Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies

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Quick!  It's Friday!  Open your cupboards and grab any and all sweet nothin's you've got stashed in there, chop 'em up, and mash them into a cookie that's larger than your head.  Sit back, grab a warm, straight-out-of-the-oven cookie, and relax with all of the crappy-but-addictive summer television programming you've missed out on during the week.  Plus, you've got Saturday to be productive and work it off, right?

(NB: these cookies ain't pretty, but they sure are delicious.  Extra points for adding spices and a little somethin' salty--like pretzels--if you've got that laying about.)

Weekend plans?  Past week heartbreaks or/and triumphs?  Share below, please!


Read on for recipe....


Everything but the kitchen sink cookies
makes nine 6-inch cookies

2 1/4 cups (320 gr) AP flour
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn salt
2 tspn finely ground Turkish coffee
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (120 gr) dark brown sugar
1 cup (200 gr) white sugar
1 1/2 Tbspn dark molasses
2 eggs
2 Tbspn cream or milk
1 Tbspn vanilla extract
4 cups of mix-ins: 1 cup each of pretzels (chopped), Butterfingers (chopped), marshmallows, dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets lined with silpats or parchment paper.
2. Whisk to combine the AP flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and finely ground Turkish coffee. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter until light, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugars and mix until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the molasses to the butter and beat until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk and vanilla extract. In two stages, beat in the flour mixture on low until thoroughly combined. Fold in the mix-ins.
4. Scoop the dough into large rounds onto the prepared cookie sheets, about two cookies per half-sheet baking pan. Leave ample room between each cookie. Dip your fingers in water and lightly spread out and press the dough into a circle.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Note: If you don't have Turkish coffee, substitute with finely ground regular coffee and a pinch or two of ground cardamom.
Note: This recipe can support up to four cups of mix-ins. Feel free to mix in anything you can think of or have in your cabinets: potato chips, nuts, dried fruits, chopped candy bars, cereal, last year's Halloween candy, next year's Halloween candy.... The sky's the limit!


Enjoy!