If you've met my parents via my social media before, you know that they are 100% cookie obsessed. If you know me I am cookie obsessed and perfected the best chocolate chip cookies recipe of all time, but we will save that post for another day. Back to my parents. I don't think I've ever been home to visit without finding at least a few dozen of my dads Kitchen Sink Cookies stashed in the freezer in case of an emergency. And by emergency, I really mean when the mood strikes to eat 5-6 cookies in one sitting. We are total cookie fanatics. It's part of our DNA. They just got into town for the week so we're making cookies with Poppy to celebrate!
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One of my favorite parts of going home is that my dad always makes me his famous Kitchen Sink Cookies. They've evolved over the years. What started as basic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have turned into something way more delicious and I seriously start craving them the second I hop on a plane to Seattle.
I make them plenty of times in my own kitchen, but for some reason they are always better when dad makes them. Kind of like his grilled cheese sandwiches. There's just no arguing it. So nowadays they are stuffed with chocolate chips, M&M's, dried cranberries and dried apricots. Genius. His Kitchen Sink Cookies are just slightly under baked and perfectly chewy, stuffed full of chocolate and that's just the way I like them.
Watch How to Make it
Ingredients
- Butter
- White Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Old Fashioned Oats
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- M&M's
- Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Dried Cranberries
- Dried Apricots
How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
Start by preheating your oven to 375º F.
In a large stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides in between additions. Add the vanilla and incorporate.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, pulverized oats (just measure 2 ½ cups of oats and blend them in a high powered blender for a few seconds to break them down), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix everything together. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 batches and mix on a low speed.
Add the M&M's, chocolate chips, dried cranberries and dried apricot and mix for a few seconds until just incorporated.
Using a medium sized cookie scoop, place 12 balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Transfer the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes depending on how chewy you want your cookies. I'm a 10.5 minute kind of cookie baker.
Remove the cookies from the oven once they are baked and let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Tips & Tricks
Use room temperature butter - This will ensure that your Kitchen Sink Cookies spread evenly and don’t end up too flat.
Add a little salt - This will help to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate chips and give the Kitchen Sink Cookies a little flavor boost. I love Maldon.
Don’t overbake - The key to soft and chewy cookies is taking them out of the oven while they’re still slightly underbaked. Just be sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t get too brown.
How to cream together the butter and sugar - You have to let it cream together for 3 minutes to ensure the butter and sugar properly combine. The color should be a pale light yellow – here is a great color example.
How to measure flour - I am a scoop and level kinda girl. If you spoon and level, that will not result in enough flour. I scoop my measuring cup into the flour and then use a knife to level it out. When you mix everything together, just mix the dry ingredients until JUST combined. No need to over-mix.
FAQ's
What kind of butter is best for cookies?
Unsalted! I always use unsalted in my baked goods so I can add salt later to my preference! IF you use salted butter, please feel free, just skip the excess salt because it could be TOO salty and that’s hard to fix.
How to make chewy cookies?
The key to chewy cookies is brown sugar! I do a half and half combo of white sugar and brown sugar in this Kitchen Sink Cookie recipe. If you use only white sugar you'll get a more crispy cookie.
Can you freeze the dough?
Yes absolutely. Follow steps to make the dough and then portion into 2 tablespoon scoops and freeze on a flat surface. Once the balls are frozen, you can transfer the frozen balls into a zip-top bag and save for later. When ready to bake off the Kitchen Sink Cookies, let them sit on the counter for 15 minutes before baking at the same time and temp listed below.
How do you store these Kitchen Sink Cookies?
I prefer to bake them all, let them cool and then transfer to an air tight container and store in the freezer. Then when it’s time to eat, take a few out, let them come to room temp and devour.
Similar Recipes
- Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Perfect Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 26 Best Cookie Recipes
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today
Dad’s Kitchen Sink Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups old fashioned oats pulverized
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup M&M's
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup chopped dried apricots
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides in between additions. Add the vanilla and incorporate.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, pulverized oats (just measure 2 ½ cups of oats and blend them in a high powered blender for a few seconds to break them down), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix everything together. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 batches and mix on a low speed.
- Add the M&M's, chocolate chips, dried cranberries and dried apricot and mix for a few seconds until just incorporated.
- Using a medium sized cookie scoop, place 12 balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Transfer the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes depending on how chewy you want your cookies. I'm a 10.5 minute kind of cookie baker.
- Remove the cookies from the oven once they are baked and let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Freeze them as needed so you always have some on hand 🙂
Notes
- Keep these cookies in the freezer for when the craving hits!
- Feel free to swap out the additions, just keep it to about 4 cups total.
Nutrition Information
First off, congrats on Poppy! She's a sweet addition to your trio. I made these cookies today, and they were AWESOME! This recipe made enough for an army, so they are packaged up to be delivered to porches near and far.
“Elbow grease” is an understatement. Had to have my husband help me hand mix the sweets!
TOTALLY worth it though!
I’m in love! I took your advice and froze half of the dough for future bakes. I’m so happy I listened to you!! Tonight is the night for the second batch. Does the bake time change with the frozen dough???
Tell your Papa that he created a magical cookie!!
I've made these two times already. New favorite!! Thank you 🙂
I can’t wait to make these tomorrow! I don’t have any dried apricots..is that a must? I’m curious abt the combo- will forage for some if you think they have to them!
you can omit them if you want!
Recipe says cook at 375 video says 350.
I did 375 and perfection!
I mean come on.... can Gaby produce just one more fabulous cookie!! She can.. over and over again! These cookies are amazing and just want our freezer needed during a pandemic! I just whipped up my 4th batch of these and started her vanilla chocolate chip ones too. Ohh I can’t wait! Next week I’m hitting up your Molasses Cookies before the holidays to see if they are better than my families recipe... I’m sure they are!! Thank you for bringing smiles and full bellies to our house!
I put my in the fridge for 24 hrs like you said you like do in your IG TV video when you were baking them. I pulled them out of the fridge and mine were super clumbily (sp? lol) and barely stuck together. Do I need to somewhat “defrost” by letting them sit out on the counter for a bit so they stick together better? Thoughts?
hmmmmm they shouldn't be crumbly! did you do any substitutions?
I have the same problem with any cookie dough I have to refrigerate more than a few hours! I follow the directions exactly and wrap it very carefully and this always happens. I've started adding a little less flour to compensate, but regardless the cookies always come out in the end! Sometimes I also portion the cookie dough before I refrigerate it to make it a little easier.
Soooooo good! Finally made them and they did not disappoint! Love them!
My family can't get enough of these cookie! I did reduce the amount of sugar just a smidge the second time I made them and I think I like that even more. I am making a batch every week at the moment. They are so popular that I need to hide them or certain teenagers will get up in the middle of the night and leave only crumbs:-) Thank you Gaby and Gaby's Dad!
These cookies were just what we needed!
Delish! How many does the recipe usually make?
36 cookies
These are so tasty! They are my go to for a good "mixed" cookie. We like them so much, I made a few batches along with another recipe of Gaby's for our wedding favors. I made them about three weeks out and froze them. No one knew the difference they were gone in a flash!
Off the charts good!
Do you have to pulverize the oatmeal? Call me lazy.
you don't have to!! But I prefer the texture when it's pulverized 🙂 But... full transparency I've done it both ways because sometimes I just can't be bothered