Miss Scarlett Cooks! Kitchen Sink Cookies

It's baking time at the Hobby Haven, everyone! Today, I'll show you how to make Kitchen Sink cookies. Don't let the name scare you off! they're called this because you throw in "everything but the kitchen sink." It's a great way to use up odds and ends around the household. Handful of raisins at the bottom of the box? One last packet of oatmeal nobody wants to eat? Stale rice krispies? Toss 'em in here to make a thrifty snack.


This recipe is designed in such a way that the dry ingredients are interchangeable depending on what you have in the house. It is a very flexible recipe, but I will admit that it makes the results hard to gauge sometimes.

The Ingredients:

• 1 cup of shortening or butter
• 2 eggs, beaten**
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2-3 cups dry ingredients***
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar****
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

**I have actually tried using an egg substitute in this at one point. If you don't have any eggs on hand or can't have them, try this: Combine 1 1/2 Tbsp oil with 1 1/2 Tbsp water and 2 tsp baking powder. Mix them together; they should combine into a fizzy whitish-grayish substance. That is equal to one egg. Double, or triple it up for more than one egg. It makes the cookies very light, thin, and fluffy.
***This is where you get creative. You can use stale cereal, oatmeal, dried fruits, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, etc. My favorite combo is chocolate chips, pecans, and Craisins.
****If you're putting in sweet dried ingredients, you can probably drop the sugar by 25-50%.


The Tools:

• An oven (natch)
• Cooking spray
• Cookie sheets
• Mixing bowl
• Hand or stand mixer 
• Soup spoon

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. grease the cookie sheets with the cooking spray.
2. Cream the sugars and butter/shortening together with the mixer (it's almost impossible to do by hand, I've tried). Add the eggs and mix again. Then add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix again. Mix in salt, vanilla, and dry ingredients. 
3. Use a spoon to form small balls of dough, about half the size of an egg.
4. Place the balls of dough on the cooking sheets.
5. Bake between 10 to 17 minutes, or until lightly brown. The amount and type of ingredients used can change the baking time, so keep an eye on them and check periodically.