it with cookie dough and drop the rounds onto a parchment lined or non-stick baking sheet.
This will create evenly sized, uniformly shaped cookies that will all bake the same, which is important.
Note: Be sure to keep 3-4 inches in between each round to allow room for a good bit of spreading.
Press the cookies out just a bit with your finger tips and add a few extra M&M’s or pretzel bits over the top of each portion. Bake on a middle rack at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. When the edges just start to brown, bring the cookies out and place the baking sheet onto a cooling rack for 5 minutes.
Look at these big, beautiful cookies. I love how all of the chocolate, candy and pretzels in them are peaking out all over the surface of each cookie.
Look how much they have spread out too. This is why it is so important to leave a good 3 inches in between each portion of dough before you pop them into the oven.
Once they are baked, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, sprinkle each one with some flaky seat salt and then carefully transfer them onto a cooling rack. They will still be soft and flexible, so use a wide spatula or two smaller spatulas, so they don’t crack during transport. They will firm up as they cool…
As far as I am concerned, this is the ultimate “kitchen sink” style cookie. The addition of both milk chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks brings both sweet and bitter chocolate notes to these cookies. The toffee bits add a wonderful rich chewiness, the pretzels bring crunch and salt and the peanut butter chips add the perfect little pop of peanut butter.
Last, but not least, the M&M’s… they could be my favorite addition to these cookies. First they add some color, which I love. You eat with your eyes first and seeing a few colorful candies peaking out of these cookies really draws you in. They also add even more texture to the already amazing combination we have going on here. Any kind of M&M will work in these cookies too… milk chocolate, peanut, peanut butter or even the crunchy ones… or pretzel M&M’s… or the brownie ones… like I said before, any M&M will do.
These cookies are everything a cookie should be and I think you deserve one (or two) very soon…
Everything Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup toffee bits
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup mini M&M's
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks
- 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
- 1/2 cup pretzels, crushed
- fleur de sel or sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- In a large bowl, beat 1 cup of room temperature butter on medium speed until it is creamy. This can be done in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer
- Add 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 egg and mix until combined
- Whisk together 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt until fully combined
- Add the flour mixture into the dough a little at a time until everything is fully incorporated. This dough is really stiff, but be sure to use all of the flour
- Mix in the toffee bits, chocolate chips, m&ms, chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips and pretzels
- Using a greased 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop large rounds of dough onto an ungreased non-stick baking sheet leaving 3-4 inches between each round of dough
- Bake on a middle rack at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. The edges should be just beginning to brown, but the middles will still be a little soft
- Transfer the baking sheets onto a cooling rack for 5 minutes and sprinkle the warm cookies with fleur de sel or sea salt
- Transfer the cookies directly onto a cooling rack to cool and set the rest of the way
