These Kitchen Sink Christmas Cookies are everything you love about a classic chocolate chip cookie, but elevated with additional fun mix-ins that bring the holiday spirit to life.
Why You’ll Love Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies
I’d argue that these Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies might be Santa’s favorite cookie. They have the taste of a classic, chewy chocolate chip cookie and have white chocolate chips with M&Ms and pretzels for crunch, too!
When I say the Kitchen Sink, it may not be EVERYTHING you can think of (see the Variations section of this post for truly everything!), but there is quite a bit going on in these cookies. Lots of mix-ins make for an eye appealing cookie that tastes great, too.
These chewy cookies offer a pop of color to what otherwise be a pretty beige christmas cookie plate if you’re making cookies like these Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies, Cookie Butter Cookies or these Snickerdoodle Oatmeal Cookies, which are both delicious choices for the holiday season, but don’t provide as much color.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar – We will use both brown and white.
- Egg – We will use the whole egg. Egg yolks make your favorite cookies rich and chewy, while the white helps ensure you don’t end up with flat cookies.
- Flour – I used all purpose and have not tried any alternatives.
- Chocolate Chips – Both dark and white chocolate chips.
- M&Ms – Get red and green to make these super festive!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
Feel free to add everything but the kitchen sink! Some people like to call these compost cookies, because you can use up the last little bits of whatever different mix-ins you have on hand.
- Add nuts: Pecans, peanuts or walnuts would be super tasty in this recipe. Smaller pieces are better, so you’ll want them chopped.
- Add some salty mix-ins: Experiment with crushed saltines or even potato chips (the sugary & salty combo is better than you’d think!!). Similar to my Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies, the sweet & salty flavors together are delicious.
- Add crunch: Adding something like rice cereal or toffee bits will provide additional texture.
- Add more baking chips: Try butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips in these chunky cookies.
- Want more color? Add holiday sprinkles in addition to or in place of the M&Ms. Still festive and who doesn’t love sprinkles!!
Note: If you’re incorporating a lot of mix-ins, you may want to 1.5x or double the cookie dough batter base.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large glass mixing bowl, add the butter and cover with a paper towel. Melt it in 30 second intervals or until it’s completely melted (no chunks are left). Pour in the brown and white sugar and whisk it together. Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all of the wet ingredients are combined.
2. Add in the dry ingredients (not the mix-ins yet!): all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix together (again, scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well combined).
3. Add all of the mix-ins to the bowl and fold together. If you’re adding mix-in additional ingredients outside of what the recipe calls for, I suggest doubling the dough recipe.
4. Use a 2 inch cookie scoop to scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets. Gently press down so they’re a thick disk cookie instead of a round ball.
Place 6-8 cookies on each baking sheet. They will expand during baking so try to leave at least 2” around each one.
5. Bake for 9-12 minutes. They will be slightly brown on the edges and look slightly doughy in the center. Use a larger bowl than the cookie method to ‘shake’ the cookie back into a circle shape if they’ve expanded too much while baking.
6. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the pan before removing them to a wire rack. Enjoy warm with flakey sea salt or allow to cool. Both are DIVINE!
PRO TIPS
- Measure the flour properly! This is KEY in cookies. Spoon INTO the measuring cup opposed to scooping the flour with the cup. Level off the flour before adding to the mixing bowl.
Storage and Freezing
These can be stored in an airtight container either on the counter or the refrigerator if you like a chewy, chilled cookie. In your storage container, add a piece of bread (I like to use the end piece of a loaf). The cookies will draw out the moisture from the bread and keep your cookies soft.
You can also freeze these cookies baked or unbaked.
- To freeze unbaked dough, scoop, roll in the sugar and place on a cookie sheet as if you’re going to bake them. Place the entire cookie sheet in the freezer for 3-4 hours until each dough ball is frozen (this’ll prevent them from sticking together). Then, place in a Ziplock or airtight container until ready to bake. You can bake the dough balls from frozen for 2-3 extra minutes.
- To freeze baked cookies, allow them to cool completely before adding to a freezer bag or airtight container. I recommend layering parchment paper between each cookie stack. This will prevent the cookies from freezing altogether.
Fun Idea
Make these for ANY holiday! All you need are seasonal M&Ms and you’re good to go. They’re perfect for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, or 4th of July. I made these Easter M&M Cookies which are a very similar take on this recipe, too!
Recipe FAQs
It definitely won’t hurt! But typically chilling the dough is to solidify the butter so the cookies don’t spread too much when baking. Luckily all of the mix-ins in this recipe keep them from falling flat, so you can make this recipe in 20 minutes flat!
When the edges (and edges only!) are golden, your cookies are done. You want the center slightly underdone when the cookies come out of the oven because they will finish setting as they cool. This is how we get a super soft and chewy cookie!
