The famous Compost Cookie recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar.
Ingredients:
For the Graham Crumb Mixture
- ⅓cupgraham cracker crumbs
- 1tablespoonmilk powder
- 1½teaspoonsgranulated sugar
- ⅛teaspoonkosher salt
- 1tablespoonunsalted butter(melted)
- 1tablespoonheavy cream
For the Cookies
- 1⅓cupsbread flour
- ½teaspoonbaking powder
- ¼teaspoonbaking soda
- 1teaspoonkosher salt
- 1cupunsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1cupgranulated sugar
- ⅔cuplight brown sugar
- 2tablespoons
- 1egg
- ½teaspoonvanilla extract
- ¾cupmini chocolate chips
- ½cup
- Prepared graham mixture
- ⅓cupold-fashioned rolled oats
- 2½teaspoonsground coffee
- 2cupspotato chips
- 1cupmini pretzels
Directions:
- Prepare Graham Mixture: In a small bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, milk powder, sugar and salt. Whisk together the butter and heavy cream, then add to the dry ingredients. Toss with a fork until the mixture is evenly moistened; set aside.
- Prepare the Cookie Dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- Combine the butter, both sugars and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and continue to beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham mixture, oats and coffee, and mix until just incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and again, mix only until barely incorporated, 15 to 20 seconds.
- Using a 2¾-ounce ice cream scoop (or a ⅓-cup measuring cup), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. 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.
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans (should be about 6 cookies per sheet).
- 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 serving or storing. The cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 1 month.
Recipe Notes:
- You can substitute 1 tablespoon light corn syrup for the glucose.
- Do not use instant coffee or espresso powder in place of the ground coffee, as it will dissolve into the cookies, which it is not intended to do.
- Pretzel recommendation: Snyders mini pretzels.
- Potato chips recommendation: Cape Cod potato chips.
Nutrition:
Calories: 315kcal
Fat: 15g
Saturated fat: 7g
Cholesterol: 36mg
Sodium: 274mg
Potassium: 191mg
Carbohydrates: 41g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 25g
Protein: 3g
Vitamin A: 345%
Vitamin C: 1.6%
Calcium: 31%
Iron: 0.7%
made them and good BUT 18 min definitely too long cook time more like 10 or 12 minutes with a modern oven, they spread way out paper thin so I think nextime I’ll add half a cup of oats and half a cup of flour to get them a wee bit thicker and chewier maybe half a cup more sugar. Christina Tosi’s seem thicker and chewier…. what do you think?
Hi! I just made these cookies, and they came out perfectly! I had tried compost cookie recipes from other sites, but they never turned out as they should. My question is…how did you get more than one cookie sheet in your refrigerator at a time? You must have a large fridge.. I had to do mine a bit differently..scooping the cold cookie dough instead of having the mounds on a cold cookie sheet. Thank you!
Too much butter I think, spread out all over the place Look like lace cookies, added more flower & chilled 2 hrs, no different. Cooked in 14 min. Too hot – too long – too much butter ??
love these cookies, tho 1/3 of a cup of dough is far too big in my opinion. i halved that amount and just kept my eyes on them near the end so they wouldn’t burn.
Do you transfer refrigerated cookie dough onto a room temperature cookie sheet before baking or put the cold sheet from the fridge directly into the oven?
Hi Cathy, I put the cold sheet from the fridge right into the oven. Enjoy!
Hmmm. I followed the recipe and mine spread out and burned on the edges.
thoughts?
Hi Cyndy, Do you have an oven thermometer? It’s important the oven temperature is correct. Did you pat them down too much maybe? Did you chill them for at least 1 hour?
Hello I just made a batch and followed directions and they spread out horrible! What did I do wrong ??
Hi Doris, They do spread when they bake, but if they spread too much, try chilling the dough for a longer period of time.
These are awesome. Made a batch and my family loved them so much that I’ve made them 3x over and now keep the dough frozen for whenever someone wants it! I follow the recipe pretty exactly, but was hesitant to buy the glucose. Ended up using Aunt Jemima maple flavored syrup instead (which is pretty much just made of corn syrup) because I had it at home and it turned out great!
Thanks for the recipe!
The sides of my cookies burned quickly at only 10 mins, do you have any suggestions? Yours look very consistently baked! looks awesome!
Hi Makis, Did you chill them? Also, do you have an oven thermometer to ensure your oven isn’t running hot? (Mine runs 75 degrees hotter than the dial so I have to compensate every time I set the temperature!)
I chilled it in the fridge, not the freezer~ which one should it be? only the sides are burnt, minus those it tastes so delicious! I’ll use an oven thermometer next time.
Yes, the fridge is how you should chill them. I’m glad you still enjoyed the cookies!
Awesome cookies! I will try one……..
My favorite from Milk Bar are the corn cookies and the blueberries and cream cookies.
Ahh ha! So this is wha the picture was in your post yesterday. Never would I have guessed it was cookie dough. And never would I have ever thought to use ground coffee in a cookie recipe. But I suppose if one can eat chocolate covered coffee beans, ground coffee beans in a recipe with chocolate would work. Normally I do not keep potato chips stocked in my kitchen (that’s just way too dangerous for me), but grabbing a bag on the next grocery run might be what I do so that I can make these cookies.
What would I throw into a ‘kitchen sink’ cookie? Perhaps a bit of crunchy (rather than smooth) peanut butter. Perhaps some raisins since there is oatmeal in this recipe, and then maybe a bit of cinnamon, clove, & nutmeg?
These look really good. My only question is whether or not the coffee grounds would be gritty in the cookies? The flavors sound really good together.
Hi Ed, Not gritty at all!
Is your ground coffee same as instant coffee?
Hi Dianne, No, I used actual ground coffee beans, not instant.
