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