Compost Cookie = Baking FUN!!!

I stumbled over this little baking treasure at weeklybite.com and was instantly curious when I saw a big header stating: The Famous Compost Cookie… What in heavens name was a compost COOKIE??! Yes, I'm fully versed in compost - we've been composting for years, Kenneth even built a big wooden box for our compost that was supposed to be able to spin around, but eventually it broke and Kent smashed his finger trying to pick it up... but I digress.


When I saw the add-ins that Estela from WeeklyBite had used I was hooked - I HAD to try this one; I mean please!! Pretzels, potato chips, toffee bits and chocolate??!! I'm in!

Started off with a counter full of ever so promising ingredients!! Baking soda, baking powder, eggs, vanilla, corn syrup, butter, salt, brown sugar, AP flour, Stevia, heath bits, semi-sweet chocolate chips, potato chips and pretzel sticks! (Something good is going to come of this... I can feel it!!)

 The dry ingredients went together in a small mixing bowl and were stirred together.

 Next came the butter and sugars in the mixing bowl.
 

 Followed by the corn syrup!

Round and round they went for about 3 minutes until they were nice and creamy and well combined.

I added the eggs and vanilla after the butters and sugars were creamed, and set the timer for 10 minutes. While that was going it was time to get the mix-ins ready! Fun part!!!

I used a 4-cup Tupperware container and put in a handful of pretzels at a time and crushed them and broke them by hand (I didn't want the pieces to be TOO small) until that equaled about a cup. Then I added a cup of broken potato chips and measured about 3/4 cup each of the toffee bits and chocolate chips. I tossed those together (and taste tested a few times, you know to be sure) and set that aside. (I kep thinking this should be a new granola mix or something - throw some chex cereal in there and call it a new kind of chex mix! The salty sweet combo is awwwweesoommmee!! :)

In went the fantastically yummy mix ins to the cookie dough batter! I only mixed it around a couple times on low speed and then stirred a couple times more with the spatula. (Somewhere after this is the "lost footage" of me licking the beater!! Mmmm... cookie dough!!!) Then I put the whole mixing bowl in the fridge for an hour.

 After an hour, I pulled the dough back out and rolled the dough into about 24 large walnut sized balls and put them on ungreased cookie sheets in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes.

 And this is what came out of the oven... golden, soft, chewy nuggets of amazingness. (I moved them to the cooling rack shortly after pulling them out of the oven.)

I do have to admit I screwed up though and these didn't taste as good as they should have. I used salted butter instead of unsalted and still used 2 tsp of salt per the original recipe I was following (apparently I was too excited about the whole chips and pretzels going in a cookie thing). BAD IDEA. Don't make my mistake, you will ruin an otherwise batch of oh so yummy goodness!! They came out way too salty - but otherwise sooo good! I love the add-ins, the texture and everything else about these. Kent and I have been having a cookie with a glass of milk (so you don't notice the salty so much) so we can get our cookie fix! :D I will definitely try these again, and make that 2 tsp of salt just 1 like I knew in my head it should have been when I was putting the dry ingredients together! Sigh, live and learn moment, I suppose! :)

(Recipe slightly adapted from weeklybite.com)

Ingredients

2 sticks butter (at room temperature)

1 cup Stevia
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of your favorite candies (chocolate chips, toffee bits, Reese's peanut butter cups, etc.)
1 1/2 cups of your favorite snack foods (potato chips, pretzels, etc.)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugars, and corn syrup until creamy. This will take about 2-3 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides down. Next add the eggs and vanilla. Set the timer for 10 minutes and cream at medium high speed. The mixture will increase in size. Next you want to add your flour mixture. Mix at low speed just until combined. This will only take about 45 seconds. Be sure not to over mix. Next add all your mix ins to the dough. Mix at low speed just until combined. Don’t over mix.

Refrigerate dough for one hour. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. When chilled, shape into approximately 24 large walnut sized balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes, just until the edges are golden brown. Do not touch the cookies. Cool on wire racks and enjoy your salty sweet cookie fix!