Love Panera's Kitchen Sink Cookies? This easy copycat recipe is loaded with chocolate chips, caramel, pretzels, and flaky sea salt for the perfect sweet-and-salty bakery-style cookie.
Love recreating famous bakery cookies at home? Be sure to check out my Copycat Subway Chocolate Chip Cookies, DoubleTree Hotel Cookies, Disney Riviera Signature Cookies, or Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies.
If you've ever stood at the bakery case at Panera Bread trying to decide which cookie to order, there's a good chance the Kitchen Sink Cookie caught your eye. I love their tulip cookies, but nothing beats a kitchen sink cookie; Packed with chocolate chips, gooey caramel, crunchy pretzels, and finished with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, it's one of Panera's most popular bakery treats—and for good reason.
This copycat Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie has everything I love about the original: thick, chewy centers, crisp golden edges, plenty of chocolate, sweet caramel, salty pretzels, and that irresistible bakery-style texture. The best part? You can enjoy fresh, warm cookies anytime without making a trip to Panera.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Better than the bakery. These cookies have everything I love about Panera's Kitchen Sink Cookies, but they're even better warm from the oven.
- The perfect sweet and salty cookie. Chocolate chips, gooey caramel, crunchy pretzels, and flaky sea salt create the perfect balance of flavors.
- Thick bakery-style cookies. Oversized cookies with chewy centers and lightly crisp edges make these feel like they came straight from the bakery.
- Easy to make at home. No special equipment or hard-to-find ingredients—just pantry staples and a handful of fun mix-ins.
What Others Are Saying
Great cookie. I added Reeses pieces and just decreased some of the other mix.---Julie
Nice and chewy, like how the caramel stays a little chewy too.---Anne on FB
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What Makes Panera's Kitchen Sink Cookies So Good?
Panera's Kitchen Sink Cookies are famous for their bakery-style appearance and irresistible combination of sweet and salty flavors. Instead of using just chocolate chips, they're loaded with caramel pieces and crunchy pretzels and topped with flaky sea salt for a cookie that's anything but ordinary.
This recipe makes over 3 dozen regular-sized cookies or 20 jumbo-sized cookies. I like making jumbo-sized (¼ cup of cookie dough). Large, but not overwhelming. These are the size of cookies found at a bakery. I like to eat them warm because the caramel is soft and gooey. On day 2, pop one in the microwave for 5-8 seconds. Perfection.
Tips & Tricks
- Use a large cookie scoop to recreate Panera's oversized cookies.
- Don't overbake. The centers should still look slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt immediately after baking so it sticks to the warm cookies.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes before eating. The caramel sets slightly and the texture becomes perfectly chewy.
Ingredients
- Butter: Butter gives these cookies their rich flavor and soft, chewy texture.
- Brown sugar: Adds moisture and chewiness while giving the cookies a subtle caramel flavor.
- White sugar: Helps create lightly crisp edges while balancing the brown sugar.
- Eggs: Provide structure and richness.
- Vanilla extract: Enhances all of the sweet flavors.
- Baking soda: Helps the cookies spread just enough while staying thick.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: The classic chocolate component in every Kitchen Sink Cookie.
- Caramel bits: Create little pockets of gooey caramel throughout each cookie.
- Pretzels: The signature ingredient! Pretzels add crunch and the salty contrast that makes these cookies so addictive.
- Flaky sea salt: A sprinkle on top gives these cookies that bakery-style finish and enhances every flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Kitchen Sink Cookies
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, if desired.
Step 2: Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Step 3: Cream butter and sugars together until very fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
Step 4: Stir in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips, pretzels, and caramel bits.
Note: These cookies can be made with a Danish dough whisk, electric hand mixer, or stand mixer. It's a big batch of cookie dough with lots of mix-ins, so I like using my stand mixer with the paddle attachment to mix it.
Step 5: Scoop dough into ¼ cup balls. (If you are using a medium cookie scoop use two scoops then roll them together to create a dough ball).
Step 6: Sprinkle cookie dough balls with kosher or sea salt, if desired.
Step 7: Bake 3-6 cookies per sheet for 14-15 minutes.Cool for 2-3 minutes on a cookie sheet, then transfer to wire racks.
Note: if making regular-sized cookies, use a medium cookie scoop (2 Tbsp. size) and bake 6-9 cookies per sheet for 12-14 minutes.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Cookies are delicious at room temperature or warmed slightly in the microwave 5-8 seconds.
Kitchen Sink Cookies FAQs
Yes! They're inspired by Panera's famous bakery cookies and have the same thick, chewy texture with chocolate, caramel, pretzels, and flaky sea salt.
The name comes from the saying "everything but the kitchen sink." These cookies are packed with a variety of sweet and salty mix-ins instead of just one.
Yes! Broken pretzel twists or mini pretzels both work well.
Absolutely. Toffee bits, chopped pecans, M&M's, white chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips are all delicious additions.
Yes! Scoop the dough into balls and freeze. Bake from frozen, adding 1–2 extra minutes to the baking time.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
More Famous Cookie Recipes To Make
If you enjoyed this recipe, don't miss my growing collection of Copycat Recipes! From famous restaurant dishes and luxury hotel cookies to bakery favorites and nostalgic grocery store treats, there's something for everyone.
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Copycat Panera Kitchen Sink Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup chopped pretzels
- ¾ cup caramel bits
- kosher salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, if desired.
- Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
- Stir in flour mixture and mix until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips, pretzels, and caramel bits.
- Scoop dough into ¼ cup balls. (If you are using a medium cookie scoop use two scoops then roll them together to create a dough ball).
- Sprinkle cookie dough balls with kosher or sea salt, if desired.
- Bake 3-6 cookies per sheet for 14-15 minutes.
- Cool 2-3 minutes on a cookie sheet and transfer to wire racks.
Notes
- These cookies can be made with a Danish dough whisk, electric hand mixer or stand mixer. It's a big batch of cookie dough with lots of mix-ins so I like using my stand mixer with the paddle attachment to make the cookie dough.
- I use salted butter for all of my cookie recipes, but you can use unsalted.
- Note: if making regular-sized cookies, use a medium cookie scoop (2 Tbsp. size) and bake 6-9 cookies per sheet for 12-14 minutes.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Cookies are delicious at room temperature or warmed slightly in the microwave 5-8 seconds.
Toner Jenna says
Hi, any chance the recipes can be in grams ?
Many thanks
Brandy says
Hi! I'm working on adding that feature to each recipe. I just switched it on for this recipe. Click "metric". Hope that helps!
Julie Gingrich says
Great cookie. I added Reeses pieces and just decreased some of the other mix ins
Brandy says
Hi Julie! Love hearing this! Reese's are a great addition!