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make it your way challenge: kitchen sink cookies
Have you ever wondered what it would taste like to add bacon to a cookie? What about crushed potato chips or peanuts? Now’s your chance to get creative with this Make It Your Way Challenge!
hey curious cook—
Have you heard about our Young Chefs’ Club? Members get a themed (and kid-tested) box delivered each month!
There are hundreds of different types of cookies out there: chocolate chip, gingerbread, oatmeal-raisin, and more. But have you ever heard of Kitchen Sink Cookies? These cookies start with a basic dough and can include almost ANYTHING else you want. It’s the perfect place to let your cookie imagination run wild!
In this month’s Make It Your Way Challenge, we’re asking you to come up with your OWN Kitchen Sink Cookies. You’ll start with our basic sugar cookie recipe—think of it as your blank canvas. Then, using your imagination and some different ingredients, you can add flavor and texture to your cookies with spices, flavor extracts, stir-ins, and press-ins.
Have your grown-ups take photos of your cookies and send them to kids@americastestkitchen.com or tag them on social media with #atkkids. Don’t forget to give your cookies a name! We might feature them on our website.
Flavorings
Add any of these flavorings along with the egg in step 3.
- Up to ½ teaspoon total of ground spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon of flavor extract, such as almond, coconut, peppermint, or orange (if using, skip the vanilla extract)
- ½ teaspoon of grated lemon, lime, or orange zest
3up Flavorings Kitchen Sink Cookies
Cinnamon
Peppermint extract
Lime zest
Stir-ins
Stir ½ cup into dough in step 4, such as chocolate chips, shredded coconut, mini marshmallows, chopped nuts, crushed potato chips, sprinkles, chopped cooked bacon, dried fruit, and/or oats.
3up Stir-ins Kitchen Sink Cookies
Chopped cooked bacon
Oats
Sprinkles
Press-ins
Use ⅓ cup and distribute evenly among flattened dough balls in step 6. You could use M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, crushed peppermint candies, chopped peanut butter cups, mini pretzels, crushed cookies, peanuts, and/or coarse or flake sea salt (use ½ teaspoon).
3up Press-ins Kitchen Sink Cookies
Peanuts
Crushed cookies
Chopped peanut butter cups
Prepare Ingredients
Gather Baking Equipment
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
In large bowl, whisk sugar and melted butter until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, and flavorings (if using) and whisk until well combined.
Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and use rubber spatula to stir until no dry flour is visible and soft dough forms. Add stir-ins (if using) and stir until evenly distributed.
Use your hands to roll dough into 12 balls (about 1 heaping tablespoon each). Place dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving space between balls.
It’s important to space the dough balls a few inches apart on the rimmed baking sheet because they will spread and flatten as they bake. If they’re too close together, the cookies will spread into each other and form (delicious) cookie blobs!
Use your hand to gently flatten each dough ball. Add press-ins (if using), pressing them into each cookie.
