Bake Your List And Make These Twice: Santa’s Favorite Cookies!

Looking for the one cookie recipe that everyone will ask for this Christmas? These festive “bake-your-list-and-make-them-twice” treats pack in all the holiday magic—melty chocolate chips, red & green M&Ms, caramel or butterscotch chips, crunchy pretzels, and even ruffled potato chips for that irresistible sweet-and-salty bite. The secret to their chewy texture and bold flavor starts long before they hit the oven… and there’s a clever swirl trick that makes them picture-perfect every time!

Merry Monday!

Can you believe Christmas is two weeks from today? Me neither!

If you’re baking your list, gifts from the kitchen are always appreciated,

and Santa’s Favorite Cookies are ones

you’ll want to bake twice, so you have enough to share with friends, neighbors and

enjoy with your family for the holidays, not to mention Santa himself!

These cookies fall into the ‘kitchen sink’ category and are

ultimate chewy, chocolate chip cookies that are loaded

 with sweet and salty mix-ins for maximum flavor.

Santa, as we all know, is a cookie aficionado and connoisseur

and these cookies his favorites, as verified by Mrs. Claus,

who bakes them fresh daily this time of year!

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Santa’s Favorite Cookies are loaded with medley of chips. . .semi-sweet chocolate chips,

white chocolate and butterscotch chips;

red and green M&Ms for a festive pop of color, and last but not least, pretzels and potato chips

to add a salty note and balance the sweet flavors.

Feel free to customize these cookies to your taste,

varying and substituting the mix-ins of your choice. . .

 chopped pecans or walnuts, raisins or dried cranberries,

and your favorite baking chip flavors. . .

caramel, toffee bits, Reeses’s Baking Cups and Reese’s Pieces, etc.

To make Santa’s cookies look like they came fresh from Mrs.Claus’ Baking Company, ;)

stud the top cookies while warm from the oven with additional chips,

M&Ms, potato chip and pretzel pieces, and for added flavor.

I got 36 cookies using a 50mm /3 T cookie scoop 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached *all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs at room temperature

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch or caramel chips

1 cup red and green M&Ms

2 cups ruffled potato chips, broken into pieces

1 cup mini pretzels, broken into pieces

*To make gluten-free, substitute King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour

Directions

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream together the butter, both sugars, the molasses, and vanilla on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat for 5 to 7 minutes, until very light and fluffy.

Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the dry ingredients in thirds, beating until combined. With the mixer running, one at a time, add the chocolate chips, white chips, butterscotch chips and M&Ms. Add pretzels and finally potato chips at the end so they stay in large chunky pieces.

Use a large ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form the cookies and place on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between them to allow for spreading. Lightly flatten each cookie slightly. (I use the bottom of a measuring cup sprayed with nonstick spray). Cover the cookie sheets with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours, before baking.

Position the racks in the middle and lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the edges are golden brown.

While cookies are still warm from the oven, stud tops of cookies with additional baking chips, M&Ms, pieces of pretzel and potato chips for a bakery look and more flavor.

 Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack. Store in airtight container to gift and enjoy.

Baking tips for better cookies:

🎄Chill your dough at least 30 minutes up to 24 hours. This allows the butter to cool so cookies will expand more slowly, maintaining their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you’re more likely to wind up with flat disks instead of chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough also have more flavor as vanilla and sugar will have time to deepen and meld with the other ingredients.

🎄 Wait for the oven to fully preheat before baking. Cookies will spread too much if the oven isn’t hot enough for the dough to set when it should.

🎄 Ovens can vary by 50 degrees higher or lower than the desired temperature. Use an inexpensive oven thermometer to get the most accurate reading.

🎄 When measuring flour, use the ‘spoon & sweep’ method: Use a spoon to fill measuring cup with flour to overflowing, then sweep with knife edge to level. Scooping the measuring cup directly into flour bag will yield a heavier cup and the larger amount can negatively affect your recipes.

🎄 It may seem obvious, but use a timer. Cookies can go from gooey to burnt in less than 2 minutes.

🎄 Cool your cookie sheet between batches to prevent the dreaded ‘cookie blob’. If you reuse your cookie straight from the oven, its high heat will cause the dough to spread and the cookies to fuse together.

