By Shannon Sarna

(Nosher via JTA) – If you’ve never made compost cookies, but you love desserts that are a little salty and a little sweet, this cookie (and hamantaschen) are for you. Do a quick Google search for “compost cookie” and you will come up with dozens of recipes. But the original compost cookie was born out of the genius dessert brain of Christina Tosi of Milk Bar, one of my baking heroes. The recipe for her famous cookie (and cakes and crazy desserts) can be found in her cookbook.

I’m a huge fan of classic hamanastchen dough filled simply with jam or Nutella. But I wanted to get a little crazy with the actual dough this year, which is where the compost part comes in. In Tosi’s famous cookies, she adds cornflakes, pretzels, potato chips and even coffee grinds. You know, like you add the coffee grinds to your compost? It’s sort of an “everything but the kitchen sink” sort of cookie.

The cookies are complex, fun and absolutely delish. Get creative and crazy with your toppings because, after all, it’s Purim.

Ingredients

For the dough:
1 cup butter (or margarine)
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons milk or almond milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons crushed potato chips
2 tablespoons crushed cornflakes
1 tablespoon coffee grounds

For the filling:
Nutella, dulce de leche or cookie butter

For the toppings:
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
additional crushed cornflakes, potato chips, cookie crumbs or sprinkles

Directions:
In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl and add sugar. Beat again until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and milk. Scrape down sides again. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, crushed cornflakes and crushed potato chips. Note: I recommend crushing the potato chips and cornflakes in a food processor to get them very fine, but you can also crush them in a plastic baggie using a mallet or rolling pin for coarser crumbs. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until dough comes together. Scrape dough from bowl and form into 2 rounds. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 F. When ready to bake, roll out dough onto lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut dough into rounds and fill with 1/2 teaspoon filling (either chocolate spread, cookie butter or dulce de leche). Pinch up circle into triangles very tight. Place on baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper and pop in freezer for 10 minutes. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate chips and vegetable oil in 30-second intervals, stirring vigorously between until completely smooth. Dip part of each cookie in chocolate and place on top of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add sprinkles, crushed cornflakes, potato chip or cookies on top if desired. Allow chocolate to set completely before storing in airtight container.

Shannon Sarna is the editor of The Nosher, a food blog that offers a dazzling array of new and classic Jewish recipes and food news, from Europe to Yemen, from challah to shakshuka and beyond. Check it out at  www.TheNosher.com.