Get ready to dive into the most delightful holiday treat with this incredible Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe! These cookies are a festive explosion of flavors and textures, combining sweet and salty elements in every bite. Loaded with colorful holiday mix-ins, they’re perfect for celebrating the holiday season. Whip up a batch for sharing with loved ones, gifting to neighbors, or simply enjoying a cozy night in.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
You’ll quickly fall in love with this unique Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe for many festive reasons:
- Irresistible Sweet and Salty Combo: Experience a delightful flavor party with crunchy pretzels, salty potato chips, sweet chocolate, and festive M&Ms all in one cookie. It’s a truly addictive combination!
- Fun, Colorful Christmas Mix-ins: Bright red and green M&Ms, along with cheerful jimmies, make these cookies visually stunning and perfectly capture the holiday spirit. They’re as pretty as they are delicious.
- Quick and Easy No-Chill Recipe: Forget waiting hours for dough to chill. This recipe is designed for instant gratification, allowing you to bake up festive treats without delay. It’s perfect for last-minute holiday baking.
- Perfect for Holiday Baking with Family: This simple recipe is incredibly beginner-friendly, making it an ideal activity for baking with kids or introducing new bakers to the joys of holiday treats. Create wonderful memories together.
- Guaranteed Crowd-Pleaser for Parties: Bring these unique and flavorful cookies to any holiday gathering, and watch them disappear. They’re a guaranteed hit, sure to impress everyone with their unexpected deliciousness.
Ingredients
Gather your ingredients for these delightful Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe:
- ¾ cup salted butter, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup red and green M&Ms
- ⅓ cup white chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup pretzel pieces
- ⅓ cup potato chip pieces
- 2 tbsp red and green jimmies
Notes & Substitutions
Achieving perfect results with this Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe starts with understanding your ingredients. The science of baking shows that using softened butter properly is one of the most critical elements in cookie baking, ensuring the right texture and spread. Ensure your salted butter is truly softened, not melted, so it creams properly with the sugars. For an even richer, more aromatic flavor, swap vanilla extract for high-quality vanilla bean paste. When measuring flour, always spoon it into your measuring cup and then level it off to prevent over-measurement, which can lead to dense cookies. Opt for good quality white chocolate chips as they melt smoother and offer a better flavor. Feel free to customize your mix-ins! Consider adding chopped pecans, mini peanut butter cups, toffee bits, or even a different color scheme of M&Ms to match other holidays.
Equipment
You don’t need fancy tools to make this delightful Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Standard baking sheets
- Parchment paper (essential for easy cleanup)
- Electric mixer (stand or hand mixer works perfectly)
- Mixing bowls (one large, one medium)
- Cookie scoop (for evenly sized cookies)
- Cooling rack
- Optional: large round cookie cutter (for perfect circles)
Instructions
Let’s bake a batch of festive Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe! Follow these easy steps for delicious results.
- Preheat and Prep: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure easy cleanup. Set them aside for when your dough is ready.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened, salted butter with the light brown sugar and granulated white sugar. Use an electric mixer to cream these ingredients together for about two minutes. Continue mixing until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and noticeably pale in color. This step is crucial for tender cookies.
- Add Egg Yolks and Vanilla: Next, beat in the two egg yolks and the vanilla bean paste (or extract). Mix on medium speed for another two minutes. The mixture should become even paler and very fluffy at this stage, incorporating plenty of air.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the wet mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are just combined with the wet ingredients. Be careful not to overmix the dough; stop as soon as no dry streaks remain.
- Fold in Mix-ins: Now for the fun part! Add the red and green M&Ms, white chocolate chips, pretzel pieces, potato chip pieces, and red and green jimmies to the dough. Gently fold these festive mix-ins in using a spatula. Mix just until everything is evenly distributed throughout the dough, avoiding crushing the delicate components.
- Scoop and Arrange: Scoop the cookie dough into 20 evenly sized balls. A cookie scoop helps keep them uniform. Arrange these dough balls two inches apart on your prepared baking sheets. This spacing allows them to spread without merging.
