"Everything But the Kitchen Sink" Cookies

I enjoy making cookies for other peoples cookie jars, especially large cookies. So far I have not received any complaints about the size of the cookies I bake. Before we headed to a birthday party for our son last weekend, I decided I had to make a batch of cookies to take with me for our son, but not for the party. For the birthday party dessert, my son requested the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake Re-Mix, which I was very happy to make. For the double recipe, I added two new tweaks. You can read about that below.

My son enjoys my cookies with lots of add-ins, so I went a little crazy, searching through the cupboards, looking for interesting things to add. I didn't find anything too interesting, but I went with what I had. I made the cookies with my largest cookie scoop and they looked mighty fine! When they cooled, I put a dozen into a gallon zipper bag and took them to the party. The next day I got a call with a rave review! Sorry, no pictures of the giant-sized cookies, but they looked great!

Small version of "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" Cookies

Fortunately, I wrote down all the ingredients that I used, which is almost a first for me. I usually don't think to write down what I do, while I am doing it, thinking, of course, I will remember, but, alas, I forget! Especially when I try to remember a day or two later, which I have proved does NOT work for me. Here is my version of Kitchen Sink cookies.

Due to the lack of time to bake the complete batch of cookies, I placed the remaining dough in a small glass bowl to bake later. A couple days ago, I took them out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. When the dough was able to be scooped out, viola, fresh baked cookies! I used a small scoop and I was glad that there were only a few cookies left to bake, because they were really good! I prefer our cookie jar empty! Especially when the cookies have peanut butter and crunchy nuts, especially crunchy peanuts in them!

Thank goodness, the cookie jar goes back to it's empty state very quickly!

Now, If I could just figure out who went into the freezer the other night and had the nerve to eat our ice cream. The only reason I know that this happened? This is what I found in our microwave when I when to cook my oatmeal the next morning!

Sea Salt Caramel Truffle Ice Cream

I had to throw the whole container in the trash! Somebody owes me some Salted Caramel Truffle Ice Cream! Yes, I am crazy for this ice cream. The description reads: "Chocolate-covered salted caramels folded into caramel ice cream swirled with sea salt caramel." Yes, it is decadent, but I only eat one spoonful every couple of days. Yes, some days it is a tablespoon full, and other days it is a soup spoon full, but it is far less than a serving bowl full, which would be easy to do. If this ice cream flavor has caught your attention, it is Private Selection sold at Fred Meyers stores in the Pacific Northwest!

Regarding the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake Remix, I added the a teaspoon of instant espresso coffee to a double recipe of batter. In case you would like to try this and don't know what I'm talking about, this is what it looks like.

After I poured the batter into the pan, I cut chunks of bittersweet chocolate and placed them into the batter so that every serving would get a chunk of melted chocolate as a bonus. I then sprinkled about 1/2 teaspoon on top of everything before I poured the hot water over all, which is what makes the hot fudge sauce. I know that coffee brings out the chocolate flavor even more which is what I was hoping for. I only ate one spoonful, and yes, it was a fairly large spoonful. It tasted really good, but, I can't prove that the chocolate was enhanced by the coffee from one bite. It did get rave reviews! 

This is a great dessert to mix ahead and travels well. I mixed up the batter early in the day and poured it into my pans a few hours early and stored it in the refrigerator. After the dinner was taken out of the oven, I added the liquid and placed the pans in the oven. Forty-five minutes later, the dessert was ready and we served it with fresh whipped cream. And no, I didn't take a picture. I'm sorry but, you will need to visualize it!