Simply put, this is a really delicious cookie with a lot of stuff in it. Adapted from Milk Bar’s famous recipe, this cookie has an abundance of sweet, salty, and crunchy ingredients. This rendition of the recipe has peanut-ty flavor with honey-roasted peanuts and peanut butter morsels in the mix. It also has semisweet chips, oats, crushed graham crackers, and ground coffee. A small amount of plain yellow cornmeal bumps up the texture of the cookie dough. If you don’t have any on hand, you can still make this recipe. Swap in 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour for the cornmeal.Be careful not to overbake these cookies. The cookies are done when the edges are brown and the center is just set and still soft and pale. 13 minutes was just right for my oven, but since ovens vary, I urge you to keep an eye on the cookies as they bake.
1cupbroken pretzel sticksor tiny twists or a combination of the two
1cupcoarsely crushed graham crackersabout 8 squares
1cupsemisweet chocolate chips
1/2cuppeanut butter morselssuch as Reese’s
1/3cupquick cooking oats
1tablespooncoffee grounds
1cupunsalted butterat room temperature
1cupgranulated sugar
2/3cuplight brown sugarfirmly packed
1large eggat room temperature
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate large bowl combine the peanuts, pretzels, graham crackers, peanut butter chips, oats, and coffee grounds. Stir to combine.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat again until well combined.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture and beat until just combined on low speed. Scrape down the bowl as needed and beat again briefly.
Pour in the mixture of add-ins and stir together on low speed until they are all well dispersed throughout the dough, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl with a large rubber spatula to make sure there are no hidden pockets of plain batter. If you find some, incorporate them using a large rubber spatula.
Line large cookie sheets with parchment paper (avoid using dark-coated cookie sheets; light aluminum works best here). Scoop dough by the level 1/4 cup measures and place them on the cookie sheets, well-spaced because these cookies spread. Top with additional chips, nuts, and pretzels, if desired. Chill the dough on the sheets in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the centers are just set yet still soft. The centers will look underbaked. Let the cookies stay on the pans until they are firm enough to transfer, 5-7 minutes. If cookies aren’t perfectly round when they come out of the oven, use a butter knife to gently push the edges into shape while they are still hot. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Store cookies airtight for up to 5 days. To freeze cookies, store double bagged freezer bags with the air removed for up to 2 months.
Notes
Use the right pan: Light aluminum pans work best with this recipe, as dark-coated non-stick pans tend to make the edges of the dough spread.Anything goes! Fritos, tortilla chips, cereal, nuts, dried fruit – you name it. The original Compost Cookie recipe has potato chips as an ingredient. If you plan to swap in potato chips, choose a thicker cut variety with ridges so they’ll stand up to being mixed into the cookie dough.This recipe was adapted from Christina Tosi's recipe from Milk Bar.