This sweet and salty kitchen sink cookie recipe uses melted butter to keep things simple (no waiting for butter to soften!). The mix-ins are endlessly customizable. Ready in under an hour!
When I have a few random handfuls of candies, sweets, or chocolate I want to get through, I reach for this everything but the kitchen sink cookie recipe.
These catch-all cookies - known affectionately in my house as the "everything cookies" - are a perfect use for leftovers from other baking recipes (like extra butterscotch chips from our chocolate butterscotch cake!) - Jessie
Ingredients
Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.
- Melted butter makes this dough quick and easy. No waiting for butter to soften on the counter: Just pop it in the microwave and you're ready to go! We recommend unsalted butter here: it gives you more control over the final flavor.
- Dark or light brown sugar both work here.
- If you have time, let the eggs come to room temperature for half an hour or so on the counter before you start baking. They'll incorporate more smoothly into the dough this way.
Use a kitchen scale
Measuring dry ingredients by volume (with cups) is notoriously unreliable. Because each person measures one cup a bit differently, it's easy to accidentally use too much flour, sugar, etc., and alter the texture of your cookies (see an example in our cinnamon cookies recipe).
For accurate results, use a kitchen scale to follow the gram measurements in the recipe below. No kitchen scale? Measure your flour with the scoop and level method for best results!
Mix-Ins
The beauty of "everything cookies" is their flexibility: They're a great blank canvas for, well, everything! Our recipe uses three cups total of mix-ins, and you can fill that three cups with any combination you like.
We recommend using 2-4 mix-ins, and including both sweet and salty ingredients. (See a few of our favorite mix-ins in the image above!)
Variations and substitutions
- Brown your butter before adding it to the cookie dough for an extra layer of deep, nutty flavor. Read more: How to brown butter.
- No butter? Use melted coconut oil (à la our butterless chocolate chip cookies), vegetable or canola oil, or olive oil.
- Add a pinch of flaky sea salt to the top of each cookie immediately after baking (similar to our dark chocolate sea salt cookies recipe).
Step by step instructions
Mix melted butter, vanilla extract, eggs, and sugars together in a large bowl until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Stir mix-ins into cookie dough. This is a fairly soft dough: Don't worry if it looks a little loose! It will settle and thicken a bit within a few minutes of mixing (as the melted butter starts to solidify).
Pro Tip: Reserve a handful of mix-ins to press into the tops of cookies before baking. This ensures mix-ins are visible on each cookie, giving them a picture-perfect look!
Bake
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Use a cookie scoop (we love this 3-Tablespoon scoop) to portion out the cookie dough. Leave an inch or so of space between each cookie on the cookie sheet.
If you like, press a few extra mix-ins onto the surface of each cookie. (This step is purely for looks: You can skip it if you're short on time!)
Bake cookies at 375° for 10-13 minutes, until they're lightly browned around the edges. Let them cool for a few minutes right on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack.
Pro Tip: Pull the cookies out before they look fully "done" in the middle. They might look puffy and domed in the centers, but don't worry: As the cookies cool, they'll settle into soft, chewy centers.
Storage
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days. (Keep in mind that different mix-ins may affect the optimal storage time!)
These cookies also freeze very well! Let them cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months. Let frozen cookies defrost for a few hours on the counter when you're ready to eat them.
FAQs
Our go-to mix-ins include:
- Toasted and roughly chopped nuts (pistachios, walnuts, almonds, pecans)
- Dried cranberries or raisins
- Peanut butter chips, toffee bits, butterscotch morsels, or caramel chips
- Chocolate (dark chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, roughly chopped baking chocolate)
- Oatmeal (old fashioned rolled oats)
- Candy like M&Ms or chocolate morsels, peanut butter cups, or candy bars (pro tip: Roughly chop large candy into smaller pieces for more manageable mixing).
- Salty snacks (pretzels, potato chips)
Some of our favorite combinations:
- Pretzels + M&Ms + Peanut Butter Cups + Butterscotch Chips (pictured)
- Pistachios + Chopped Baking Chocolate Chunks + White Chocolate Chips
- Potato Chips + Toasted Almonds + Milk Chocolate Chips
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips + Toasted Pecans + Dried Cranberries
A few different combos in action:
- White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
You can bake this cookie dough as soon as it's mixed, but if you have some time, you may want to chill the dough for additional flavor and a chewier texture! Keep in mind that different mix-ins may react differently to being chilled (potato chips, in particular, tend to lose their crisp texture if they're refrigerated).
