Kristen Bell’s Everything Cookies Are Loaded With So Many Goodies, but Are Still Simple to Make

After making Michelle Obama's chocolate chip cookies, I was convinced you couldn't possibly fit any more goodies into a single batch of cookie dough. That was until I discovered Kristen Bell's version on TikTok. While the former First Lady's recipe consists of "everything but the kitchen sink," Kristen's recipe goes "balls to the kitchen walls." It's chock-full of basically every ingredient you could imagine in a cookie, and it can easily be made gluten-free too.

Kristen's everything cookies start off like a basic cookie dough with butter and brown sugar, but quickly take a left turn, because she adds in a whole teaspoon of vinegar. It might make you do a double take to add vinegar to a dessert, but just trust the process. Vinegar is actually a common substitute for yeast, and though it's usually used as a leavening ingredient in bread rather than cookies, by the taste of these ones, it's safe to say Kristen knows what she's doing.

The base flavour of the dough is reminiscent of a classic snickerdoodle, as Kristen uses vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then adds an extra hint of natural sweetness from agave nectar and applesauce. Cookie recipes usually use either applesauce OR egg — depending on whether it's vegan or not — but this one uses both. It also has three other mix-ins — chocolate chunks, butterscotch chips, and rolled oats. The end result is a uniquely delicious oatmeal-snickerdoodle-chocolate-chip-cookie hybrid. And don't be intimidated by the volume of ingredients in this recipe because the more you build on the flavour, the better they'll taste. Get your glass of milk ready, and keep reading to see how to make these insanely soft, chewy, and delicious cookies.

Everything Cookies

Kristen Bell, via TODAY

Ingredients

1. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
   1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
   1/2 cup light brown sugar
   1/4 cup agave nectar
   1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract for gluten-free version)
   1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
   1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
   1/2 teaspoon salt
   1 teaspoon vinegar (white or apple cider works)
   1 large organic egg
   1/2 teaspoon baking soda
   3/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour (use 3/4 cup coconut flour for gluten-free version)
   1 1/2 cups rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Rolled Oats for gluten-free version)
   1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
   1 cup butterscotch chips (Guittard Butterscotch Baking Chips for gluten-free version)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat together the butter, applesauce, sugar and agave nectar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vinegar until fairly smooth. Then beat in the egg until smooth.
2. Add the baking soda and flour and mix well. Add the oats and both kinds of chips, stirring to combine.
3. Drop dough balls of about two level tablespoons (using a tablespoon measure, not a dinner spoon) onto cookie sheets. Space the cookies two inches apart — leave plenty of room because they will spread out!
4. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, reversing the pans halfway through (top rack to bottom, bottom to top). For softer cookies, bake for the shorter amount of time; for crunchier, the longer. Cool the cookies on the pan for two minutes, then transfer them with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely.

Information

Category

Cookies, Desserts

Yield

20 cookies

Total Time

9 minutes, 59 seconds