If you’re looking for a holiday cookie that has it all, Santa’s Trash Cookies are it! They’re a delicious combination of sweet and salty. If you love that sweet and salty mix, these easy Christmas cookies should be on your list to make this year.
Scroll down for the printable recipe or read on for tips and detailed directions.
SANTA’S TRASH COOKIES
There’s really no wrong way to make trash cookies. It’s all about combining salty and sweet with what you have on hand. Some people call them garbage can cookies or kitchen sink cookies because they’re made with everything but the kitchen sink!
So, they don’t really use everything, but if you have baking odds and ends around, this garbage cookie recipe is a great basis for soft and chewy cookies that pack the sweet with the salty.
For me, Santa Trash cookies are made festive by including some red and green ingredients, namely red and green M&Ms and sprinkles. But you can make trash can cookies for any occasion!
Some of my other favorite Christmas cookies include Hungarian Cookies, Sprinkles Cookies, and Bisquick Chocolate Chip Cookies. They’re all super easy to make!
SANTA TRASH COOKIES INGREDIENTS
To make this recipe, you’ll need some basic baking ingredients plus the specifics for the cookies.
Here’s what you’ll need to make the basic cookie dough:
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla
For this specific Christmas Trash Recipe, you’ll need:
- Red and Green Peanut Butter M&Ms
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
- White Chocolate Chips
- Pretzels
- Potato Chips
- Red and Green Sprinkles
Santa’s Trash Cookies are a version of potato chip cookies. If you’ve never had them, you need to try them!
Exact measurements for each ingredient can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
You can also use a variety of different mix-ins, especially when it comes to candy. Here are some more ideas to use in Santa Garbage Cookies:
- Chopped peanut butter cups
- Chopped Rolo caramel candies
- Milk chocolate M&Ms
- Milk chocolate chips
- Butterscotch chips
- Peanut Butter chips
- Toffee Bits
- Nuts
- Coconut
- Oreo cookie bits
These are just a few ideas! The great thing about trash cookies is that you can use whatever you have in your kitchen. I always seem to have an extra bag of chocolate chips and white chocolate chips so I pretty much always include both!
CHRISTMAS TRASH RECIPE
This recipe makes about two dozen Santa Trash cookies. It takes about 10 minutes to prep your cookie dough and then each batch of cookies takes about 10 minutes to bake.
These are fun to make on Christmas eve and leave out as Santa’s cookies!
To get started, heat the oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set it aside.
In a separate large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter, brown sugar, and sugar.
Add the egg and vanilla to the sugar mixture and beat to combine.
Mix the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
Once you get a soft dough, pour the M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, and sprinkles into the bowl. Fold or stir gently to combine.
Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough and use your hand to roll it into a ball. Place the dough ball on the baking sheet and press it to flatten it slightly.
Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the bottom edges are golden brown.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes then move them to a wire cooling rack.
WHAT IS A KITCHEN SINK COOKIE?
Kitchen sink cookies aka trash cookies are soft cookies that include every ingredient you can think of! You can add your favorite mix-ins including chocolate chips, peanut butter candy, potato chips, pretzels, and more.
It basically uses anything from your pantry except the kitchen sink!
Santa's Trash Cookies
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter (room temperature)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup red and green peanut butter M&Ms
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup pretzels (crushed )
- ½ cup potato chips (crushed )
- ¼ cup red and green sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a dough forms.
- Pour in the M&Ms, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, and sprinkles. Fold or stir to combine.
- Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball between your hands. Place each dough ball on the prepared baking sheet. Press each dough ball down to flatten slightly.
- Place the cookies in the preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the bottom edges are golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for three to four minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
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