If you need a chocolate chip cookie recipe, here you go.
Aaron Sharp | October 1, 2021
Aaron’s Kitchen Sink Cookies
These cookies are the best cookies ever. Okay, maybe not the best ever, but every time I make them, people—and not just my quartet of sugar-crazed children—love them. I’ll be honest, the dough is just the Crisco recipe dough, but what makes these cookies unique is what you add to the dough. I call them my kitchen sink cookies because, when it comes to ingredients, I basically add everything—even the kitchen sink.
REQUIRED INGREDIENTS
3/4 C. Crisco® Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
1 1/4 C. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
1 egg
2 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
DIRECTIONS
HEAT oven to 375ºF.
BEAT shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended.
Add optional ingredients
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS AND MORE DIRECTIONS
I always include peanut butter and at least two kinds of chips when I bake these cookies. I’ve added as many as 5 different ingredients here, and after talking to my friend Melissa Neargarder recently, I came up with a 6th. Here is a list of the different ingredients that can be used in these cookies:
Chocolate chips (How many? Cut the bag open and start pouring. When you think it is enough, add a bit more.)
White chocolate chips (How many? See above)
Peanut butter (This is an essential ingredient for me. How much should you use? I get a spoon and add a heap of peanut butter. My Nanny always said you couldn’t go wrong with peanut butter. She also called gum Lucy for some reason, but I think she was right about the peanut butter.)
Butterscotch chips (If we have them, I include them. That’s my general rule for this part of the recipe.)
Maple syrup (This might seem a bit odd, but it gives the cookies an interesting taste and a gooey texture too. Besides, according to the Prince Edward County website, “Pure maple syrup has the same beneficial classes of antioxidant compounds found in berries, tomatoes, tea, red wine, whole wheat and flax seed.)
Pecans (My lovely wife isn’t a big fan of nuts in cookies, so this is underutilized in our house, but you do you. Also, it is pronounced Puh-KAHN, not PEE-can, on this there is no debate.)
Heath Bits O’ Brickle (Who doesn’t love toffee? More people than you think, but these are your cookies, and you shouldn’t feel pressured by anyone. Don’t let negative people get you down, add the Heath Bits if you want. Bake these cookies to the glory of God and if people don’t want cookies with toffee bits in them then it’s more for you anyway!)
Anyway, add and stir in whatever optional ingredients you want and then get to the actual, you know, baking part of this recipe.
Crisco says to “drop by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto a baking sheet.” I’m here to tell you that measuring is for amateurs. This is where art and science meet. Make these cookies as big or as little as you want. Don’t let the man tell you how to live your life.
BAKE 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. I am personally of the opinion that chewy cookies are the far superior culinary experience, but you can choose to do it wrong and make them crispy if you want to. The exact time will depend on your oven, the altitude, and a multitude of other factors. Just start at 8 minutes and add from there.
These cookies don’t take long to make and are go-to, sure-fire winners in the dessert department.