Kitchen Sink Cookies

This was a crazy weekend. My sister, her oldest, her youngest, Harrison, and I all visited my mother this weekend. It was a blast, but at some point I think I lost my mind because during dinner preparation on Saturday, there were six people in my mother's 10 x 10 kitchen. I was making two versions of gingerbread (Yes, two.) My mom was actually cooking dinner. My sister was cutting up fruit for a salad with one hand and holding her daughter with the other. And the boys decide they want to "make something -- something weird." Sigh. We land on kitchen sink cookies --probably not my most inspired moment, but we had limited time (no Harrison, we aren't going to make Danish pastry), limited resources (Yes, the chocolate chip cricket recipe looks interesting, Ryan, but we don't have any crickets), and limited space (the two of you get this much -- 2 feet -- of counter. Keep the mess here .)

So, here's the basic recipe. Below are some of the wonderful add-in's the boys decided to use.

Ingredients:
1 stick of softened butter (salted is fine, but then leave out the additional salt)
1/2 c brown sugar -- I like dark brown, but go with what you like
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla -- yes, pure vanilla.
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 c plus 2T whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix until incorporated completely.
2. In a separate bowl combine the flours, soda, and salt and stir until combined.
3. Gently fold the dries into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir until barely combined. Don't over mix -- they'll be chewy and awful. 
4. Gently mix in as many or as few add-in's as you want.
5. Mound evenly spaced on a lined baking sheet. And bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.

Add-in's 

Harrison's creation: cheddar goldfish, broken OREO's, potato chips, chocolate chips

Ryan's creation: smashed banana, honey, chocolate chips, pecans

Other ideas: broken candy bars, dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, crackers. You can get really wild and add in some herbs... pecans with rosemary sounds yummy to me. Citrus zest, gummy candy, caramels, sea salt, black pepper, coffee grounds, oatmeal...