These soft & chewy kitchen sink cookies can be made in one bowl and are loaded with chocolate chips, pretzels, and caramel! Inspired by Panera, these are the sweet & salty cookies of your dreams!
These cookies went Tiktok viral with almost 4 million views - watch the video here!
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Why are they called kitchen sink cookies?
Kitchen sink cookies are made with a chewy, chocolate chip cookie base & lots of delicious mix-ins! The name is based on the phrase "everything but the kitchen sink" where you can add anything you have in the pantry!
This recipe is inspired by Panera bread and is a slight alteration to my popular Panera chocolate chip cookie recipe...but is loaded with semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips, chopped caramel chunks, and pieces of pretzels! Some other kitchen sink cookie recipes add things like nuts, potato chips, or whatever sweet & salty things you have on hand!
Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie Ingredients & Notes
This is just an overview showing step-by-step photos, click here to jump down to full recipe card with exact instructions.
- Chocolate Chips: Panera uses a mix of both semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips but you can add whatever you like. Just be sure to chop at least half of the chocolate chips so that you have those small chocolate pieces in every bite (this also helps give the cookie that darker signature color!).
- Caramel: I used Kraft caramel and tore them into small pieces. You can also use the Kraft bits but I find they don't melt as well in cookies.
- Pretzels: Any salty pretzels will work!
- Butter: Use real butter here, not margarine. To get that signature flat vs. puffy cookie, we're melting the butter until it's pretty hot & then slightly flattening the top of the scooped cookies.
- Sea salt: Panera tops theirs with flaky salt, which is totally optional! My pretzels were already salty, so I left it off.
Make it gluten-free! You can substitute the all-purpose flour for half-almond flour and half of your favorite gluten-free flour! My favorite brand is Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
This is just an overview showing step-by-step photos, click here to jump down to full recipe card with exact instructions.
Step 1: Chop & Prep Mix-Ins
Measure out ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, ½ cup milk chocolate chips, 10 caramels, and ½ cup chopped pretzels. Use a sharp knife to chop half of the chocolate chips into smaller shards and slivers. Next, chop the caramel into smaller pieces (I cut each into 6 pieces).
Tip: I recommend 1.5-2 cups of total mix-ins, so feel free to add more or less of each item as you wish!
Step 2: Make Cookie Dough
In a large microwave-safe bowl, add ½ cup (1 stick) butter and cover with a paper towel (will help for splattering). Melt the butter for 30-60 seconds until all is melted (no chunks left). You want it hot; if you hear it "pop" then it's most likely done.
To the hot butter, add in ½ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar, then use a spatula to stir until combined (* do not use a mixer for this recipe). The sugars should cool off the butter but if it's still piping hot, let cool for a minute or two.
Stir in 1 large egg and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Next, mix in ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add in 1 ¼ cup flour and mix until all the flour disappears into the dough.
Note: The dough will be wet and sticky, this is normal and it will firm up as it sits.
Step 3: Add Mix-Ins
Add the chopped chocolate chips, whole chocolate chips, chopped pretzels, and chopped caramel into the dough and mix. Allow dough to sit for 1-2 minutes to slightly firm up, then stir (it will still be a soft & slightly sticky dough).
Tip: If your dough is really runny after it sits, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of flour to help it firm up.
Step 4: Scoop & Roll
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough into ¼ cup-sized scoops (i.e. 4 tablespoons) then gently roll into your hands to create a ball. Flatten the tops so that they're a thick disc vs. a round ball. Without flattening, your cookies will be thicker and more cakey. If desired, press extra pretzel pieces on top.
Step 5: Bake & Cool
Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes. You want them to be slightly brown on the edges & top and look slightly underbaked in the center (my oven was perfect at 13 minutes).
If your cookies are wonky-shaped, immediately after taking out of the oven, use a bowl that is slightly larger than the cookie to "wiggle" it back into a circle shape.
Tip: The key to soft & chewy cookies is to take them out while the center still looks a tiny bit wet, as they will finish baking on the hot pan and firm up as they cool.
Storage & Freezing
Storing: For best texture, these are best enjoyed within 2 days but will last in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
Freezing: Freeze baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 month, then allow to thaw before eating (as the caramel will be too hard to eat when frozen).
Frequently Asked Questions:
I think they're better! I've found that most Panera locations overbake their cookies, which results in dry, hard cookies. These homemade kitchen sink cookies are perfectly soft & chewy!
