I Tried Kristen Bell’s Everything Cookies, and One Unexpected Ingredient Makes Them the Best Ever

Based on her roles—she’s the voice of Anna in Frozen, the love interest in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and the namesake amateur sleuth in Veronica Mars—it’s clear that Kristen Bell has range. Her recipes do too, if you take the actor’s popular Everything Cookies as any indication. With oats, butterscotch, chocolate chips, and warm spices all in the mix, as well as savvy swaps to make them gluten-free and lower in fat and added sugars, Bell told TODAY back in 2017 that this cookie recipe is her “tried and true” cookie swap contribution.

Although it feels like we just tied a bow on another summer of spritzes, I know that holiday season will creep up sooner than I can fathom. So I stepped into my kitchen, preheated my oven, and proceeded to recreate Bell’s best cookie recipe to find out if they’re everything my cookie swap has been missing.

How to Make Kristen Bell’s Everything Cookies

Besides the ample additions to satisfy many cookie cravings in one bite, Bell’s cookies seem worthy of their “everything” billing because they’re easy to adapt to align with many dietary preferences. (For instance, Bell’s husband Dax Shepard follows a gluten-free diet to help manage the symptoms of his psoriatic arthritis, so she offers flour alternatives. Bell also infuses the cookie dough with applesauce so she can trim down on the butter required.)

Here’s how to make the star’s go-to cookies:

• Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together unsalted butter, unsweetened applesauce, light brown sugar, agave nectar, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, salt, and a splash of white or apple cider vinegar. Once smooth, beat in an egg.
• Add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, stir in baking soda and flour (all-purpose or or coconut flour for a gluten-free version) and mix well. Fold in rolled oats, semisweet chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Stir until the chips and oats are evenly incorporated; being careful not to overmix.
• Shape and bake. Use a #40 cookie scoop or a tablespoon to form 2-tablespoon cookie dough balls. Place these on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets 2 inches apart, then bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then use a heat-safe spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

Tips For Making Gluten-Free Cookies 

If you, too, would like to give these supremely shareable cookies a shot, here are a few pointers from my trial and our Test Kitchen.

• Be a softy. Bell doesn’t specify, but when you’re making cookies, our Test Kitchen suggests starting with softened butter. Compared to refrigerator-temperature butter, softened butter blends more easily with the other wet ingredients. Softened is different from melted, because softened butter still holds its shape but dents when pressed. About 30 minutes on the counter should do the trick.
• Go with your favorite grain. Kristen recommends all-purpose flour, or for a GF alternative, coconut flour. Our Test Kitchen also digs the gluten-free flour blends available from brands like Cup 4 Cup, Bob’s Red Mill, and King Arthur Baking Company.
• Add acid. It might sound odd—and perhaps a bit offputting—to add vinegar to cookie dough. But Bell calls for just a teaspoon, which is here not for its flavor but instead for its pH level. The acidic apple cider or white vinegar activates the baking soda, generating carbon dioxide bubbles that help the cookies rise and end up lofty and a bit cake-like, rather than flat. If you’re using all-purpose flour, the acidity also impedes gluten development; yielding more tender cookies.
• Time things based on your desired texture. Pull the cookies at 12 minutes if you prefer a softer texture, or allow them to bake for around 14 for a crispier consistency.

The Verdict on Kristen Bell’s Everything Cookies

The health-minded adjustments—agave nectar instead of white sugar, applesauce as a sub for some of the butter, the option to use an alternative flour—might have you guessing that these taste more like a granola bar than a dessert. But I was pleasantly surprised by the balance in Bell’s signature cookie recipe. Although they’re undeniably delicious, those viral Crumbl cookies are occasionally cloyingly sweet—and are always larger than one might consider a snack. 

Bell’s cookies are just sweet enough, and her savvy ingredient additions ensure they’re still light, fluffy, showy, and satisfying. With oats and two types of chips, my first bite reminded me of the monster cookies I used to look forward to at every bake sale in grade school. As a tribute to those, I look forward to adding a few M&Ms to the mix next time, too.

I also appreciate Bell’s advice about the timing with these no-chill-time-required cookies. For eating on their own, I prefer to bake these Everything Cookies for 12 minutes. But for ice cream sandwiches (which are always a good idea in my opinion, regardless of the season), I’m going to stick with 14, so they’re a bit more sturdy.

When she shared the recipe 8 years ago, Bell told TODAY that, “baking around the holidays goes way beyond making delicious sweet things…The whole act of it—gathering in a warm kitchen, the smells wafting through the house—feels so comforting and familiar.” I wholeheartedly agree, and look forward to making Everything Cookies a familiar cast member in my cookie recipe rotation.