Oh, Valentine’s Day. You either love it or you hate it. Either way, you need to make my loaded valentine’s cookies. Make ‘em to share. Make ‘em to enjoy all by yourself. As long as you make ‘em. Bite into one of these and experience the chewy goodness that makes the perfect flavor backdrop for all the sweet and salty and crunchy and gooey loaded into these cookies.
These things are loaded to the brim. With all the extras to make them extra special. And did I mention they are huge? Plenty big enough to make the perfect heart and belly warming gifts to all of your sweethearts.
What are they loaded with?
Two- yes, two– kinds of chocolate chips. Mini, and classic semi sweet. The nuttiest, chopped toasted pecans – click here for my easy toasted pecan recipe. Festive red and pink m&m’s. And plenty of pretzel pieces. And a hint of oats. It’s an ultimate sweet and salty combo- we are talking 4 cups of mix-in’s, y’all!
Don’t fret if you don’t have the exact combo you need. This loaded valentine’s cookie is the perfect excuse to clean out your pantry. Chocolate chips, Oreos, walnuts… now you can finally utilize all those half-empty bags that have been occupying your cabinets. Whipping these babies up should be part of your spring cleaning routine!
Tips to make the ultimate loaded valentine’s cookies:
- Let your butter sit. Then stay. Good. But seriously, set your butter out for at least an hour- and your eggs, while we are at it. We want them close to room temperature. This step allows for the dough to become more cohesive and really come together.
- Whisk your flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. I speak more to this in my popular Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe – if you haven’t tried these yet, put them on your baking bucket list! Basically, we don’t want to overmix the flour once it’s combined with the wet ingredients. That would make for a tougher cookie. Note that this recipe also calls for one tablespoon of cornstarch – this will keep our cookies thick + less runny.
- If you have a stand mixer, it will be your bestie with this loaded valentine’s cookie recipe. Don’t worry if you don’t (I don’t either – this baby is on my wish list though! ). I made these using an electric hand mixer. However, with all the add-in’s, it can get a little tough to mix towards the end. But with a reward like these insanely scrumptious sweets– it’s totally worth the extra workout, you guys.
- Use parchment lined baking sheets to make cleanup easy. Actually, non existent. I’m all about lining my baking sheets these days. Less time cleaning = more time eating. And use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out your balls of cookie dough. These babies are larger than a golf ball, just a bit smaller than a baseball.
- Lastly, we used a higher ratio of brown sugar to white sugar. Which means the cookies will continue to set after we pull them out of the oven. So- when the edges are golden and the middle still looks like it could bake a tiny bit longer, it will be the perfect level of done-ness for these loaded valentine’s cookies.
I can’t wait to give these to all of the sweeties in my life, and am so excited to spread the love by sharing the recipe with you, too!
Loaded Valentine’s Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2/3 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
Mix-In's
- 1 scant cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup pretzels broken into pieces
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans chopped
- 1 cup festive colored m&m's
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, oats, salt, baking soda and powder. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugars in large bowl on medium speed for a few minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one by one, beating for 30 seconds with each addition. Add vanilla and mix.
- Add flour mixture, one half at a time, mixing on low speed until just combined with each addition.
- Add the mix-in's and continue to mix until dough is combined and mix-in's are dispersed. Dough will be thick and may be a little tough to mix.
- Scoop, using 1/4 cup measuring cup, and roll into balls. Bake 5 to a cookie sheet, for 15-16 minutes, or until edges are golden but center is still pale.
- Let cool on wire racks and enjoy!
