Name: Copycat Panera Kitchen Sink Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 cup butter (browned); 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 2 1/2 cups flour; 2 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 cup broken pretzel pieces; 1 cup caramel bites; 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips; sea salt (for garnish)

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Our copycat Panera kitchen sink cookies recipe makes a spot on version of the classic chain’s treat. They are chewy cookie loaded with chopped pretzel pieces, caramel bits, and chocolate chips that you can make any time!

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I know I’ve told you before when I gave you my recipe for copy cat Panera mac and cheese, but I absolutely adore Panera.

If it were more budget friendly, my family and I would eat there several times a week.

As it is, I go more than I should.

And every time I find myself at Panera, I always buy one of their kitchen sink cookies.

What is a kitchen sink cookie?

They are a fantastic combination of sweet and salty flavors and textures and loaded with everything but the kitchen sink (hence the name).

The outside edges of the cookies are perfectly crisp, but the cookies still have that perfectly chewy center that I love so much.

As written, this kitchen sink cookie recipe uses broken pretzel pieces, caramel bits, and chocolate chips.

Plus these cookies have a lovely mildly nutty caramel background in the flavor from the browned butter base.

Ingredients

To make these you’ll need:

Butter– Brown it so it smells nice and nutty
Vanilla extract– The real stuff is best
Sugar– Both packed brown sugar and granulated sugar
Eggs
Flour– All purpose
Baking powder– For leavening
Salt– Regular salt for the cookie dough and sea salt for garnish on top of the cookies
Mix ins– Broken pretzel pieces, caramel bites, semi sweet chocolate chips

Brown Butter: the Secret to Perfectly Flavored Kitchen Sink Cookies

Yep, that’s right, I’m not using room temperature butter here the way you would in most cookie recipes but browned butter.

Have you ever had brown butter?

Brown butter is just butter that has been cooked until the milk solids caramelize and turn the butter a beautiful golden brown color.

This turns the butter nutty and caramel-y.

Making brown butter isn’t hard but it does require a bit of time and attention.

It’s not something you can walk away from.

You have to be a little careful because butter can go from brown to burnt easily, and that’s the quickest way to ruin an otherwise delicious dessert recipe.

To make brown butter, slice two sticks of butter into even pieces and put them in a skillet over low heat.

Whisk frequently as the butter melts.

Watch for brown bits to form on the bottom of the pan.

The butter will be a light golden brown and smelly nutty when it’s done.

At this point, remove it from the heat and you’re ready to make your kitchen sink cookies.

How to Make Kitchen Sink Cookies

At this point making your copycat Panera Bread kitchen sink cookies is very similar to making other cookie recipes.

You can start by creaming together the browned butter and sugars until they are smooth in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Once the butter and sugar is smooth, mix in the vanilla.

Now you can let the mixture rest until it is completely cool.

Then beat one egg into the mixture at a time until you’ve mixed both eggs in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient a little at a time, mixing on low until the dry ingredients are evenly incorporated into the wet ingredients.

Once you’ve fully incorporated the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, you can fold in all your toppings.

Now, you can use a large rel=”nofollow” cookie scoop to scoop your dough into balls that you place roughly 2 inches apart on a prepared large cookie scoop.

Before you bake the cookies, flatten them slightly and press a few extra pieces of pretzel, caramel and chocolate chips right into the top of each cookie.

Then top each with a little flaked sea salt.

Bake the cookies at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to let them cool completely.

Serve and enjoy!

Storing

You can store these cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week, but they won’t last that long!

How many cookies does this recipe make?

This recipe makes about 2.5 dozen cookies, using roughly 3 tablespoons of dough per cookie.

Tips and Tricks for Making the Yummiest Kitchen Sink Cookies Ever

While you can use regular melted butter in place of the brown butter, I highly recommend using brown butter for the extra nutty caramel flavor.
You can definitely change the mix ins if you like. White chocolate chips and dried cranberries would give these cookies a really Christmas-y feel.
While you can just prep your baking sheet by spraying it with nonstick spray, you can also use parchment paper or a nonstick silicone baking mat.
You don’t have to press any extra toppings into the tops of your cookies, but this trick does result in really pretty, polished looking bakery style cookies.

Other Copycat Panera Recipes

This copycat Panera kitchen sink cookies recipe is a spot on substitute for the Panera favorite.

Make a batch today and see for yourself!

Looking for other copycat Panera recipes?

Try these:

If you’ve tried these COPYCAT PANERA KITCHEN SINK COOKIES RECIPES, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!