Thick, soft cookies loaded with everything but the kitchen sink. Add all your favorite mix-ins: chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, toffee, nuts, coconut and more.
½cupunsalted buttersoftened but still cool to the touch
½cuppacked brown sugar make sure it is fresh and soft
¼cupgranulated sugar
1largeegg
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1⅔cupsmix-inssee note
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and both sugars for 1-2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
Slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add a little more than one cup of mix-ins (reserving the rest for pressing on top of the cookies), stir until well combined.
Scoop generous 2-tablespoon portions of dough and place the dough balls a couple inches apart on the baking sheets*. Nestle a few of the reserved mix-ins into the top of each dough ball (this makes for a prettier cookie).
Bake the cookies for 9-12 minutes, until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and the very center is still slightly underdone. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through cooking time, if necessary. Note: If your dough balls are smaller or larger than 2 tablespoons, adjust bake time accordingly. Make sure not to overbake - the cookies should still be soft in the center. See note about shaping cookies.
Place the baking sheets on wire racks and allow the cookies to cool completely.
Notes
Mix-ins: I used a combination of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, sweetened shredded coconut, toffee bits, mini dried marshmallows, and nuts. Use any combination of nuts, "chips", coconut, toffee, crushed pretzels, M&M's, dried fruit etc. I do NOT recommend using regular marshmallows as they will melt and make the cookies misshapen.*For thicker cookies (as pictured) form the dough balls into mounds that are taller rather than wider. Don't overwork the dough with your hands, just briefly press into a oval-ish mound with a flat bottom.How to get perfectly round cookies:Option 1: Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie. Gently but quickly swirl the glass/bowl/cookie cutter in a circular motion. The edges of the cookie will bump against the inside of the glass creating a perfectly round shape. Note: This only works when the cookies are hot, straight from the oven, and still on the warm baking sheet. Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a perfect round shape.