Kitchen Sink Cookies are sweet, salty, soft, and chewy, and crunchy and loaded with your favorite treats you have lying around your kitchen pantry (pretzels, potato chips, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, Twix bars…you name it, it is in there).
This simple cake mix cookie recipe is so quick and easy to make with some surprising ingredients (like everything but the kitchen sink) you may never have considered combining in a cookie!
Panera Kitchen Sink Cookies
Kitchen Sink Cookies are an easy-to-make Panera Bread copycat recipe, filled with your favorite sweet and salty flavors mixed with soft and crispy textures.
This simple shortcut recipe uses a snickerdoodle cookie mix as its base, mixes in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pretzels, Twix candy, and potato chips (everything but the kitchen sink), and bakes it into the best homemade cookie with a different filling in each bite.
This family-friendly cookie creation is a flexible way to have fun in the kitchen as you pull candy pieces or cracker crumbs from your pantry to customize it.
Don’t like pretzels, skip ‘em; want to add cereal, swap it – this no rule recipe makes cleaning out the cupboard delicious!
For more copycat recipes that you can make at home, try my Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies, DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Copycat Disney Churros.
Why We Love This Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe
- Quick and easy to make in 15 minutes.
- Uses a cookie mix as a base for mixing in your leftover ingredients.
- Crisp buttery edges, soft centers, and each bite is loaded with a different salty-sweet flavor from the last.
- Make this recipe as written, or swap in your favorite mix-ins.
- Perfect for potlucks, dessert trays, gift-giving, cookie exchanges, or after school snacks.
Ingredients
- Snickerdoodle cookie mix with cinnamon sugar packet (I know most Betty Crocker cookie mix’s have the cinnamon sugar packet. You can look on the back of the bag to make sure it is included)
- Salted butter: You can use unsalted butter if you prefer. This recipe includes various salted ingredients so the salt isn’t completely necessary.
- Egg
- Water
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Peanut butter chips: Peanut Butter chips can be difficult to find, so feel free to use butterscotch chips instead.
- Pretzels
- Twix candy
- Potato chips: I used original Lays chips, but you can use whichever is your favorite type of potato chips.
SEE FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BELOW
Substitutions and Additions
- Change The Cookie Mix: Any snickerdoodle cookie mix will come with a cinnamon sugar packet, however you can also use a sugar cookie mix, chocolate chip cookie mix, or peanut butter cookie mix instead. In those cases you can omit the cinnamon sugar or simply add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to include the flavor.
- Choose Your Chip: If you prefer to use milk chocolate, white chocolate, or dark chocolate chips instead of the semi-sweet chips, any of them will be delicious.
- Candy: Choose your favorite type of candy bar as a substitute for the Twix. I recommend Snickers, Butterfingers, or Milky Way.
- More Mix-In Ideas: Feel free to find your favorite treats in your pantry and add them into the cookie dough. Some ideas include toffee bits, pecans or walnuts, M&Ms, shredded coconut, sprinkles, raisins, mini marshmallows, and crushed crackers.
Recommended Tools
- Hand or stand mixer
- Mixing bowl and tools
- Measuring tools
- Cookie sheet
How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
Kitchen Sink Cookies (sometimes called Compost Cookies) are a fun way to customize a soft and chewy dough base with your favorite flavors and textures from pieces of pretzels, bits of candy bars, or crumbs of chips. No chilling needed and ready to bake in 15 minutes.
- Make The Base: Beat together the cookie mix, ¼ – ½ of the cinnamon sugar packet (discard the rest), butter, and egg until they form a soft dough.
- Add Mix-Ins: Fold in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pretzels, Twix candy, and potato chips.
- Bake: Scoop the dough into balls and place them on the sheet pan, 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 11-14 minutes or until cookies begin to brown at the edges.
- Serve: Allow cookies to cool before serving. Enjoy!
Tips
- I highly recommend lining your baking sheets with parchment paper. This helps the cookies bake evenly and prevents them from spreading too much. Plus, it also makes cleanup so easy!
