Compost Cookies with Neal Brother's BBQ chips

I’ve never been much of a chip eater. I’ll eat it at parties or if my friends and I order nachos at a restaurant, but I rarely buy a bag of chips because they’re too addictive. I cannot allow myself to eat just a few and it's worst if there are 5 flavors, I’ll want to try them all. My fingers uncontrollably reach for the chip bowl bringing pristine crisps to my lips, their crackly sensation is like crack to me, absolutely irresistible, not to mention how their salty, sweet, spicy coating blows up all the dopamine neurotransmitter synapses from my tongue to my brain telling me to EATMOREEATMORE!! The struggle is real, I’m sure you can relate and that’s why I don’t buy chips lest I go all Hulk-like on them.

And somehow when it comes to cookies or chocolate, I can exercise some self-control. Nonetheless, when Neal Brothers contacted me to offer samples of their latest flavours, I could not decline. 

So that’s how I ended up combining one of my favourite foods (ie. Cookies) with chips. I chose the popular Compost Cookies recipe from Cristina Tosi of Momofuku’s Milk Bar and for the potato chips, used Neal Brothers's sweet and salty BBQ kettle chips. When I threw the chips into the batter, I loved hearing them crunch and break apart, a sign of good things to come. The cookies contain a combination of milk chocolate, butterscotch chips, coffee grounds, rolled oats and chips, the idea behind it is to use up leftover ingredients that’s been hanging out in your pantry. 

I’ve made cookies from Milk Bar before, and though I enjoyed those cookies, I like these Compost Cookies more. The sweet and salty flavours work well here and I love the idea of using up whatever you have in your kitchen, it makes them unique and memorable. Neal Brother’s kettle chips are a great compliment to these cookies, the chips are delicious on their own, they’re sweet, salty, and lip-smackingly good, and yet their flavors are not overpowering. And as a bonus, their thick texture doesn’t disintegrate into the batter so you still get hints of BBQ in each cookie.

I love that Neal Brothers's chips are all natural and organic. I've tried other chips from them and they're all bold in flavor yet not overwhelming. I will definitely buy other products from them, like their Srirachup Chips or Honey Mustard Pretzel Nibblers!

My dad was skeptical about the addition of chips in these cookies, but he was so pleasantly surprised at how they turned out he polished off two in immediate succession and managed to mumble “MMMHMHMHMHHHMMM!” So yeah, I guess they’re pretty good. Thanks to Neal Brothers for the chips!

Compost Cookies with Neal Brothers's BBQ chips
Adapted from the Milk Bar Bakery

Makes 15-20 cookies

The original recipe uses graham cracker crust, I omitted this since I didn't have any on hand. Milk Bar also uses glucose syrup, which I replaced with corn syrup. Refer to the original recipe for a detailed description.

225 grams (16 tablespoon or 2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
150 grams light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of corn syrup
1 egg
2 grams (1/2 teaspoon.) vanilla extract
225 grams (1 1/3 cups) flour
2 grams (1/2 teaspoon) baking powder
1 1/2 grams (1/4 teaspoon.) baking soda
4 grams (1 teaspoon) kosher salt
150 grams (3/4 cup) mini chocolate chips
100 grams (1/2 cup) mini butterscotch chips
40 grams (1/3 cup) old-fashioned rolled oats
5 grams (2 1/2 teaspoon) ground coffee
50 grams (2 cups) Neal Brother's BBQ potato chips (or any other kettle potato chip)

Combine the butter, sugars and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes. 

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step, or you will risk overmixing the dough.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. 

Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crust, oats and coffee, and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels, and paddle, still on low speed, until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix or break too many of the pretzels or potato chips. 

Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1⁄3-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature—they will not bake properly. 

Heat the oven to 375°. 

Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center. Give them an extra minute or so if that's not the case. 

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

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