The cookie part of the exchange comes much more naturally to me! I have a reputation for being a good cook and baker around the office, though, so I always do my best to bring my A game and to make sure I bake something slightly out of the norm. This year, I included the molasses ginger cookies that I blogged previously (the darker cookie in the picture) along with these not-so-little gems. These cookies are an addictive combination of salty and sweet, which is always a good thing! And they're HUGE! They're also very flexible--they're called compost cookies because you can use whatever mix-ins you have lying around the house! You can use this recipe to finish up all those half-empty bags of baking ingredients and snack foods that clutter up your pantry (unless that's just me?). I've included some ideas for mix-ins below, but the only limit is your imagination! You'll want the mix-ins to be small enough that you can get a few per cookie, but big enough to get a contrast in texture between the different ones! Do yourself a favor, though, and make these cookies!
Salty: potato chips, pretzels, salted roasted nuts, crackers, popcorn, cooked and crumbled bacon
Sweet: semi-sweet, milk, dark, or white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, graham crackers, cereal, toffee bits, cookies, candy, coconut
Neutral: oatmeal, unsalted nuts
Compost Cookies (adapted from Christina Tosi, as seen on The Amateur Gourmet)
- 1 c. butter
- 1 c. white sugar
- 3/4 c. brown sugar
- 1 egg plus 1 yolk
- 1 Tbl. corn syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. salt (yes, this seems like a lot, but it's right!)
- 2 c. salty mix-ins (I used potato chips and pretzels)
- 2 c. sweet mix-ins (I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and crushed graham crackers)
Thoroughly cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and yolk, corn syrup, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and then stir the sifted ingredients into the wet ingredients until mostly mixed. Very gently, fold in the mix-ins.
Using a 4-oz (1/4 c.) ice cream scoop, scoop the dough out onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, or freeze. To bake, make sure the dough balls are spaced at least 4 in. away from each other on parchment paper-lined baking sheets--these cookies spread! Bake at 350* F for 15-18 minutes, or until edges are set. Let cool on the baking sheet, and then taste test your new favorite cookie!
*Note: if you're not using mix-ins that will absorb a fair amount of moisture (oatmeal, graham cracker crumbs, pretzel crumbs), you may need to add an additional 1/4 c. of flour to the dough.
I love these cookies! They are one of my current favorites because of the sweet and salty combo.
ReplyDeleteYes, I saw these on your blog, too! I was a bit worried about how they would turn out, because a lot of comments on the blog where I got them from said that they were too salty and/or spread too thin, so I left out essentially half an egg, and they were perfect!
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