A cookie scoop is ideal for evenly shaped cookies. I also like to use a mason jar ring placed over the cookie and swirled in a circular fashion right when they come out of the oven to get perfectly round and even cookies.
Serving suggestions
Dip these cookies into a cold glass of milk or in this decadent Homemade Hot Chocolate! They are also amazing crumbled over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
More Amazing Cookies to Try
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating and comment in the recipe card below. Thanks for visiting!
Kitchen Sink Christmas Cookies
Equipment
- glass mixing bowl
- Rubber Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Cookie scoop
- parchment papper
- 2 Baking sheets
- small glass bowl
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, 1 stick, melted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 ¼-½** cup all purpose flour, **see the note for desired texture
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup mini holiday m&ms, **or any holiday m&ms
- 1/3 cup mini pretzels, crushed
- 1/3 cup potato chips, crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large glass mixing bowl, add the butter and cover with a paper towel. Melt it in 30 second intervals or until it’s completely melted (no chunks are left).
- Pour in the brown sugar and white sugar and whisk it together.
- Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all of the wet ingredients are combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients (not the mix-ins yet!): all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix together (again, scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well mixed). Note: if the batter is too soft or the butter isn't whisked enough, you may need to add another 2 tbsp – ¼ cup of flour. Mixed batter should resemble this texture.
- Add all of the mix-ins to the bowl and fold together.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
- Use a 2 inch cookie scoop to scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets. Gently press down so they’re a thick disk cookie instead of a round ball. Press extra chocolate chips and crushed pretzels into the top of the scooped cookie dough balls (this helps create a more visually festive cookie).
- Place 6-8 cookies on each baking sheet. They will expand during baking so try to leave at least 2” around each one.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes. They will be slightly brown on the edges and look slightly doughy in the center. Use a larger bowl than the cookie method to ‘shake’ the cookie back into a circle shape if they’ve expanded too much while baking.
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the pan before removing them to a wire rack. Enjoy warm with flakey sea salt or allow to cool. Both are DIVINE!
Nutrition
Video
Notes
more of our favorite Cookie Recipes…
- Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Snickerdoodles
- Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies
- Lucky Charms Cookies
- Halloween Candy Cookies
- Kit Kat Cookies
- No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie
- Funfetti Cookie Recipe
- Easy Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
- Avalanche Cookies (No Bake)
- Christmas Shortbread Cookie
- Pretzel Cookies
- Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies
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I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
oh my gosh, these are incredible. Ranks for my new favorite holiday cookie. TASTY!
hand a ton of leftover ingredients from other holiday baking recipes that made their way into these cookies and they were DELISH. I highly reccommend adding toffee bits – loved the crunch and caramely flavory
These are actually my favorite cookies apop makes. They are so soft and gooey with amazing taste!!
Hi! Earlier in the post you mention using cornstarch, do we add that with the baking soda?
So excited to make these!
Hey Lily! No worries, I texted this recipe 3 times and it was an ingredient in the first test. It’s no longer used in this one, so I removed it from the post. Thanks for calling it to our attention.
Super easy to make! My kids helped me do it all and had a blast. Can’t beat the taste either! Will definitely be making again!
I had all the ingredients and followed the recipe exactly and these turned out perfect. Very delicious and I like the sweet salty combo.
love to hear that, thank you, Kris!
Soooooo delicious!!! I’m a sucker for a salty/sweet snack and these delivered! Currently writing this review with a warm cookie in hand and I’m in heaven. These will be perfect to bring to family Christmas – festive and something a little different than just an ordinary cookie!
These were such a hit at my family Christmas party!!! A great balance between sweet with a hint of salty crunch from the pretzels. And so soft!! My mom has been a baker for over 45 years and complimented me on how good they were and wanted the recipe 🙂 will definitely be making again!
So delicious! I couldn’t stop eating the dough lol. Mine fell a little flat but I believe that was my fault as my butter was still pretty warm! Flavor was five stars, regardless!
I had so much fun making these cookies with my mom at our annual Christmas Cookie Baking Day! I think the only thing I love more than these cookies is spending time with my mom making APOP recipes❤️
Made these for Valentine’s Day and y’all I may never make another cookie ever again. So easy and SO delicious! The whole family loved them. There are only 2 left, and we made them 2 days ago. Will definitely be making for all holidays going forward!
So cute! & delicious!
these were the best! i made them with valentine’s day m&ms and they were the perfect combination of sweet with a touch of salty. absolutely love and will be making again!!
I’ve made these twice so far this season and they are always a hit!! Love them so much.
When I say these were a hit – they were gone before I could even get a photo! The perfect blend of salty & sweet and so customizable!
I made these for a work cookie exchange this week! Loved using white chocolate, milk chocolate, green/red m&m’s and pretzels for a salty twist.