Trashcan Cookies, Cowboy Cookies, Garbage Cookies – whatever you wanna call ’em, these cookies can be made with anything! For days when you have lots of random goodies hanging about in the cupboards – you know what I mean, the end of the bags of various nuts, cereal, chocolate, candy, WHATEVER! This is your opportunity to throw it into this perfect (and mega easy) cookie dough that requires very little chill time!

I HIGHLY recommend adding in something salty – I use pretzels, but salted peanuts, cashews, pistachios, potato chips (try it and thank me later) all give that beautiful sweet/salty combo that makes these feel a little more grown up.

I also use marshmallow fluff, as I had some lurking at the back of the cupboard – and I’m not convinced that stuff ever really goes off.. Feel free to use regular marshmallows, or whatever spreads you have to hand (peanut butter and Nutella would work wonders). I give the recipe below to make them identical to mine in the images, but just play it with whatever you have to hand. You can’t go wrong here. I do recommend a minimum amount of about 200g of mix-ins otherwise they may seem a little sparse, but the cookie dough is solid on its own!

Notes:
– Mix Ins: As stated above, use anything you have including cereals, dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, potato chips, marshmallows, candy but I recommend using at least 200g, and some of that should definitely be chocolate for best results!
– Chill Time: I recommend 30 minutes as a minimum. Nobody likes the chilling part of a recipe, but it does wield the best texture and shape cookies. You could leave for several hours/overnight and the results will still be great. Alternatively, double the batch and freeze half (totally airtight) for when cookie cravings hit! If baking from frozen, you will need to add 2-3 minutes to the bake time!
– Bake Time: The bake time can be hugely reliant on how cold your cookie dough is. If freezing, you’ll need to add a few minutes, if making them smaller than I’ve specified, you can add more per tray (they spread a lot) but bring the bake time down by a minute or two. Cookies continue to bake once removed from the oven due to the residual heat, so don’t worry if they look a little pale – golden, crispy edges are the sign they’re done.
– Perfectly Shaped Cookies: If trying to recreate picture perfectly circular cookies, use a large circular object (large mug, small bowl, mega cookie cutter – whatever you have) and place around the cookie once just out of the oven and still warm and malleable – and move the object gently in a circular motion so that the cookie spins a little. This just pushes in those wonky edges!
– Sugars: Soft Light Brown Sugar is what gives these cookies their beautifully crisp but chewy texture. If you can’t find any, you could use Dark brown sugar, or granulated works fine – it’ll just give a slightly lighter/less complex cookie.

Trashcan Cookies

Serves: 8 (but very LARGE, you could make smaller and easily get 14)
Prep Time: 15 minutes (plus 30 minutes chill time)
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes (1hr including chill time)

Ingredients

– 125g Melted Butter
– 120g Light Brown Soft Sugar
– 100g Granulated Sugar
– 1 Egg
– 1tsp Vanilla Extract
– 275g Plain Flour
– 2.5tsp Baking Powder

My Mix Ins:
– 50g Dark Chocolate (chunks)
– 50g White Chocolate (chunks)
– 40g Cornflakes
– 75g Salted Pretzels
– 3tbsp Marshmallow Fluff

Method

  1. In a large bowl, using an electric/stand mixer (or hand whisk, just double/triple the times) combine the butter and both sugars on medium speed for several minutes, until fully combined. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again!
  2. Add the flour and baking powder, plus a pinch of salt, and fold in using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until just combined. The dough should be fairly solid at this stage (it ought to almost form a ball, albeit a very soft one!).
  3. Add in whatever mix ins you’re using. For my recipe, I add all but the marshmallow fluff at this stage. Stir very gently to avoid breaking everything up too much.
  4. Line a baking tray, and scoop the cookie dough into tbsp size balls, roll a little to ensure it’s a ball and sit on the baking tray. We’ll be baking them separately in batches, so don’t worry how spaced apart they are for now! Once all on the tray, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (see note above for further information).
  5. Preheat oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6. Line another large baking tray and take 3 of the cookie dough balls, place on the tray (spaced apart) – this is the stage where I take a tsp Marshmallow fluff and gently spread/fleck on top of the dough.
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden at the edges. Repeat for all cookies and leave to cool on a wire rack!

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