Wait! Don’t Throw Out That Halloween Candy Yet!

Disclaimer: these cookies are not at all healthy. I apologize in advance for how many you will eat.Halloween is over and while the stores, greeting card displays, and radio stations are in full Christmas-mode, there still remains one big reminder of Halloween: the giant mound of candy left after your kids and you have had your fill.

What to do with the rest of it? Divide and conquer. First, divide the stash into two separate piles: the first being the salties (chips and stuff) and chocolates, the second being everything else. Take the everything else pile and donate it to your local Second Harvest, Canadian Army Base, or any other charitable organization within your area.

At this point, you maybe asking yourself why I’ve asked you not to give away the chips and chocolate.  My answer is two-fold.  First, they don’t travel well; the chips crush and the chocolates melt and reform in weird ways.  Second, you will need them to make these delicious cookies. I like to call them Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cookies.

When I first heard about these cookies, they sounded too strange to be good. But after attending a Carolan’s Irish Cream Liquour event hosted by Celebrity Chef Corbin of the Food Network, I found the courage to make them.  In his presentation, Chef Corbin emphasized that recipes are only suggestions and that it is up to us to have fun and experiment with different ingredients.  Believe me when I tell you that this recipe definitely lends itself to this idea. When I came home from the event, I was full of energy, courage, and the most amazing white chocolate mousse I have ever had.  For that recipe and more, click here.

By now I’m sure you are excited to discover the identity of this mystery dish.  You may be asking yourself  what it has to do with all those bags of chips and chocolate bars I had you put aside.

Has the lightbulb turned on yet?

To make this cookie, all you really need is your favourite chocolate-chip cookie recipe and two cups of whatever mixins you want.  I used plain chips (the organic ones my daughter threw across the room at me after yelling, Yuck!), pretzels, Reeses Pieces, Coffee Crisp, and Crispy Crunch or whatever delicious candy bars your kid shave rejected!

Here is my favorite cookie recipe:

1 cup softened butter (remove from the fridge an hour before using)

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt (omit the salt for for these cookies since you have salty mixins)

For chocolate chip cookies: couple handfuls chocolate chips (omit for this recipe)

For these cookies: 1 cup salty things, crushed & 1 cup sweet things, crushed.

1. In a large bowl (preferrably an electric mixer with the paddle attachment) beat together the sugars and butter until the sugars dissovle and the butter gets a lot lighter in colour, about 5 minutes.  According to Chef Corbin, this will produce a much creamier finished product.

2. Add in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

3. Combine the flour and baking soda and then slowly incorporate into the butter mixture.

 4. Mix in the mixins and then drop by the tablespoon full onto a baking sheet.

5. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.  Let cool for a couple minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  This will allow your baking sheet to cool down to room temperature before loading them up with more cookies.  According to Chef Corbin, if your baking sheet is too warm, it will cause the cookies to bake unevenly and burn.

6.  Enjoy with a tall glass of milk. Yum!

PS. About the name? Some people call them compost cookies, garbage cookies, or dump truck cookies. I expected these names would appeal to my kids.  I was wrong.  They thought those names sounded gross.  But not in a “good” gross way, like ice cream soup, but in a “gross” gross way, like an ice cream and broccoli sundae. So I gave them a new name and the kids seem to like it!