Friday, October 28, 2011

Recipe Revisited: Junk Food Cookies

I swear the drizzle looked really pretty up until taking the picture.
Often times when you add things like potato chips and pretzels to cookies, you lament the fact that you didn't put more delicious fattiness per bite. The first time I made these Jimmy Fallon Late Night Snack inspired cookies, they spread out too much and the full salty vs. sweet impact wasn't felt. They also seemed to be missing something that was holding them back. Thanks to my sister's sophisticated palate, it was determined that that something was the oh so indulgent salted caramel.

Junk Food Cookies
Original Post
Servings: 9 cookies
Time: 45 minutes

The proper amount of pulverizing
1 cup and 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened
6 tbsp granulated sugar
6 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Potato chips
Pretzels
Salted Caramel, Recipe Here & Here


The ratio of junk to batter should be highly favorable on the junk spectrum.
  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. Make the salted caramel as instructed in the links above (I figure it doesn't need to be posted a third time).
  3. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
  4. Using the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars and vanilla at low to medium speed. 
  5. Add in the egg until fully incorporated.
  6. Pour in the dry mixture slowly over about 3 turns. Use low speed and be careful not to overmix.
  7. Crush the potato chips and pretzels in a plastic bag. You don't want them to be too small or it'll just taste like tiny bits of salt. Also, they shouldn't be so big that you risk stabbing the roof of your mouth.
  8. Stir in the chocolate chips, pretzels and potato chips by hand. The batter should look like it's as much junk as it is batter.
  9. Place 1-2 tablespoon sized masses on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure to turn halfway through. Let them cool on the sheet for 2-5 minutes to let the bottoms harden slightly.
  10. Once cooled, drizzle on the salted caramel.
  11. Immediately brush teeth after eating.
I have issues with leaving enough room for cookies to spread. 
All the proper adjustments were made to truly send these cookies into the upper echelon of desserts. The larger potato chip and pretzels chunks (as well as using more of them in the batter) really help bring out that amazing salty and sweet, and the salted caramel drizzle hammers home the tremendous interaction of the two perfect foils. Another change I made was that I increased the amount of baking soda, so the cookies rose more and didn't spread as much, helping make sure each bite was just as concentrated with sugary/salty goodness. In my opinion, these are the perfect cookie. For just a few extra minutes, you can turn boring old chocolate chip (ok, who am I kidding. Chocolate chip cookies are still fantastic) into this unusual but delightful treat.


Even though the originals (right) were more traditionally circular, the taste winner is clear. 

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