Here’s fun cookie hack I just discovered to make a rounder and prettier cookie!

  Try this hack as soon as the cookies come out of the oven, while they’re warm:

Place a glass or cup upside down over your warm, unevenly shaped cookie and swirl it around in circle so the glass/cup touches the cookie edges for a few seconds. As the warm cookie edges hit the walls of the cup, it’ll reshape the cookie into a perfect circle! This is ideal for a chewy-style cookie like chocolate chip but will also work for a slice and bake style cookie that may be flat on one side.

Print Recipe

Santa’s Favorite Cookies

Santa's favorite cookies, the ultimate chocolate chip cookie packed with additional sweet andsalty mix-ins for maximum flavor.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

chill time 30 minutes (or more)29 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 4 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: buttersotch or caramel baking chips, chocolate chips, Christmas cookies, football pretzels, kitchen sink cookies, M&Ms, Santa's favorite cookies, white chocolate chips

Servings: 36 cookies

Equipment

• mixer

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour to make gluten-free, substitute King Arthur Gluten-FreeMeasure for Measure Flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsulphured or dark molasses do not use blackstrap
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butterscotch or caramel chips
• 1 cup red and green M&Ms
• 2 cups ruffled potato chips broken into pieces
• 1 cup mini pretzels broken into pieces

Instructions

• Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream together the butter, both sugars, the molasses, and vanilla on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat for 5 to 7 minutes, until very light and fluffy.
• Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the dry ingredients in thirds, beating until combined. With the mixer running, one at a time, add the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and M&Ms. Add pretzels and finally potato chips at the end so they stay in large chunky pieces.
• Use a large ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form the cookies and place on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between them to allow for spreading. Lightly flatten each cookie slightly. (I use the bottom of a measuring cup sprayed with nonstick spray). Cover the cookie sheets with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 24 hours, before baking.
• Position the racks in the middle and lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the edges are golden brown.
• While cookies are still warm from the oven, stud tops of cookies with additional chocolate chips, M&Ms, pieces of pretzel and potato chips for a bakery look and more flavor if desired.
• Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.
• When cool, store in an airtight container to gift and enjoy.

Notes

• I used a 50mm/3 T cookie scoop and got 36 cookies. If using a smaller scoop, reduce baking time.
• Substitute your mix-ins of choice, variations: chopped pecans or walnuts, dried cranberries or raisins, or adjust the flavor of your baking chips to your taste; dark chocolate, milk chocolate, toffee bits chips, etc.
• Don’t skip the chilling step. Chill scooped cookies a minimum of 30 minutes up to 3 days; store covered with plastic wrap.  If I don’t have room in my fridge for multiple baking sheets with scooped cookies, I’ll scoop them, out place them side by side on a sheet, and separate them before baking. If you try to chill your dough in the bowl without scooping first, the dough will be too stiff to scoop.
• Cool your cookie sheet between batches to prevent the dreaded cookie blob. If you reuse it straight from the oven, its high heat will cause the dough to spread and the cookies to fuse together.
• Ovens can vary by 50 degrees higher or lower than the desired temperature. Use an inexpensive oven thermometer to get the most accurate reading.
• When measuring flour, use the 'spoon & sweep' method: Use a spoon to fill measuring cup with flour to overflowing, then sweep with knife edge to level. Scooping measuring cup directly into flour bag will firmly pack flour resulting in too much flour for recipe.
• To make gluten-free, substitute King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour for all-purpose flour.
• Cookie hack: If your cookies spread more than you want or are more uneven than you like, try this hack as soon as they come out of the oven: Place a glass or mug over the cookies upside down and move the glass around in circle around the cookie touching the cookie edges for a few seconds. It’ll reshape the cookie into a perfect circle and thicken up the edges. This is ideal for a chewy-style cookie like chocolate chip.

The winners of my Baking Spirits Bright Giveaway are

Diana E | Barbara C | Michele M | Terri E | Darlene G | Nancy S | Honoré | Marion C | Amy K | Pamela S

Thanks to all who entered!

Find 20+ recipes to bake your spirits bright and make your holidays extra sweet, HERE.

You’ll also find some easy no-bake treats and food gift ideas too.

Merry Baking! 🎄

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