There aren’t a lot of things that I do extraordinarily well.
Driving a car with a manual transmission, cartwheels, wearing white without spilling something all over it, washboard abs…
Yeah, not so much.
I also never spell exercise, separate, or nauseous correctly either. The only reason those three words are spelled correctly now is because of spell check and its angry red lines.
What I can do well is bake. Which is cool because I reeeally like to eat.
This also would explain why I’ll never have those aforementioned abs. And that’s fine with me. Whoever said that “nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels” has obviously never had a patty melt with cheese fries and extra cheese sauce from Steak n’ Shake at 2 a.m. after a few cocktails… or microwaved a donut.
Getting back on track…
These cookies actually came to be because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to bake spice cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or oatmeal cookies.
All I knew is that I wanted a cookie.
Then I thought why should I have to choose?
I’m terribly indecisive anyway. Ask my husband – I’m the worst.
I basically never have an answer for ANYTHING.
So I just made a cookie that had everything I wanted in it.
I made… Frankencookie.
And it was Frankendelicious!
There were almost no cookies to photograph because I could not stop eating them.
They’re crispy on the edges but chewy on the inside (as they should be) and they’re just sweet enough with a hint of spice in the background.
They’re pretty much everything I want in a cookie.
And that’s saying a lot about a cookie that contains no dark chocolate or caramel.
Even the dough is delicious and I’m not a dough eater. I always taste a bit to make sure the flavor is right before I put it in the oven but I found myself going back for more over and over.
You certainly do not have to use all of the mix-ins that I used. I had a surplus of dried fruit, nuts, and seeds so I chopped them all up and tossed them in. Just use any combination of your favorite dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and chocolate chips.
Kitchen Sink Cookies
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups old-fashioned oats
Mix-ins: I just threw in a few good-sized handfuls. If I had to guess, I’d say it was probably a cup and a half to two cups worth of the goods.
My mix-ins:
- Dried Apples
- Dried Cranberries
- Dried Blueberries
- Dried Cherries
- Dried Lingonberries
- Raisins
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Sunflower Seeds
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Flax Seeds
- White Chocolate Chips
Directions
Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Should take 2-3 minutes.
Beat the eggs in one at a time followed by the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, add flour, baking soda, salt, spices, and oats and whisk together to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and mix just until everything is incorporated.
Add your mix-ins and mix gently to combine or fold in with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Cover and chill the dough for an hour.
Line your cookie sheet with parchment or spray with non-stick spray.
Use a tablespoon measure to form dough balls and place them about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 12-15 minutes.
The time they need to bake will depend on your oven. Cookies are done when they are golden brown around the edges and no longer look wet on top. You want to pull them out of the oven when they are just set so they stay chewy in the middle.
Allow the cookies to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely but be sure to eat a few while they’re still warm.
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