Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie Recipe
These cookies feature a little bit of everything - milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, salty pretzel bits, caramel, and nuts. It is a version of the crowd-pleaser sold by Panera Bread.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Baking sheets
- parchment paper
- Electric Mixer
- Cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature but cool (* see note)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks divided
- 1 ½ cup milk chocolate chips divided
- 1 ½ cup coarsely crushed pretzels divided
- 1 ½ cup chopped pecans divided
- 1 cup Werther’s SOFT caramels cut in half
- Flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together, with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla and combine.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.
- Add in 1 cup each of the chocolate chunks, chips, pretzels, and pecans, saving the extra ½ cup to add after baking. Fold in by hand until combined.
- Scoop about 2 Tablespoons for each cookie, and place about 2” apart on the cookie sheet.
- Place ½ of the SOFT caramel on the top of each cookie, and cover with about 1 teaspoon of dough.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned.
- Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, press additional chunks, chips, pretzels, and pecans into the tops of the cookies. Let cool on pans for at least 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack to completely cool.
Notes
- Chilling the dough in the Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie recipe for up to 24 hours didn’t seem to affect the spreading or texture of the cookie. You can make a batch, return to the dough the next day, and finish baking. Cover the dough with plastic wrap before placing it into the refrigerator.
- Shaping the cookies into balls of dough when placing them on the cookie sheet helps them not to spread as much. However, it isn’t required.
- We also tried placing the caramel on top of the cookies and skipping the additional teaspoon of dough to cover it. However, the caramel was more likely to melt and run to the edges of the cookie instead of peeking out from under the dough.
- Topping the cookie with flaky sea salt? Consider omitting the kosher salt that gets mixed into the dough to prevent the cookie from being over salty.
- Want a perfectly round cookie? Use a glass or the ring of a canning lid to “scooch” in the edges immediately after the cookies come out of the oven. This makes a rounder cookie and a more uniform-looking batch.
