Kitchen Sink Cookies
Published Jul 14, 2022•Updated Oct 10, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Kitchen Sink Cookies are soft and chewy cookies packed with chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, and toffee (“everything but the…”). Make them as written, or swap in your favorite mix-ins. With over 300 positive reviews and 1 million+ page views, these are THE cookie you’ll want to bring to every occasion.
Reader Liz says: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This recipe is outstanding, thank you! I made a batch, using another recipe, and they were dry, and didn’t flatten out. You’ve nailed this recipe.
My kids still don’t totally understand why these are called “Kitchen Sink” Cookies, but they know they love them. When I started testing this recipe, with each batch, the kids said more chocolate chips, more pretzels, more potato chips, more toffee!
We packed these cookies (a fun twist on my original Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe) full of sweet and salty fillings until they couldn’t possibly hold more. And then we added a few extra chocolate chips. You’re welcome.
Ingredients for Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Unsalted Butter – These cookies were tested with unsalted butter. If using salted butter, skip adding the additional salt.
- Flour, Baking Soda, Kosher Salt, Light Brown Sugar, White Sugar, Egg, Pure Vanilla Extract – Just regular cookie-baking ingredients.
- Mix-Ins – These have a great sweet and salty balance with chocolate chips, toffee bits, potato chips, and chopped pretzels. See below for more ideas!
- Flaked Sea Salt – At our house, we love a light sprinkle of flaked sea salt (I use Maldon) on top of the warm cookies. It’s totally optional but gives the cookies a hint of extra salt and a tiny bit of crunch.
Pin this now to save it for later
Pin It Now
How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookes
The process for making these cookies is similar to making chocolate chip cookies. A stand mixer really comes in handy for beating the butter, but you can absolutely use a hand mixer too.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare a baking sheet by linking it with parchment paper or a baking mat. (This is highly recommended because the caramel in the cookie dough can melt and cause sticking.)
- Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt).
- Beat butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
- Mix egg and vanilla extract into butter-sugar mixture.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on low just until combined. (Be careful not to overmix or your cookies will be cakey instead of soft.)
- Stir in mix-ins like chocolate chips, toffee bits, potato chips, and pretzels.
- Roll cookie dough into golf ball-sized balls. (These should be pretty large.)
- Bake cookies until edges are crisp and centers are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.
- Enjoy!
Roll Cookie Dough in Mix-Ins (Optional, but fun!)
It’s purely aesthetic, but if I’m delivering these cookies to someone or serving them to friends and family, I like to roll the dough in some extra toppings. It means that before you take a bite, you get a sneak peek of all the delicious things inside.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Frozen cookie dough is like money in the bank. (Though I have to keep it in my downstairs freezer…and out of reach.) You can bake one at a time or the whole batch any time you need them. The best way to freeze cookie dough is:
- Form cookie dough into balls. Line dough balls up in a single layer on a sheet pan
- Transfer sheet pan to freezer until dough is frozen solid, 2 to 3 hours.
- Transfer dough to a freezer-safe bag and seal, removing as much air from the bag as possible.
- Freeze for up to 6 months.
To bake cookies from frozen: Bake the cookie dough directly from the freezer at 325°F / 163°C for 16 to 18 minutes. (This lower temperature and longer cook time is important for the dough to defrost and cook all the way through.)
Printable Freezer Label
Print and attach the label below so cooking instructions are ready when you are!
Mix-Ins for Kitchen Sink Cookies
True to their name, you really can put almost anything in these cookies. It’s a lot of fun to experiment with different combinations and flavors. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Milk Chocolate Chips or Semi-Sweet
- Potato Chips
- Pretzels
- Toffee Bits
- Crushed Cereal
- Pecans / Walnuts
- M&Ms
- Shredded Coconut
- Butterscotch Chips
- Sprinkles
- White Baking Chips
- Dried Cranberries
- Chopped Dark Chocolate
More Yummy Cookie Recipes
Favorite Tools
Affiliate Links
Description goes here
Pin this now to save it for later
Pin It Now
Kitchen Sink Cookies
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper or Baking Mat
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour (250 grams)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 sticks Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature (1 cup)
- 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed (150 grams)
- 1/2 cup White Sugar (100 grams)
- 1 large Egg
- 2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup Toffee Bits (like Heath Bits o’ Brickle English Toffee Bits)
- 1 cup Crushed Potato Chips (like Ruffles)
- 1/2 cup Chopped Pretzels
- 1/2 teaspoon Flaky Sea Salt, for topping (optional; like Maldon flaked sea salt)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat like Silpat. (These will make it easiest to remove the cookies from the pan after baking.)
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or using a hand mixer, beat together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla extract and mix on low, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add dry ingredients to mixer and mix on low just until everything is combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips, toffee bits, potato chips, and pretzels.
- Roll cookie dough into golf ball-sized balls. (Roll them extra toppings if you would like.) Spread cookie dough out on prepared pans, leaving about 6 inches between them.
- Bake cookies until edges are crisp and centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes.
- When you remove the cookies from the oven firmly tap the baking sheets on the kitchen counter to deflate them (this will make the centers soft). Sprinkle the cookies lightly with flaky sea salt (if using).
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just wondering if anyone has baked and then froze these? Trying to get a head start on Christmas baking.
These work well if frozen ahead, but I’ll let others chime in with tips!
I forgot to purchase pure vanilla extract. Can i use imitation vanilla flavor, or will it not turn out the same?
Absolutely – imitation will work just fine, or feel free to skip the vanilla – these still have plenty of other flavors happening.
These are so good and easy to make!
The amounts for double the recipe are incorrect flour and butter glad I picked up on this and didn’t ruin all the ingredients
Hi Rosemary – yes – thanks for pointing this out. There is a note at the top of the recipe to this effect, but unfortunately, the measurements by weight don’t change when you change the volume measurements. It’s a limitation of this tool that I would love to have fixed!
Hands down the best cookie recipe I have ever made!! They are the perfect combination of soft and chewy with crunchy edges. I live in Australia so subbed the toffee bits for cut up jersey caramels and they were delicious! The pretzels did go a bit soft and the chips kind of disappear after baking but you still get the salty taste throughout. I can’t wait to test out some more mix-in combinations, thank you!
I didn’t have all the mixing so I used chocolate chips, Reese’s pieces, macadamia nuts and chopped unsweetened coconut chips. They’re in the oven now!
That’s half the fun of the recipe I think! Coming up with different mix-ins.
This is my favorite cookie recipe these days. I’ve made them several times and usually freeze the dough after making the balls and pressing them down just a bit. They’re also easy to change up and customize, not that that’s necessary by any means, but kind of fun.. I’ve added different kinds of chocolate chips, chopped pecans, or candied pecans, sometimes even a chopped up candy bar. They’ve always come out great! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
You’re so welcome Janet! i’m so glad you like it!
I followed instructions exactly however, the Carmel all spread out and were a mess! I was able to save most with pushing them back to a round cookie . They taste good but way too much work. I bake a different cookie every week (of course repeat them often) for my Duplicate Bridge Club and never spend more than a short time to make over three – four dozen. This will not be my cookie to go !