Santa's Trash Cookies Recipe (2024)

This holiday treat contains a little bit of everything, including chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and crushed potato chips in a perfect combination! These Santa’s Trash Cookies will melt in your mouth with the perfect mixture of salty and sweet flavors. The next time you are looking for an easy-to-make drop cookie, try this excellent Santa’s Trash Cookies recipe.

Santa’s Trash Cookies Recipe

The holidays are the perfect time for any and all cookie recipes. Of course, cookies can be made throughout the year, but they are definitely the most popular around the holidays. They’re perfect for get-togethers, office parties, gifts, or even just to satisfy a sweet tooth craving for yourself. The best cookies are those with a fun name that makes people smile or a unique mixture of flavors that catches them off guard at first and then wins their hearts.

Santa’s Trash Cookies combines both the surprise element and fun name aspect, all in one. Watch your friends and family smirk at the mention of their name while being pleasantly surprised by all the flavors they experience when taking the first bite. This recipe is a true winner and has worked well as a gift more times than I can count.

How Do You Make Santa’s Trash Cookies?

These cookies are just like any basic cookie recipe when it comes to preparing and baking. You’ll want to pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and use parchment paper on your cookie sheets for the best results. To start, mix your flour and baking soda together. In a separate bowl, cream your two sugars and butter together, adding the egg and vanilla afterward and mixing it again. Add your flour to the sugar mixture, a bit at a time, until you have your complete batter. Fold in the remaining ingredients, add to the cookie sheets, bake, and voila, you have your perfect cookies.

Tips for Making Santa’s Trash Cookies

● Be sure to fold in your chips, pretzels, etc. If not, you’ll be disappointed in how much they disappear or get worn down in the batter if you stir them in with the rest of the ingredients.

● Some may just throw all the ingredients in a bowl at once, then mix it together. Although this may work fine, the consistency of your cookie may not turn out the same as shown in this recipe. Believe it or not, the way you combine and mix the ingredients can alter the state of the finished cookie.

● If some of the ingredients such as the various chocolate chips are not to your liking flavor-wise, opt for another flavor or ingredient. The fun part about these cookies is adjusting them to contain all your favorite ingredients.

Common Questions About Santa’s Trash Cookies

Why is it Called a Kitchen Sink Cookie?

Santa’s Trash Cookies are a rendition of the cookie also known as a kitchen sink cookie. Most cookies are made with one or two mix-ins which are the added flavor components such as chocolate chips or nuts. However, this cookie, in particular, contains quite a few mix-ins. There’s a common saying that goes, “Everything but the kitchen sink.” This means that everything goes, except the kitchen sink, which isn’t normally something that gets removed and taken when people move houses. This popular saying got turned into a cookie concept and the holiday version of that concept is this cookie recipe!

What’s in the Kitchen Sink Cookies at Starbucks?

Although my recipe is the holiday version and differs greatly from the Starbucks cookie, Starbucks has definitely made this cookie style popular. The most common mix-ins found in a Starbucks sink cookie is semi-sweet chocolate chips, crushed salted pretzels, dried cherries, chewy caramel bits, and rolled oats. Of course, each person has their own mix-ins they normally like to use for their kitchen sink cookie. This means that each recipe you run into with this name, or a similar name, may not be the same.

Why Do My Chocolate Chips Sink?

Your chocolate chips shouldn’t sink in a cookie batter since it’s normally thicker than a muffin or cake batter. However, if they do sink, it means your batter was too thin and couldn’t support the weight of the chocolate chips. If your chocolate chips are sinking, this means your batter is far too thin to create good cookies and you’ll want to thicken it up by adding more flour. Your cookie batter should be thick enough to be scoopable and it will be slightly sticky. If it’s the consistency of a cake batter, you will not be able to scoop it onto the cookie sheet without it running everywhere and making a mess. Cookies need to be more uniform when going into the oven or you will end up with one large, thin cookie melted together in the oven. Your mix-ins will turn out gross as well.

If you’ve never had a kitchen sink cookie or Santa’s Trash Cookies, you really have to give them a try. There’s something overly satisfying about adding in so many various ingredients that it adds extra excitement to the cookie making process. I know, sounds silly, but once you try them for yourself, you’ll definitely understand what I’m referring to. I just have to note, the name signifies that these cookies or meant for the holidays, but don’t hesitate to make them throughout the year. Santa’s Trash Cookies don’t need a time of year to be the perfect cookie.

Santa’s Trash Cookies Recipe Ingredients:

● 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
● 1 tsp Baking Soda
● ½ cup Unsalted Butter, softened
● ½ cup White Sugar
● ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
● 1 large Egg
● 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
● ¼ cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
● 2 TBSP White Chocolate Chips
● 2 TBSP Peanut Butter Chips
● ¼ cup Broken Pretzels
● ¼ cup crushed Potato Chips
● 2 TBSP Christmas Sprinkles

Santa’s Trash Cookies Mise en Place:

● Measuring Spoons
● Spatula
● Baking Sheet
● Stand Mixer
● Bowl(s)
● Measuring Cup
● Wire Rack

Santa’s Trash Cookies Recipe Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix together two cups of all-purpose flour and one teaspoon of baking soda; set aside.

3. Using a stand mixer, in a large bowl, cream together ½ cup softened butter, ½ cup white sugar, and ½ cup of brown sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add one large egg and two teaspoons of vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and beat for several minutes.

5. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix it in until just incorporated.

6. By hand, add ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, two tablespoons of white chocolate chips, two tablespoons of peanut butter chips, ¼ cup of crushed potato chips, ¼ cup of pretzels pieces and two tablespoons of Christmas sprinkles. Fold in until well combined.
7. Using a cookie scoop, drop scoopful of the cookie dough into parchment lined cookie sheets. Flatten them slightly and top with additional chocolate chips, potato chips or sprinkles.

8. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes.

9. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove the Santa’s trash cookies to a wire baking rack to allow them to finish cooling.

10. Store the leftovers in an airtight container on the countertop for 5 days, in the fridge for up to a month and in the freezer for up to 6 months.

If you liked this recipe, try these other fabulous cookie recipes!

● Easy Cornflakes Christmas Clusters Recipe – kids will love ’em!
● Peanut Butter Lumps of Coal Recipe – Naughty or nice, these fabulous cookies will get you in the holiday spirit!
● Spritz Cookie Recipe – the traditional spritz cookie recipe!

● For more Recipes on Ann’s Entitled Life, click here.

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