Oh my, these cookies. So ridiculously easy for being so delicious! And making a 5x batch like we did certainly means that I’ve had cookies galore for oh so many Christmas giftbags this year!

This cookie base is amazingly versatile; we came up with our top five variations, as mentioned in a previous post, but there are a crazy-high number of combinations that you can make to have these as customized to your preferences as possible.

DIY Multi-Style Cookies

YIELD: ~5 dozen 2” cookies | PREP: 10 mins | BAKE: 8-10 mins | COOL: 30 mins

• ⅔ cup/150g salted butter, melted
• 1 cup/250g dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup/250g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 2 tbsp/30mL hot water
• 2⅔ cups/650g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp/5g baking soda
• 1 tsp/5g baking powder
• ¼ tsp/1g salt
• 2 cups/350-500g mix-ins (baking chips, chopped nuts, crushed pretzels, toffee bits, small candies, shredded coconut, chopped dried fruit, etc.)

1. Using a hand blender or tabletop mixer, combine melted butter, both sugars, eggs, and hot water; mix on medium high until well-combined. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, sift or whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in three batches into butter mixture until blended and no unincorporated flour remains.
3. Stir in baking chips and any other mix-ins you may be using*. Ensure mixture is well-combined. Cover bowl and chill in fridge for 30-60 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F/190°C. Prepare 2 cookie sheets/pans with parchment paper.
5. When dough is chilled, use small scoop or measure out 15g of dough per cookie, quickly roll into balls and place in rows on prepared cookie sheets approx. 1” apart. If you want larger cookies, increase space between dough balls.
6. Lightly flatten all balls with heel of hand before placing in oven. You can take this opportunity to add more toppings on each cookie (sprinkles, sanding sugar, sea salt, a whole nut, etc.)
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, rotating and switching pans once mid-way through baking time. Remove from oven, let cool 1-2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

* You can use up to ½ cup of a “paste” at this point, such as peanut butter (smooth or crunchy), chocolate hazelnut spread, cookie butter, creamed honey, jam, or fruit butter.

Instructions: mix the paste thoroughly to loosen it up until it is as fluid as possible, then “swirl” it through the cookie dough by dotting blobs of the paste around the dough and cutting it in gently with a silicone spatula. Alternatively, for a surprise centre in your cookies, you can chill the paste until it is firm enough to be scoopable when you are ready to form the dough balls, scoop ½ tsp of the paste and form the cookie dough ball around it quickly, sealing it on all sides. Gently flatten and leave a generous space around each dough ball (1.5”) on the cookie sheet.