Christina Tosi's Rule Of Thumb For Adding Mix-Ins Into Cookie Dough

When recipes are as cheery as cookies, it's easy to want to go over the top. Why not pack in as many festive chocolate chips, sprinkles, and other colorful candies as possible? There's actually a few good reasons to exercise a little restraint, Milk Bar founder, CEO, and chef Christina Tosi explained exclusively to Chowhound amid her McCormick Cookie Quest partnership.

Tosi generally keeps those mix-ins to a 2 cup max when using a basic cookie base recipe ratio of 2 sticks of butter, 2 cups of flour, and 1 egg. "Though keep in mind, not all mix-ins are created equal," she says. "Sturdier mix-ins like pretzels, crackers, cereal, things that will break down a tad in mixing and help bind the cookie together may need you to back off on the flour a bit so your cookies will spread. Chocolate chips, candied citrus, nuts won't really affect the spread at all."

James Beard Award-winning chef Tosi also tapped one of those very mix-ins, along with another decorative seasonal treat, in her collaboration with the spice company. The fruits of that labor, a candy cane pretzel bark cookie, will be given away for free while supplies last at a smattering of Milk Bar locations in select U.S. cities on December 4, 2024. The limited-edition cookie will also be available for purchase at these same locations until the end of December 2024.

Baking is a finicky undertaking, so you can't expect to be able to stir in whatever and still end up with consistent results. The choice between using granulated or powdered sugar in sugar cookies, for example, will lead to two totally different, albeit sweet, results. The same goes for using butter or shortening in pie crust, which Christina Tosi has also discussed with Chowhound. Additionally, substituting butter for coconut oil leads to crispier cookies. And, as you might expect, there's a flip side to Tosi's advice about cutting back on the flour when incorporating certain additions. "Mix-ins that might melt in the oven include toffee bits, marshmallows, candy cane pieces and may require a little more flour, on the other hand," she says.

The top tip for the tastiest treats is to run a little preview. "Before baking a whole batch of cookies, bake a one-off first — I call it the 'test cookie'," Tosi says. "It gives you a peek into the balance of flavor, texture, mix-ins, and spread, and an opportunity to make any tweaks to the dough before you bake the rest — more mix-ins? More flour? More salt? Roll it in confectioner's sugar?"

Once you've successfully completed all that baking research and development, you can freeze many cookie dough varieties for months. A lot of finished cookies freeze nicely, too. When you're ready to eat some, simply transfer them to a plate to thaw or give them a brief reheat in the oven.