Everything in the Back of the Pantry Cookie

These cookies are unapologetically full. Built on a rich brown butter base and packed with chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, and pockets of melty marshmallows, they’re thick, bakery-style cookies with just enough structure to hold everything together. The brown butter brings warmth and depth, the salty inclusions keep things balanced, and the marshmallows soften into the dough in the most nostalgic way. They’re the kind of cookie that feels familiar and comforting, even when you can’t quite put your finger on why.

In 2020, the world slowed down in a way none of us expected. I had just started dating my now husband a few months earlier, and suddenly we were all tucked into our own spaces, learning how to fill the long, quiet days. I lived alone at the time with my dog, Atticus, so I poured myself into learning new cuisines, and techniques, finding comfort in a time that was honestly a little bit scary. That was also when I discovered Christina Tosi and fell into a deep dive of her work. What drew me in wasn’t just her recipes, but the way she clings to nostalgia - how clearly baking, for her, is about memory, love, and the things that shaped us. Those ideas stuck with me, she was the first person who also had the same opinion on cake as I do, its often dry and crumbly, it is one of the last things I will go for personally. Baking because less about perfection, and more about familiarity, creativity, and using what you had to make something that felt good in uncertain times. I was slowly unwinding expectations instilled in me while working at winery. These cookies grew pout of that season - resourceful, a little chaotic, and deeply comforting.

These cookies are a reminder that sometimes the most meaningful bakes come from letting go of rules and leaning into what feels familiar. They’re generous, grounded, and meant for moments when you want something that feels both comforting and a little indulgent. This is the kind of dough you make in the kitchen is quiet, the butter browned just right, and you’re trusting the process more than the outcome. Let’s get into it!

Back of the Pantry Cookies

Yields: 24 4oz Cookies

Ingredients:

680g Brown Butter

500g Brown Sugar

200g Granulated Sugar

4 Lg Eggs

2 Lg Egg Yolks

1 1/2T Vanilla

2t Salt

2 1/2t Finely Ground Coffee

940g All Purpose Flour

2t Baking Powder

135g Old Fashioned Oats

150g Graham Cracker Crumbs

90g Potato Chips

120g Mini Pretzels

425g Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

Prep: Preheat your over to 375 degrees when ready to bake Note: After scooping these cookies you will need to chill for at least two hours but overnight is much better. See notes below on why we chill the dough.

Pre-step: In a pot add butter on a medium low heat to brown the butter; stay close because once it goes it goes fast. It will smell sweet and nutty and delisous and all the butter particals will brown at the bottom of the pot. Pour into another bowl and let cool to room temp befopre using. Note: Add more butter than you need, you will be losing water weight so the end product will weigh a different amount that the initial butter placed in the pot.

Step 1: In a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together for 2 to 3 mins until fluffy, NOT whipped. See notes below for difference.

Step 2: On speed 1, slowly add eggs, yolks, and vanilla until combined.

Step 3: In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients, add to butter mixture. Be sure to only mix together only until no dry sport remain.

Note: I recommend scaling everything out before you even start the process for a smoother and less stressful bake.

Step 4: Remove bowl from stand mixer, using a rubber spatula fold in graham cracker crumbs, potato chips, mini pretzels, and chocolate chip. See notes below for reason for folding.

Step 5: Using a scoop and scale, weigh out 4oz cookie dough balls and place on a sheet pan. See notes below for spacing.

Step 6: Sprinkle finishing sea salt on top of each cookie if desired and place in the fridge. I prefer using Maldon Salt, Sea Salt Flakes. See note as to why salt in placed on here.

Step 7: Place chilled cookie dough ball on a sheet pan approximately 2 inches apart.

Step 8: Bake for 10 - 12 minutes and let cool on cookie sheet for at least five minutes before moving or enjoying.

Notes:

Difference between fluffy and whipped: Whipped is typically accomplished with a whisk attachment, the main difference is with whipped you have incorporated and captured air in the butter resulting in a airy cake like cookie rather than a chewy cookie.

Why fold in add in: By folding in the add in you avoid over mixing the cookie dough batter and maintaining the structure established when beating the butter until fluffy. For this recipe it also helps to avoid crushing the potato chips into dust maintaining the crunch provided by the add ins.

Sheet pan placement: When scooping out dough and placing on pan to chill, you can place together with no space in between to save space in your fridge

Why are we chilling the dough: Chilling your dough helps with the cookie spreading when you bake it as well as the chewiness of the cookie.

Why do you put salt on before the fridge: We are simply putting the salt on now so that it stick to the top of the cookie before chilling and remains intact when baking.

Make it Gluten Free: Replace the flour with 1:1 gluten free baking flour that contain xanthan gum already. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking flour (blue bag) or King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure; add an additional 1T oil or 1T milk. Let batter rest 15 - 20 mins in bowl before pour into pan so that the GF flour can take the time to absorb moisture - this prevents dryness and grittiness. Bake at same temp but you may need to add 5 mins to the bake time.

Make it Dairy Free: Swap the butter out for a plant based butter substitute, it behaves closest to butter, avoid tubs that say spread, anything that says “light” or coconut oil alone. Replace the milk with oat milk (best flavor + browning), soy milk (most neutral), or almond milk (works, slightly drier - would not recommend personally). You will also want to verify your chocolate does not have dairy, there are chocolate chips that are dairy free, I suggest Guittard DF chips or Enjoy Life. Making it DF, your dough will feel softer so you MUST chill the dough 2 - 4 hours but recommend overnight. When you bake, you will want your oven at 375 degrees, and you will bake them for 11-13 mins.