One kitchen cabinet shelf is dedicated to baking ingredients. About twice a year, I notice that this shelf is brimming with bags half-full of baking goodies waiting patiently for their final shake. As I'm more of a cook than a baker, this shelf's neglect is my fault. Striving to bake more, I often linger in the aisle of the market where packages of morsels serenade with semi-sweet somethings and promises of baked successes. In a trance, I grab two or three bags, and daydream of warm cookies and cold milk. These dreams are put to rest as soon as the new bags are tucked beside their unopened brethren. Months later, the day arrives when all goodies tumble forth begging to be released from the chaos of candy land.

This past Saturday night was the night for me to make my "cabinet cleaning cookies." The last time I made them, they were dark with cocoa and devoured by co-workers. This time around, 'twas the night before the Superbowl, and all through the house, I was the only creature stirring, caramelizing onions for a large bowl of onion dip for the next day's party. As the onions take almost an hour to tan and sweeten, I decided to remain stove-side and get baking.

I use a basic cookie dough recipe I found awhile ago on Cooks.com. I like this recipe because it's serves as a plain base from which to steer the dough in any direction of craving. The dough is not overly sweet, which means I may pack it with as many bits and morsels I need to in order to clean out the shelf.

bits o' butterscotch, heath & chocolate peanut butter cookies

Set oven to 350 degrees. Follow the recipe for Basic Cookie Dough (cooks.com), then amend as follows:

Add to the Basic Cookie Dough:

1/2 cup Skippy Natural Peanut Butter (it's safe!)
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/4 M&M's Mini Baking Bits
1/2 cup butterscotch morsels
1/2 cup toffee bits

3/4 cup shelled walnuts, chopped or tapped to bits with the flat side of a cooking mallet

Stir all of these ingredients into the dough until all is a kaleidoscope of colors. Line a cookie sheet with a baking sheet. Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough, placing each on the sheet in four rows of three. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until tan but not toasty brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before plucking them from the sheet and placing in an airtight container.

Yields about three-dozen cookies.

Toffee and butterscotch are the main sweeteners, followed by M&M's and cocoa. All balance well with the peanut butter's salt and oil. If you prefer sweet dough, you may want to add brown sugar. I wanted the peanut butter to take center-stage this time, but will play with additional sweeteners next time.