- Optional Topping: For cookies that look exactly like the ones pictured, add a few extra M&Ms, white chocolate chips, or sprinkles on top of each scooped cookie dough ball. This step is entirely optional but enhances their visual appeal.
- Bake: Place the baking sheets in the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. For chewier centers, bake closer to 10 minutes. If you prefer crisper edges, extend the baking time to 12 minutes. The edges should appear set and lightly golden.
- Optional Shaping: Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, while they are still warm and pliable, use a large circular cookie cutter. Swirl the cookie cutter around each cookie to gently push the edges inwards and create a perfectly round shape. This trick gives your Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe a professional finish.
- Cool: Let the baked cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. This allows them to set up before moving. Then, carefully transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely for at least another 10 minutes.
- Store: Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days to maintain their freshness.
Pro Tips & Troubleshooting
Making the best Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe is easy with a few tricks. For starters, always measure your flour correctly by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off. This prevents dense, dry cookies. Ensure your butter and egg yolks are at room temperature; this helps them cream together smoothly and incorporate air for a light texture. Beat the wet ingredients until they’re truly light and fluffy, creating a foundation for chewy cookies. Remember, do not overmix the dough once the dry ingredients are added, as this develops gluten and can lead to tough cookies. If you want perfectly round cookies, use the post-bake cookie shaping trick with a round cutter. To achieve your desired cookie texture, adjust baking time by a minute or two – less time for chewier centers, more for crispier edges. If your cookies spread too much and look flat, ensure your butter wasn’t too soft or melted, or try chilling the dough for 20-30 minutes before baking.
Serving, Storage, & Variations
These delightful Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe are wonderful served warm, allowing the chocolate to be slightly gooey, or at room temperature for a firmer bite. They pair perfectly with a cold glass of milk, a warm cup of coffee, or a festive hot cocoa on a chilly evening. To keep them fresh, store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. You can also freeze baked cookies for up to three months; simply thaw them on the counter before enjoying. For convenience, freeze raw cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to two months. Bake from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes to the bake time. Get creative with variations! Swap out the red and green M&Ms for different holiday colors, like pastels for Easter or orange and black for Halloween. Experiment with other candy additions like Rolo pieces, chopped candy bars, or different types of nuts such as pecans or walnuts. For dietary adaptations, use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, or try dairy-free butter and chocolate chips for a delicious dairy-free version.
Nutrition
Enjoying this Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe is a treat! While these cookies are a fun indulgence, here’s an estimated nutritional breakdown for one cookie based on the recipe yielding 20 cookies. Please remember that this is an approximation, as exact values can vary based on specific ingredients and brands used.
| Nutrient | Amount (per cookie) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 210 kcal |
| Total Fat | 12g |
| Saturated Fat | 7g |
| Cholesterol | 35mg |
| Sodium | 120mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 25g |
| Sugars | 18g |
| Protein | 2g |
FAQ
Got questions about this festive Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe? We’ve got answers!
Q: Can I use other mix-ins in this recipe?
A: Absolutely! Feel free to customize your Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe with your favorite candies, nuts, or chocolate chips. Just keep the total quantity of mix-ins similar to the recipe.
Q: Can I make the dough ahead of time?
A: Yes, you can prepare the cookie dough up to 2 days in advance. Store it covered in the refrigerator, and let it come to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before scooping and baking.
Q: How long do these cookies last?
A: These delicious cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They’re best enjoyed within the first day or two.
Q: Why are my cookies flat?
A: Flat cookies can result from butter being too soft or melted, or from overmixing the dough. Ensure your butter is softened but still cool to the touch, and mix the dry ingredients just until combined.
Q: Can I freeze these cookies?
A: Yes, you can freeze both baked cookies and raw dough balls. Freeze baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months, or freeze scooped dough balls and bake from frozen with an extra minute or two.
Conclusion
This Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe is your ticket to a joyful and delicious holiday season. With their perfect balance of sweet and salty, festive colors, and irresistible textures, these cookies are truly special. They’re incredibly easy to make, even for beginners, and promise to bring smiles to everyone who tries them. Don’t wait – bake up a batch of these wonderful cookies today. We encourage you to share your creations and rate this recipe; we love hearing from you!
