This recipe comes from Hannah O'Donnell, who says: "I grew up in a small town called New Braintree in Massachusetts. My mom is also a chef and I remember her coming into my school and teaching my class how to make pizza, egg rolls and, best of all, cookies. I love this cookie recipe because you can put all your favourite candy in the dough or use up what’s in the cupboard or left over from Halloween or Easter. I like salty bits in my chocolate chip cookies, so I add pretzels. These also freeze really well, so you can have a batch ready to go anytime you need that sweet ’n’ salty fix."
Makes 18-20
170g unsalted butter, softened
220g soft brown sugar
80g caster sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour
2 tsp flaky sea salt
½ tsp baking soda
150g dark chocolate chips
100g peanut M&Ms
4 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, roughly chopped
a handful of pretzels, roughly broken or chopped
a handful of pecans
Cream together the butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again until fully combined. Add the flour, salt and baking soda and mix until just combined into a dough.
Using your hands, work in the chocolate chips, peanut M&Ms, peanut butter cups, pretzels and pecans until evenly distributed.
Divide the dough into roughly 55g or ¼ cup portions and roll into balls. Place on a plate, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, until firm. This dough will keep in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for three months.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
Place the chilled balls of dough on the lined trays, spaced well apart. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until golden brown and baked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the trays for about 5 minutes, until they’ve firmed up a bit, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