I tried making these and followed your recipe. The cookies flattened out and were crisp. They didn’t look anything like your cookies. Any suggestions for what I did wrong? (I even made sure I bought King Arthur Bread Flour and timed myself so I didn’t over mix.)
I made these this weekend and I didn’t think that the graham cracker crust dough added much flavor. I think I’d omit that next time. Also, I added a tad bit of flour and walnuts to give them more body. They were great!
These sound amazing can’t wait to make them! I have a question about the milk powder….how important is that to the recipe? I have never used milk powder for anything before, and I hesitate to buy a container just to use a spoonful. Had anyone omitted the milk powder in this recipe? How’d the cookies turnout?
BTW – love your web site and the Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter icing…one of my all time fav cookies!! :-)
Hi Sharon, I would say definitely give the milk powder a go! I have a bunch of recipes that I’ve used it in – sweets, as well as breads. I have not omitted it in this particular recipe, so I can’t say how it would turn out.
I just mad a batch of these with milk chocolate chips instead of butterscotch—they are really good. I never would have thought to put potato chips in a cookie. Love It!
I’ve never been to Momofuku but between my cookbook and ordering directly from the bakery, I am totally obsessed. The crack pie, corn cookies, confetti cookies, and pb cookies are awesome. I have recipes for the latter two on my blog. Those are by far the best pb cookies I’ve ever had. Hope you try them!
Yum! Have you tried the ones with the cornflakes and the marshmallows? Mine did not turn out right, the batter tasted AMAZING but the cookies fell apart/melted completely in the oven..
hi! my husband was in NYC recently and brought me back a BUNCH of momofuku treats. now, i LOVE chocolate chip cookies and most of their variations, but the cookie i enjoyed most from my prize bag was their corn cookie. the sweet corn milk flavor was so Right On. i’m glad you had success with these cookies. from reading a lot of the online responses to their recipes, i was also hesitant at trying any of them. and i’m with you on the butterscotch flavor. i like the chips, but as a subtle, background flavor. they easily overpower other yummy flavors with their crazy, over-the-top sweetness.
I love these cookies! Momofuko is definitely very high on my list of restaurants/bakeries to visit!
Good morning. I have a quick question, do I actually make the coffee or do I add the ground coffee to the dough? Little confused:) thanks
Sharon:)
Hi Sharon, My apologies for the confusion; ground coffee (not brewed grounds).
i am about to make these…my sil loves them didnt know milk bar has recipes
my question is about milk powder? can i just use powered milk from the grocery store? that is all i have so i guess i am going to use it but would love to know if there is a difference or what milk powder is?
I have whole milk powder from King Arthur Flour that I used, but I think dry milk powder from the grocery store would be just fine.
thanks michelle..did use the supermarket powdered milk…they are yummy but like jennifers mine were a little browner and needed less time.. i think my cookies were smaller to begin with perhaps? anyways they looked fine and tasted great…just didnt look like yours
These cookies are amazing! The cereal milk ice cream is by far the best item on the momofuko milk bar menu! If you ever go to New York you should definitely also try the momofuko noodle bar.. Their ramen is a must try!
Need help. Just made these and mine look nothing like the picture. The cookies have spread all over the place and began to brown immediately. I have had to pull them after between 12 – 13 minutes in order to not burn them. What is the reason for this? They taste great, but are not pretty enough to serve.
Hi Jennifer, I’m sorry you had some trouble with the cookies. Did you follow the mixing and chilling instructions exactly? Are you sure that your oven temperature is correct by using an oven thermometer?
I have searched all over the web and have read everything I could find in these cookies. Apparently this is not an uncommon problem (see momofuko book reviews). One person suggested replacing all purpose flour with cake flour. What do you think? I do know that my over runs hot. This has never happened to me before. I bake a lot. Another reviewer suggested that the butter is the problem. They reduced it by 1/4. Any advice would be helpful.
Hi Jennifer, The recipe actually calls for bread flour, not all-purpose flour. Did you use bread flour? It has more protein and gluten, which creates a sturdier baked good; this could have been the problem. I think cake flour (which is even finer) could exacerbate the problem.
Thanks. Meant bread flour. Sorry for confusion. When made first batch was looking directly at Momofuku’s recipe on the Milk Bar website. Doesn’t specify type of flour. Remaking right now with bread flour. Hope the fix is this simple. Will let you know.
You’re welcome! It’s not particularly clear. The recipe in the cookbook just says “flour”, but if you read through the lengthy section at the beginning of the book about the ingredients they use, they specify that they use bread flour for all of their cookie recipes. Incidentally, in the recipes it also just says “butter”, but in the ingredients section, they specify only unsalted butter.
I had the same problem as Jennifer until I read Michelle your comments about bread flout, so glad for your help. Just made these cookies again and they didn’t spread like before. However, they still spread a bit, maybe my oven temp. Thanks a million.
I had the same thing happen here tonight when I baked a batch. I did use ap flour and not bread flour. I’ll try again using the bread flour and perhaps hold back on the butter a bit too. Hopefully the next batch will be better. My cookies tasted good but they looked horrible…very thin and brown, some you could almost see through!
Made them again tonight with a little less butter and this time used the bread flour. They’ve turned out perfectly. Great recipe!
Hi, I have the Momo cookbook and have made the corn and compost cookies many times, actually forgetting to use bread flour. They come out perfectly. Will be interesting to make them with bread flour next time to see the difference. I bake them 14 minutes, 18 minutes way too long for my oven.
Oh, chocolate-covered potato chips are AWESOME! I had them for the first time at Old Kentucky Chocolates here in Lexington. They also have chocolate-covered Rice Krispie treats. SOOOOO good. If you can cover it in chocolate, they’ve tried it and perfected it. :)