Compost Cookies

Ah, the pleasures of compost. My husband can, and has talked about it with such happiness that it has become a running comedy routine between him and my daughter Jackie's BFF Beth.  Beth will ask for a compost update  and that is enough to get a lesson started. Conversation runs from the best mix and the best location to the latest application. It's adorable.  So, when I saw the online chatter about Compost Cookies I had to bite. Just for them.

Made famous by pastry chef Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar & Bakery in NYC, Compost Cookies include an odd mix of salty and sweet bits: potato chips and pretzels, used coffee grounds, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and graham crumbs. Actually there is a much older version with the same name which includes cocoa powder Grape-nuts cereal, coconut and other ingredients.

Greg Johnson's Oatmeal Cookie Blog version of Copycat Momofuku Compost Cookies adds Fritos to the mix, replaces the butterscotch chips with peanut butter chips, and omits the graham crumbs. Another difference between the original and Greg's version is his  crispy texture cookie. To make these cookies crispy, he added  1/2 stick more of butter, decreased the amount of dark brown sugar, and added white sugar. For thick original style, you can increase flour to 1 1/2 C.
I used  flour, oatmeal and graham crumbs. You can substituted 1 tbsp espresso powder for the coffee grounds and delete the Fritos or use beer nuts. I used both. My version, adapted from both follows:

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

Creamables
1 stick butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons dry, used coffee grounds

Wet Ingredients
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla

Dry Ingredients
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup roughly crushed potato chips
1/2 cup roughly crushed pretzels
1/2 cup roughly crushed Fritos
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup beer nuts
1 teaspoon baking soda

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350º.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly           combined.
Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Do not add to compost bin Beth!