- Butter should be soft but still cool to the touch. If the butter is over-softened (or beginning to melt) the cookies will spread too much in the oven.
- I like to press a few extra “chips” or candy pieces on top of the dough balls before baking. This makes for a more visually appealing cookie.
Storage Tips
- To Store: You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature. They will keep slightly longer in the refrigerator.
- To Freeze: You can freeze your baked cookies in a freezer safe container for a few months. I recommend bringing them to room temperature before eating after being frozen.
- To Reheat: For warm, gooey cookies, heat in the microwave for a few seconds before enjoying them.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you do not prefer any cinnamon flavoring in your cookies, you can simply discard the cinnamon sugar packet completely or use it for a different recipe. I don’t recommend using the entire packet and only using ¼ – ½ of the packet because it can be a little too much flavoring with the whole packet.
They’re called kitchen sink cookies because they contain “everything but the kitchen sink!”
Sometimes they are called Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies or even Compost Cookies!
This recipe allows you to raid your pantry for whatever sweet and salty goodies you wish to include, crush them up, and add them to the cookie dough. They are dangerously delicious!
Yes, you can make your cookie dough in advance. Once you make your dough, wrap it in a disc, and keep it stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days prior to baking.
Yes, you can freeze your cookie dough. Scoop the chilled dough into individual cookies and place the balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment (make sure the scoops of dough aren’t touching one another).
Place the baking sheet in freezer until the scoops are fully frozen. Place the frozen dough balls in a freezer-safe bag and keep them stored in the freezer for up to three months. +When you are ready to bake the cookies, place the frozen scoops onto a parchment lined baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart and bake for 17 to 20 minutes.
The beauty of Kitchen Sink Cookies is that they are literally designed to use up the odds and ends in your pantry. Have a few handfuls of nuts or a half eaten container of mini M&Ms? Throw them in!
Want to use up the crumbs of potato chips so that you can open a new bag without guilt and enjoy an actual crunch? In they go!
I love to go through my pantry and find all the sweet and salty bits that I have been hesitant to get rid of and put them all in these cookies. I love the fact that I can make these cookies over and over and never have to worry about repeating this recipe!
Other Easy Cookies Recipes
- Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies
- Oreo Stuffed Cookies
- Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies
- No-Bake Avalanche Cookies
- Jello Cookies
- 8 Great Cake Mix Cookies
Kitchen Sink Cookie
Ingredients
- 17.9 ounce bag snickerdoodle cookie mix with cinnamon sugar packet
- 1 cup (1 stick) salted butter softened
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons water
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup peanut butter chips
- ¼ cup crushed pretzels
- ¼ cup Twix candy roughly chopped (~2-3 mini twix bars)
- ¼ cup roughly crushed potato chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper or grease it with cooking spray.
- Use a stand or hand mixer to beat the cookie mix, ¼ – ½ of the cinnamon sugar packet (discard the rest), salted butter and egg together in a large mixing bowl until they form a soft dough.
- Fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pretzels, Twix candy, and potato chips.
- Use a 1 inch cookie scoop to scoop out the dough into balls and place them on the sheet pan, 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes or until they just begin to brown at the edges and let cool before enjoying.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature. They will keep slightly longer in the refrigerator.
- To Freeze: You can freeze your baked cookies in a freezer safe container for a few months. I recommend bringing them to room temperature before eating after being frozen.
- To Reheat: For warm, gooey cookies, heat in the microwave for a few seconds before enjoying them.
- I highly recommend lining your baking sheets with parchment paper. This helps the cookies bake evenly and prevents them from spreading too much. Plus, it also makes cleanup so easy!
- Butter should be soft but still cool to the touch. If the butter is over-softened (or beginning to melt) the cookies will spread too much in the oven.
- I like to press a few extra “chips” or candy pieces on top of the dough balls before baking. This makes for a more visually appealing cookie.
