Shelly's Recipe

* COMPOST COOKIES*

Category: Cookies

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup tightly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips (instead I used 1/4 cup toffee bits and 1/4 cup white chocolate chips)
The Graham Crust (recipe follows)
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 1/2 teaspoons ground coffee (whatever you use to brew coffee with...but not the grounds you have already brewed coffee with...nor instant coffee granules either)
2 cups potato chips
1 cup mini-pretzels or chopped nuts

Combine the butter, sugars, and corn syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle then add the egg and vanilla and beat for 7 to 8 minutes until light and fluffy.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.

Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips (or your choice of mix-in snack food), graham crust component, oats, and coffee and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and mix, still on low speed, until just incorporated, hardly at all.

Using a 2 3/4 oz ice cream scoop (or a 1/3 cup measure) portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature dough - they will not bake properly.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment or Silpat lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18minutes they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center. Give them and extra minute or so if that's not the case. Try to avoid watching the State of the Union Address while the cookies are baking as I did...they probably cooked a minute or two longer than they should...but were still addictively good.

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer they will keep for 1 month.

Graham Crust (enough for 1 batch Compost Cookies)

Toss 6 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon dry milk powder, 1/2 tablespoon sugar and a scant 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a medium bowl to evenly distribute the ingredients.

Whisk together in a small bowl 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 tablespoon heavy cream.

Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and toss again to evenly distribute. The mixture will resemble small clusters of graham cracker crust. Set aside until needed for the Compost Cookies.