Holiday Junk Cookies

Let’s start this post with a little story! When my mom was growing up, her mom was not the best cook. My grandmother had a soup that she called “junk soup” that my mom remembered being one of my grandfather’s favorites but her least. It consisted of 1 can of pea soup, 1 can of mushroom soup, 1 can of tomato soup and 1 can of shrimp with milk, butter, salt and pepper (!!!!). I still laugh every time I hear that story thinking about her family, sitting around the table enjoying a hot bowl of junk soup (so gross). Since then, anything that I throw together with random items in my pantry gets labeled with “junk,” hence holiday junk cookies!

I threw in some crushed candy canes, white and semi sweet chocolate chips, pretzels and dried cherries. Other variations have included red and green m&m’s, oats, crumbled heath bars, peanuts or cranberries. Sort of like a monster cookie but I like to consider it more like a junk chocolate chip.

Holiday Junk Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

1.5 sticks of room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs + 1 egg yoke
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup crushed candy canes
1/4 cup crushed pretzels
mini marshmallows to top
flaky salt to top

Preheat over to 375. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine. Add flour, baking powder and salt to combine. Let beat until smooth! Pour in the chocolate chips, cherries, candy canes and pretzels and using a spatula, mix together. The batter will feel very thick and that’s okay!

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or my favorite silicone baking mats and scoop cookie dough into balls. I usually use a TBSP scoop for perfect portions – these measuring spoons are the BEST BEST BEST (perfect for easy storage). Cook for 8 minutes, until edges are just golden. Top with a few marshmallows and a few sprinkles of salt, bake for another 1-2 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!