-- Quick chill (30 minutes) --
Place the entire bowl of cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before scooping and baking. This gives the flavors some time to develop. It also lets the butter solidify a bit for a denser, chewier cookie that doesn't spread as much in the oven. A short, 30 minute chill gives you the flavor and texture benefits of chilled cookie dough, while ensuring the dough stays soft enough to be easily scooped with a cookie scoop. It will also give your cookies a slightly taller, chewier center.
-- Longer chill (24-72 hours) --
If you prefer a deeper, more caramelized flavor, you can chill this cookie dough for up to 3 days (72 hours). If we're making this cookie dough that far in advance, we prefer to scoop the cookies immediately after the dough is mixed (as opposed to chilling the full bowl of cookie dough, which makes it more difficult to scoop later). Store the scooped cookie dough in an airtight container in the fridge. When you're ready to bake, just transfer the cold cookie dough to a cookie sheet and bake normally.
See the difference between different chilling times in the image below, which features our chocolate chip cookies with melted butter:
This recipe makes 24-30 large cookies (formed with a 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop) or 72-90 bite-sized cookies (formed with a 1-Tablespoon cookie scoop). Use any size cookie scoop you like here! If you use a different size cookie scoop, you will likely need to adjust the baking time.
Yes! If you prefer to use a stand mixer/electric mixer or hand mixer in your baking, you can certainly use those appliances for this recipe.
Mix the cookie dough batter together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed or lower for best results.
For just a few cookies, we recommend following our small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe. You can add a handful of extra mix-ins to those cookies if you like!
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it turned out!
📖 Recipe
Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: Makes 24-30 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy homemade cookies use everything but the kitchen sink! Use a blend of your favorite mix-ins. This recipe uses melted butter to keep things quick and easy!
Ingredients
- 170 grams unsalted butter, melted (1 ½ sticks )
- 8 grams vanilla extract (2 teaspoons)
- 2 eggs
- 130 grams white granulated sugar (⅔ cup)
- 150 grams brown sugar (about ¾ packed cup)
- 330 grams all purpose flour (about 2 ¾ cups)
- 4 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon)
- 5 grams baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- 3 cups mix-ins, see below
Optional Mix-Ins
- Chocolate (semi-sweet or white chocolate chips, chopped baking chocolate, etc.)
- Toasted and roughly chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pecans)
- Lightly crushed pretzels
- Potato chips
- Candy (M&Ms, peanut butter cups or Reese’s pieces, Snickers, etc)
- Butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk melted butter, vanilla, eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
- Add flour, kosher salt, and baking soda to the bowl; stir until just combined.
- Reserve ½ cup of mix-ins for topping the cookies before baking (optional). Stir remaining mix-ins into the cookie dough.
- Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the dough. place each dough ball 1 inch apart on your prepared baking sheet. If you like, press a few reserved mix-ins into the top of each cookie. Note: This recipe makes quite a few cookies; you will likely need to work in batches.
- Bake cookies at 375° F for 10-13 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove cookies from oven and let cool right on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cookies may look a bit puffy right out of the oven, but the centers will sink down as they cool to form a beautiful, chewy texture.
- Serve immediately or store cooled cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Notes
Please use a kitchen scale. Measuring by volume (with cups) is notoriously unreliable. For best results, use a kitchen scale and follow the gram measurements provided above.
Use any combination of mix-ins you like! We recommend using 2-4 mix-ins, including at least one sweet and one salty option. Aim for 3 cups TOTAL of mix-ins, and adjust the exact amounts as needed to suit your tastes. Cut any large pieces of candy (like Reese's Cups or a Snickers bar) into pieces for easier mixing. Lightly crush or crumble large salty pieces (like pretzels or potato chips). In the photos above, we used four mix-ins: M&Ms, Reese's cups (cut in half), butterscotch baking chips, and crushed pretzels.
Substitutions. The mix-ins here are very forgiving: Adjust the exact amount of each ingredient to your liking. Add a pinch of flakey sea salt to these cookies just after baking if you like. Use oil (avocado, vegetable, canola, olive) or melted coconut oil instead of melted butter.
Rest the cookie dough if you like. As the dough sits on the counter, it will thicken slightly (due to the melted butter cooling). Once mixed, let the dough sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes for softer, chewier cookies. For deeper flavor and chewier, thicker cookies, chill the cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before scooping and baking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 278
- Sugar: 22.6 g
- Sodium: 253.1 mg
- Fat: 11.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.9 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 31.9 mg
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