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These soft, chewy Kitchen Sink Cookies are made with a little bit of everything – brown butter, crunchy pretzels, gooey caramel, chocolate chips, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Perfectly sweet & salty!
We packed these kitchen sink cookies (a different twist on our popular chocolate chip cookies recipe) full of sweet and salty goodies that make them extra special! These are my go-to cookies to make when I can’t decide what to make or I only have partial bags of chocolate chips in the pantry. They are similar to monster cookies in that they combine several cookies into one addicting recipe. But instead of peanut butter and oatmeal, these are dotted with pretzels, chocolate chips, and caramel. Yum!
Featured Comment
These have become our favorites! I've made them gluten free..absolutely amazing! The caramel just adds that little extra moisture that most GF lacks! GREAT RECIPE! Thanks!!
Why Everyone Loves This Kitchen Sink Cookies Recipe
- A little bit of everything. There’s something in these cookies for everyone, whether they like salty, crunchy pretzels, gooey caramel, or chocolate. Feel free to switch up the mix-ins with whatever is in the pantry!
- Sweet & salty. Between the salty pretzels, nutty brown butter, sweet chocolate and caramel, and the sea salt sprinkled on top, these cookies offer the perfect balance of sweet and salty flavors. It’s the perfect compromise when you can’t decide!
- Thick and chewy. I made these with extra large dough balls so they stay nice and thick in the oven. The edges get golden and crisp while the centers stay soft and chewy, the perfect complement to the crunchy pretzels and gooey caramel.
Recipe Ingredients
These cookies begin with the same ingredients as most chocolate chip cookies, with a few extra additions. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Unsalted butter – For this recipe, I highly recommend unsalted butter. There will be lots of salty flavor added with the pretzels and the sea salt sprinkled on top.
- Sugar – Brown sugar and granulated sugar are both used in these cookies. The brown sugar adds more rich molasses flavor while also adding to the chewy texture.
- Eggs – Bring them to room temperature first.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder – Helps the cookies rise in the oven.
- Sea salt – I prefer sea salt in this recipe to regular table salt. I also like to sprinkle a little extra on top for a final touch.
- Mix-ins – I added broken pretzels, caramel bits, and semi-sweet chocolate chips to these cookies. Chopped caramels work if you can’t find caramel bits and other chocolate chips work too.
More Mix-In Ideas
The joy of these kitchen sink cookies is that you can add whatever you want to them! It’s a great recipe for using up the almost-gone bags of chocolate chips in the pantry. My suggestion is to keep the total amount of mix-ins approximately the same and to use a combination of sweet and salty.
Here are a few ideas:
- Other chocolate chips, like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, etc
- M&Ms or Reese’s pieces
- Chopped candy bars
- Crushed chips
How To Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
Don’t let the added step of browning the butter worry you. These cookies are still so easy to make! The printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Prep. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Brown the butter. Melt the butter over medium heat, whisking constantly. It should foam, bubble, and eventually turn amber with a few little brown bits. As soon as the color changes, pour it into a large bowl, using a spatula to scrape all the little brown bits into the bowl.
- Make the dough. Beat the vanilla and sugars into the browned butter for a few minutes, until the mixture lightens in color. Beat in the eggs for 30 seconds then add the baking powder, salt, and a third of the flour. Slowly add the second third of flour until combined then mix in the last portion.
- Add the mix-ins. Stir in the pretzels, caramel, and chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Scoop the dough. Scoop large balls of dough onto the baking sheet. Add more pretzels, caramel, and chocolate chips to the top of the dough balls. Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for 13 minutes, until golden around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Tips for Perfect Cookies
Here are a few things I’ve found important when making kitchen sink cookies.
- Do not burn the butter. The most important part of making brown butter is to not burn it. It should be amber in color with a nutty aroma. If it begins to smell burnt, toss it and start over. Whisking constantly helps to prevent burning.
- Avoid overmixing the dough. When adding the flour, mix each time until the flour is just incorporated. When stirring in the mix-ins, stir just until they’re evenly distributed.
- Adjust the bake time. The exact bake time will depend on the size you make the dough balls. I like to make larger balls of dough for these cookies but regular size dough balls should bake in 9-11 minutes. Keep an eye on your first batch until you know the perfect bake time.
- Don’t overbake. These cookies will continue to bake as they cool on the baking sheet. They should be golden around the edges but still appear soft in the center. Overbaking leads to dry cookies instead of chewy ones!
Proper Storage
- Room temperature. Store kitchen sink cookies in an airtight container on the counter. They’re best enjoyed within 4-5 days.
- Freezer. The cookies can also be frozen once they’ve cooled completely. Just transfer to a ziploc bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Note that the pretzels won’t be as crunchy after freezing.
Kitchen Sink Cookies
These soft, chewy Kitchen Sink Cookies are made with a little bit of everything – brown butter, crunchy pretzels, gooey caramel, chocolate chips, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Perfectly sweet & salty!
Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter browned
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt + more for sprinkling
- 3/4 cup broken pretzels + more for top
- 1 1/2 cup caramel bits + more for top
- 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips + more for top
Instructions
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- To brown the butter: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, whisking as it melts, foams, bubbles, and eventually little brown bits form and it turns amber.
- Immediately pour into a large heatproof bowl and use a spatula to scrape all the little brown bits into the bowl.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, beat the vanilla and sugars into the butter for a couple minutes, until it lightens a bit.
- Beat in eggs for about 30 seconds.
- Add the baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, and about a third of the flour.
- Mix slowly, add another third of flour, mix, and add the last of the flour until just combined.
- Stir in the pretzels, caramel bits, and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
- Scoop out very large balls of dough and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between.
- Add more broken pretzel pieces, caramel bits, and chocolate chips to the tops of the dough balls to preference.
- Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake 13 minutes until golden around the edges.
- Remove and allow to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes.
- Then, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve and enjoy!
Last Step:
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Notes
Store kitchen sink cookies in an airtight container on the counter. They’re best enjoyed within 4-5 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 79mg | Potassium: 151mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 265IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1mg
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13 comments on “Kitchen Sink Cookies”
These have become our favorites! I’ve made them gluten free..absolutely amazing! The caramel just adds that little extra moisture that most GF lacks! GREAT RECIPE! Thanks!!
Thank you GammaNae!
Delicious!!
Thanks Cindy!
Oh. My. Lord.
These are beyond. I had no idea the magic of brown butter, but … wow. I have eaten a week’s worth of calories in dough (shhh!) and cookies since I made them last night. I baked them for 11 minutes on the dot, and they were perfect. The only change I made to the recipe was only doing one cup (instead of 1.5 cups) of caramel bits. Otherwise, I followed it exactly.
I made  these cookie except I used toffee bits rather than caramel bits. They were wonderful!  My new favorite! I do have a question however…are caramel bits the Kraft Caramel Bits that are round?  I couldn’t find anything else labeled “caramel bits”.
I made these yesterday and my hubby says their his new favorite cookie. He’s a huge pb fan, so that’s saying something! Thank you for recipe!
Do you happen to have modifications for high elevation?
What are the caramel bits?
You can buy them at the store next to the chocolate chips, they come in the same kinda bag. They are Kraft Caramel Bits.Â
Find them on the same shelf as the chocolate chips in the grocery store.Â
Can I use regular caramel and no bits? What if I just drizzled it on top before cooking?
Can you use caramel syrup instead?