Name: Compost Cookies
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 55 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 16 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature; 1 C granulated sugar; ⅔ C tightly packed light brown sugar; 1 tbsp light corn syrup; 1 large egg; ½ tsp pure vanilla extract; 1 ⅓ C all-purpose flour; ½ tsp baking powder; ¼ tsp baking soda; 1 tsp kosher salt; ½ C butterscotch chips; ¾ C chocolate chips; ⅓ C old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant oats); 2 ½ teaspoons ground coffee (not instant coffee); 2 C salted potato chips; 1 C mini pretzels; 6 tbsp graham cracker crumbs; 1 tbsp milk powder; 1 ½ tsp granulated sugar; ¼ tsp kosher salt; 1 tbsp unsalted butter melted; 1 tbsp heavy cream

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These compost cookies are the perfect blend of sweet and savory, with a little bit of crunch. Add in your favorite ingredients to make them unique- just like you! This recipe is a copycat from Momofuku Milk Bar, one of the most famous bakeries in New York City.

A long time ago when I was just a little Katie, I dreamt of a cookie. It was part chocolate chip, part honeycomb, part candy and part pretzel and potato chip. I was a weird kid. Ask my parents – I once invented something called Banana Croak Pie, a masterpiece I never actually got around to CREATING.

Anyway, imagine my surprise when one day, not long ago, I came across a reference in a book about something called a Compost Cookie. It includes pretty much the contents of your kitchen junk food cupboard, INCLUDING, but not at all limited to COFFEE GROUNDS!

Invented at the Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC, I have read only RAVE reviews of this amazing biscuit… though I have yet to sample it for myself.

But in the spirit of trying something new, I went ahead and created my own easy, fast and highly experimental Compost Cookie recipe. Friend, let me tell you – it was a culinary masterpiece. Or at least it was something new and different enough that my 20-something brain found it to be a delight.

Since then, I have gone to great lengths to get my hands on different recipes from different sources (including a glance at the official recipe from the ACTUAL Momofuku cookbook). I’ve managed to create a recipe that takes a little inspiration from all these places and creates a cookie that I’m VERY happy with. I hope you will be, too! It’s absolutely delicious and perfect for sharing.

Ingredients

Compost Cookies

16 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 C granulated sugar
⅔ C tightly packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 large egg
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ⅓ C all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
½ C butterscotch chips
¾ C chocolate chips
⅓ C old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant oats)
2 ½ teaspoons ground coffee (not instant coffee)
2 C salted potato chips
1 C mini pretzels

Graham Cracker Crust

6 tbsp graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp milk powder
1 ½ tsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter melted
1 tbsp heavy cream

Instructions

Graham Cracker Crust:

Start by making the graham cracker crust mixture. This isn’t going to be an actual crust, as it will be mixed into the cookie, but if you’ve ever had a cheesecake or other similar dessert, you will know how delicious the graham cracker crust is.

Place the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, milk powder and salt into a bowl and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk the butter and heavy cream together, then add the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix them all together until well combined.

The mixture should hold its shape if pinched together in the palm of your hand. If necessary, add a small amount of melted butter.

Set it aside.

Compost Cookies:

Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or simply use a large bowl and a hand mixer to cream together the butter, sugars and corn syrup for 2-3 minutes on high.

Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go so that everything gets incorporated. This is important, especially in the beginning. Add in the egg and vanilla next, then beat for an additional 7-8 minutes.

Reduce your speed to low, then add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mixing just until the dough comes together. This should take around one minute. Be sure not to overmix.

As a tip, mix your dry ingredients in a small bowl beforehand so you can simply pour them into the bowl when it comes time. This makes things very simple.

Once again, be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Using low speed once again, add in the chocolate and butterscotch chips, oats, coffee and your graham cracker crust mixture, stirring until JUST incorporated – 30 seconds or so.

Finally, add in your potato chips and pretzels, giving one final mix so that they are barely incorporated.

Use an ice cream scoop or ⅓ cup measure to portion the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the top of the cookies flat. Wrap the sheet pan with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for AT LEAST an hour or up to a week. Don’t try to bake these from room temperature. They will NOT turn out the way they are supposed to!

When you ARE ready to bake, heat the oven to 375°F. Arrange the cold dough at least 4 inches apart, and use parchment paper or Silpat lined sheet pans. Bake for 15 minutes.

Cookies will puff up, crack and spread out. They will lightly brown on the edges. Make sure you cool the cookies COMPLETELY on the sheet pans before transferring to an airtight container for storage. They’ll last a week at room temperature, or keep them for a month in the freezer.

One thing I love about this recipe is that you can really experiment with adding different ingredients. Different flavors of sweet chips could be great. This one has chocolate and butterscotch, but try white chocolate, toffee, caramel or other flavors.

As for the coffee, remember to use actual ground coffee, not instant. Flavored coffees work great and add their own flavor profiles. Use it before it is brewed, not afterward.

Plain salted potato chips are the best for this recipe. But if I’m honest, I have also used a really sweet BBQ chip once, and it actually wasn’t bad.

Be careful of the salt you use. This recipe uses kosher salt, which is very different from table salt. Table salt is… well… saltier. So use less if that’s all you have. Look up conversion rates online if you need to.

Also, you can make these cookies smaller if you like, but they’ll need to be cooked for less time.

When freezing, you can definitely just freeze the whole, baked cookies. But if you think you may want to freeze them, try freezing the unbaked dough. Just create the rounds by measuring them out and flattening them as if you are about to bake them. But instead of placing them in the oven, put them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, remove however many dough balls you want, thaw in the fridge and bake as per recipe.

Compost Cookies

Yield: 16 cookies

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes