So I will get to the much anticipated recipe in just a second, but first, I have some exciting news!

I am a finalist in the Incredible Edibles recipe contest! If you remember, I entered a couple of recipes a few weeks ago, and wasn’t expecting to hear back from them. It wouldn’t have been a big deal or anything if I didn’t, as entering was just something fun and random I decided to do. Then, yesterday, my dad texted me telling me they left a message on our machine asking me to prepare and present on the 16th!! Wahoo!

I sent in the following recipes:

– Savory Apple and Onion Stuffed Pork Chops
– Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake
– Veggie and Rice Stuffed Peppers
– Homemade Clif Bars (which I retitled “Homemade Endurance Bars”, just because of copyright stuff)

The finalist recipe? The Endurance Bars!

I guess what will happen is I will go to the place with all of my ingredients and small appliances/tools/pans in hand, and prepare the recipe. They’ve given me two hours, which is more than enough, as the bars only need to sit for a minimum of 30 minutes. Then, after two hours, I’m to present to the judges. I’m not too sure what this means yet (I’m getting an info pack in the mail soon) but I’m super excited!!

That being said, I really have all of you to thank (you being the Internet/blog community). Of course, I wouldn’t keep a blog if I didn’t enjoy it, but I love talking with you and getting your feedback on my recipes. Because my Homemade Clif (Endurance) Bars are my top recipe on LLL, I really have you to thank for making it that and for inspiring me to send that one in! 🙂

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But anyway, back to the reason you’re here: cookies.

The other night, I was in that baking mood again. My mom suggested that I make 7-Layer Brownie Bars, but we didn’t have sweetened condensed milk, and I didn’t feel like making my own. I didn’t end up making anything that night, but I still had the baking itch.

So, the next morning rolled around and I suddenly had a great thought: what if I put seven layers/ingredients into cookies?

I searched through our pantry and eventually grabbed six different additions to add to a regular cookie base. The suspects? Pretzels, oats, mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, coconut, and butterscotch chips.

Combined with the cookie dough, we have seven components! Because you can’t exactly turn those into layers in a cookie, with the  help of my mom, I decided on calling these little babies…

Confetti Clutter Cookies (E, N)
makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients:
– 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
– 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
– 1 tsp. baking soda
– 1/8 tsp. salt

– 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
– 1/2 cup shortening (I use Crisco)
– 2/3 cup granulated sugar
– 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

– 3 tbsp. canola oil
– 3 tbsp. water
– 2 tsp. baking powder

– 1 cup pretzels, crushed and/or chopped
– 1 1/2 cups oats

– 1 cup mini chocolate chips
– 2/3 cup butterscotch chips
– 1/4 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
– 1/4 cup multicolor sprinkles

– Sea salt, for sprinkling (optional, but highly recommended!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour through salt – DO NOT add the oats). Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat butter, shortening, and sugars until fluffy. Add in vanilla extract.
4. In a small bowl, combine oil, water, and baking powder. Allow to sit until bubbly, about 2 minutes. These are your “eggs”.
5. Slowly add the “egg” mixture into the wet ingredients. Stir or beat until well combined.
6. Working in thirds, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. You’ll want to add this in three batches, scraping the sides of the bowl between each addition, to prevent over-mixing the cookie batter.
7. Next add the pretzels and the oats. Stir to combine.
8. Finally, stir in by hand (if you were using a stand mixer, switch to a spatula here!) the chocolate, butterscotch, coconut, and sprinkles.
9. Drop by packed rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten a bit using your palm, and sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top. Bake for about 8 minutes. Once baked, allow the cookies to sit on the sheet for two minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
10. Enjoy! 🙂

These things are seriously addictive. That sweet/salty combination that I love so much is just amazing within a cookie.

The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can adjust it to your own liking. I’ve heard of people putting crushed potato chips into their cookies, which would be great. Or you could change the color of your sprinkles to match the season! Just try and keep the amount of additions you put in roughly the same amount I used. Any more than that would cause the cookie dough to be too crumbly to stay together once out of the oven. Believe me. 😉

How cool would it be if these were a health food??

🙂