If you follow the instructions and use a ¼-cup sized scoop, your cookies should end up being around 4 inches. This can vary depending on your altitude and climate, but that's how big mine spread in Tennessee. The "real" Panera kitchen sink cookies are even bigger than this, so if you want to make them true-to-size, I'd suggest using a ⅓ cup scoop of dough.
They do not contain nuts but you can certainly add some if you'd like! Other fun mix-ins are marshmallows, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, chopped Reeses candy, and more!
Kitchen Sink Cookies (Panera Copycat!)
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Chop half of the chocolate chips (½ cup) into small shards and slivers. Cut ½ cup caramels, chopped into small chunks (about the size of the chocolate chips) and break up the ½ cup pretzels, chopped. Set aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, add ½ cup unsalted butter, i.e. 1 stick and cover with a paper towel (will help for splattering). Melt the butter in the microwave for 30-60 seconds until all is melted (no chunks left). You want it hot; if you hear it "pop" then it's most likely done.
- To the hot butter, add in the ½ cup light brown sugar, packed and ¼ cup granulated sugar and use a spatula to stir until combined (* do not use a mixer for this recipe). The sugars should cool off the butter but if it's still piping hot, let cool for a minute or two.
- Stir in 1 large egg and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Next, mix in ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Add 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour and mix until all the flour disappears into the dough. Note: the dough will be wet and sticky, this is normal and it will firm up as it sits.
- Mix the chopped chocolate chips (½ cup), whole chocolate chips (½ cup), ½ cup pretzels, chopped, and ½ cup caramels, chopped into the dough. Allow dough to sit for 1-2 minutes to slightly set so it's not as sticky, then stir (if needed, you can add 1-2 tablespoons flour to help it firm up).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough into ¼ cup sized scoops (i.e. 4 tablespoons) then gently roll into your hands to create a ball. Flatten the tops so that they're a thick disc vs. a round ball. See image in post above for reference. Without flattening, your cookies will be thicker and more cakey.If desired, press extra pretzel pieces into the top.
- Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes. You want them to be slightly brown on the edges & top and look slightly underbaked in the center (my oven was perfect at 13 minutes). Tip: If your cookies are wonky-shaped, immediately after taking out of the oven, use a bowl that is slightly larger than the cookie to "wiggle" it back into a circle shape.
- Remove from oven and place entire pan on a cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool on the hot pan for 10-15 minutes before removing them. This will allow them to finish baking on the hot pan. Once cooled, use a spatula to transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
- Enjoy slightly warm for gooey caramel or allow to fully cool...both ways are amazing!
I wanted to love this recipe but it tastes nothing like Panera’s cookie. It is a decent plain cookie on its own but not as advertised. The texture is very different and disappointing.
These cookies are amazing!! New fave!
Thank you so much for leaving a review, April!
Great flavor overall but gotta say I’m shocked nobody else mentioned that the pretzel bits should not be mixed into the dough. I did that with this batch per the recipe and they had a weird, chewy, stale-like consistency. They’re SO much better if you press the pretzel bits on top of the cookie instead of mixing them in. I think the wet ingredients in the dough absorb into them too much otherwise.
True to form. Amazing recipe
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Jacob!
My co-workers loved these. I did do it almost exactly like your recipe. But I did not mix in the pretzels. I rolled each ball in the pieces before baking but I also rolled them in crushed rippled potato chips too. So that was the only modification I made and they were amazing with just the pretzels but even more with the potato chips too. And just to clarify I used both pretzels and potato chips in same cookie at same time.
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Becky! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it!
I just made these and I don’t bake often but they were so good!!!!! The serving said 9 and I was able to make 18 maybe my portions were a bit off but they are perfect ! I used heath toffee bits and potato chips as well
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for leaving a review, Humna!
Can i refrigerate dough for a day before baking or will that integrity/ taste of cookie when you bake it ?
Love this recipe!
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Michele!
Just made these and they’re delicious but they spread way too much in the oven. I didn’t want large cookies, so I made each disk about 2 Tbsp. of dough and didn’t bake for as long. Otherwise I followed the recipe to a T, not sure what went wrong. The caramel chunks also caused them to stick badly to the parchment paper. Is there any reason not to put them on top of the dough disks just before baking?
I substituted the caramel for a chopped caramel milka bar and reduced the amount of chocolate chips and it was still a 10/10! Thank you
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Christine!
These turned out amazing! I used 1/2 almond flour and 1/2 Bob’s 1-1 and the texture is lovely ! Do you know if it is okay to freeze them for longer than a month?