Momofuku Compost Cookies Take 1

Here is the story of the Momofuku Compost cookie. Momofuku Milk Bar is a bakery in New York City. Although I was in NYC two weeks ago, I hadn’t heard of them yet. When I came home, I heard about this place on three occassions. I read about these cookies on Plum Pie Cooks. My mom said she has this on her “must visit” list for a trip this summer, and the Cooking Channel featured their pies in a Unique Sweets show.

When you hear about something so wonderful three times, you know it must be good.

Brooke (Plum Pie Cooks), was so kind to try these cookies out and post the recipe. I followed her steps and her baker’s tips and tried them myself earlier this week. They didn’t turn out as pretty as hers, but they are good. These cookies are pretty labor intensive, in my opinion, and take a while too.

I do know what I would do differently if I make these again, but for now, I wanted to share the recipe if you want to try them out too.

The beauty and fun of a “compost” cookie are the ingredients. It’s basically a junk cookie where you can add anything you have on hand, like chocolate chips of different varieties (white, semi-sweet, peanut butter, butterscotch), pretzels, potato chips, peanut butter, nuts, raisins, it goes on!

The problem I ran into was that my chocolate chips were a bit crowded in some cookies and didn’t melt, and the chunks of pretzels were a bit confusing, like “did I just bite into an egg shell or is that supposed to be there?”

The other problem I had was that my cookies were very flat and spread quite a bit. They were soft and crunchy at the same time, which I liked, but they weren’t as strong as I expected. Follow below for those reasons below the recipe.

Momofuku Compost Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 cup oats (I forgot these! Oops!)
• 2 1/2 cups your favorite baking ingredients (options: chocolate chips, other flavored chips, Cocoa Krispies, m&m’s, reese’s peanut butter cups)
• 1 1/2 cups your favorite snack foods (options: chips, pretzels)

I used chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pretzel sticks and Fritos.

Instructions:

• In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars on medium high for two to three minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate.
• Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. (see Brooke’s site for why she did 5 minutes)
• Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. When butter mixture is pale and fluffy, on a lower speed, add the flour mixture. Mix just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
• On the same low speed, add in your favorite baking ingredients and oats. Mix just until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
• Using an ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.
• Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour or up to 1 week. DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
• Heat the oven to 375 F. Take the plastic off your cookies and bake 9 to 12 minutes. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.
• At 9 minutes, the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
• Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, they’ll keep five days.

If I make these cookies again, here’s what I would do differently:

• I would add the oats like the recipe instructs. I had them on my counter, but they didn’t get added in. Big oops.
• I would also let the dough chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. I left it for about one hour, but I would let it chill longer.
• I would use bigger pretzel chunks, and probably pick a different chip, maybe like a classic Lays potato chip.
• I would probably also try to find a better scoop. I used a spoon and it probably should have been formed better.

What’s the last thing you learned from cooking?

Remember, to win a batch of these cookies, leave a comment on yesterday’s post!

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