These cookies always turn out great in my mother’s kitchen because she infamously has a hodgepodge of mix-ins, none in great enough quantity to make an actual single-flavored cookie on its own. My brother-in-law calls them “garbage cookies”; others call them “kitchen sink cookies.” Call them what you want, and make them as we make them at Milk Bar, or add your own favorite snacks to the cookie base in place of ours.
Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies
40 minutes, plus 1 hour chilling. Makes 15 to 20 cookies.
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons glucose syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup mini butterscotch chips
- 1/2 cup Graham Crust (recipe below)
- 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground coffee
- 2 cups potato chips
- 1 cup mini pretzels
1 Combine the butter, sugars and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
2 Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step, or you will risk over mixing the dough.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
3 Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crust, oats and coffee, and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and paddle, still on low speed, until just incorporated. Be careful not to over mix or you’ll break too many of the pretzels or potato chips. You deserve a pat on the back if one of your cookies bakes off with a whole pretzel standing up in the center.
4 Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3 cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature — they will not bake properly.
5 Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
6 Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center. Give them an extra minute or so if that’s not the case.
7 Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.
Graham Crust
Makes 2 cups
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup dry milk powder
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more as needed
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 Toss the graham crumbs, milk powder, sugar and salt with your hands in a medium bowl to evenly distribute your dry ingredients.
2 Whisk the butter and heavy cream together. Add to the dry ingredients and toss again to evenly distribute. The butter will act as glue, adhering to the dry ingredients and turning the mixture into a bunch of small clusters. The mixture should hold its shape if squeezed tightly in the palm of your hand. If it is not moist enough to do so, melt an additional 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and mix it in.
3 Eat immediately, or deploy as directed in a recipe. The crust is easiest to mold just after mixing. Stored in an airtight container, graham crust will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature or for 1 month in the fridge or freezer.
Note: In a pinch, substitute 1 tablespoon light corn syrup for the glucose (which may be purchased online). For the “coffee grounds” in this cookie, we tested the recipe with freshly roasted and ground artisanal coffee from Stumptown as well as with crap-tastic coffee grounds that you can find just about anywhere. We discovered that it doesn’t make a difference what kind you use; the cookie is delicious every time. Just make sure you don’t use instant coffee; it will dissolve in the baking process and ruin the cookies. And, above all else, never use wet, sogalicious grounds that have already brewed a pot of coffee. We use Cape Cod potato chips because they aren’t paper-thin, and so they do not break down too much in the mixing process.
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FAQs
Milk Bar cookies contain fun ingredients that work together to make every bite memorable. Tosi adds ingredients like cornflakes to regular chocolate chip cookies, giving them a sweet-and-salty vibe. Using cornflakes also add a pleasantly crunchy textural element that makes these treats almost irresistible.
What is milk bar compost cookie? ›
Crispy, buttery cookies filled with butterscotch and chocolate chips, graham crackers, oats, coffee grounds, pretzels, and potato chips. The perfect cookie for indecisive dessert lovers!
How long do milk bar cookies last? ›
Storage Instructions and Shelf Life
Cookies stay fresh at room temperature for five days and can be stored in the freezer for up to one month. They can be reheated in the microwave (~10 seconds) or in the oven (350 degrees for 5 minutes). Just be sure to remove them from the plastic wrap first!
What is in cowboy cookies? ›
They really are fantastic. Basically, for Laura Bush's Famous Cowboy Cookes you take traditional chocolate chip cookie dough and stuff it with oats, coconut, pecans and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Resulting in these oh-so-chewy, flavorful and delicious cookies!
Does Christina Tosi still own milk bars? ›
Christina Tosi (born 1981) is an American chef and cookbook author. She is founder and co-owner with Momof*cku of Milk Bar and serves as its chef and chief executive officer. Food & Wine magazine included her in their 2014 list of "Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink".
Why is the milk bar so popular? ›
Famous for concocting unusual and truly unique desserts, including Cereal milk ice cream, the famous Milk Bar Pie (originally called “Crack Pie”), and a legendary sweet corn ice cream and compost cookie, Tosi brought a whimsy and creative nature to desserts and sweets that restaurants hadn't yet seen.
Why is it called a bar cookie? ›
Bar Cookies are cookies that the dough is baked spread-out in a pan. The cookies are cut into “bars” after baking. Most drop cookies can also be made into bar cookies. Bar cookie dough is pretty stiff/firm like a cookie dough.
Should you compost cookies? ›
No! No, biscuits (cookies) or crackers shouldn't be composted. While they will rot down quite quickly, they might attract rats or other vermin to your compost heap in the meantime. Biscuits/cookies or crackers don't add enough bulk or nutrients to a heap to make it worth taking that risk.
What is the name of the vintage milk sold at the milk bar? ›
Chateau Romani is a very expensive vintage Milk produced by the best of Romani Ranch's specially-bred Cows. It is exclusively sold at the Milk Bar at 200 Rupees per Bottle.
How do you know when bar cookies are done? ›
For cake-like bars, test with a wooden pick inserted at the center of the pan. If it comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, the cookies are done. Chewy (moister) bars will have a dull, rather than shiny, surface; a slight imprint will remain after touching the surface lightly with your fingertip.
Dry cookies, like shortbread cookies, gingersnaps, and Danish butter cookies, will stay fresher for longer because they have very little moisture. Dry cookies become stale when they suck up moisture from the air - causing them to become soft and lose their snap.
What does a Milk Bar mean? ›
Milk bars are traditionally a place where people buy newspapers, and fast-food items such as fish and chips, hamburgers, milkshakes, and snacks. They are essentially a smaller-scale suburban form of the convenience store but are more likely to be "mum and dad" small businesses rather than larger franchised operations.
What are Snoop Dogg cookies? ›
Snoop Dogg's peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe - His original cookie features creamy peanut butter and semisweet chocolate morsels, making it the perfect indulgence this holiday season. #
What kind of cookies did Trisha Yearwood make? ›
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies Recipe | Trisha Yearwood | Food Network.
What are McDonald's cookies made of? ›
Ingredients: Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (sugar, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor), Enriched Flour (bleached Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Margarine (palm Oil, Water, Soybean Oil, Salt, Whey, Natural Flavor ...
Why does milk and cookies taste so good? ›
Milk calms down the intense sweetness from the chocolate, according to Harting, and the emulsifiers “help to smooth out the chocolate as you're eating it,” giving you the perfect creaminess-to-cookie flavor ratio.
Why is dipping cookies in milk so good? ›
Though your tongue can pick up the full-bodied taste of the cookie eventually, the milk quickens this process, and makes sure your tongue receives an even cookie coating. Without it, the cookie may be a little more gritty. Milk also helps mellow out the vigor of the sweet cookie flavor.
What effect does milk have on cookies? ›
One of the main roles of milk in baking is to provide moisture. It can help to keep baked goods from becoming too dry and crumbly, and can also add tenderness to the texture. In addition to adding moisture, milk can also help to create a softer crumb in breads and cakes.
What makes a high quality cookie? ›
The Quality Ingredients
Ingredients like butter, eggs and sugar can either make sweet cookie perfection or something you wouldn't want to share with your friends and family. Always look for a cookie that's made with premium ingredients. If the cookie contains some organic ingredients even better.
