If you love that classic sweet and salty combination, these pretzel-chocolate chip cookies are for just you! Every delicious bite of these buttery cookies are perfectly soft and chewy with crisp, caramelized edges the everyone loves. With the crunchy pretzels and explosion of chocolate, these cookies are sure to be a new favorite. Plus, the cookie dough is so simple to prepare for even the beginning baker.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Puts a unique spin on a classic cookie recipe: You can never go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie -- you know it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser. But that little burst of crunchy, salty pretzels is perfect for adding an elevated twist, and it brings out the chocolate even more.
No hard cookies here: Hard chocolate chip cookies should be reserved for those mass-produced, packaged cookies. When you bite into a good homemade chocolate chip cookie, your teeth should sink right into a soft, chewy texture. That's exactly what you get here.
Perfect for both holiday baking and everyday occasions: There truly isn't a bad time to serve these cookies. Keep this recipe on hand, so you're always ready with a beloved dessert at a moment's notice.
Bonus: If you love your cookies, make sure you also try these favorites -- coconut sugar cookies, fudgy brownie cookies and butterscotch-bourbon cookies!
Ingredients
Dry ingredients: For this, we need just a few ingredients you probably already have in your pantry -- all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt.
Butter: Please note that this recipe calls for salted butter, not the unsalted variety.
Dark brown sugar: I prefer dark brown sugar to light brown sugar. Not only does it make for a chewier cookie but it has more molasses for a richer flavor. That said, you can substitute light brown sugar if need be.
Crushed pretzels: To crush the pretzels, I placed them on a cutting board and simply pressed down with the heel of my hand. Then, I place those pretzels in the measuring cup and repeat until I have enough.
Chocolate chips: While I used standard chocolate chips, you can certainly get creative. Chocolate chunks are nice for the big chocolate lovers, or you could use butterscotch, peanut butter, toffee, caramel or white chocolate chips -- or even a combination.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Are you as excited as I am to make some pretzel cookies? Let's start baking!
Step 1: We begin by mixing our flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl (photo 1) and setting aside for now.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, we add our butter, white sugar and dark brown sugar and beat until it's perfectly light and fluffy like so (photo 2). Easy enough.
Step 3: Now we beat in our vanilla with one egg (photo 3). Once we incorporate the first egg, we add our second and beat again.
Step 4: We're ready to add our dry ingredients. For this step, we add a few scoops of the flour mixture (photo 4) and beat until combined. We repeat this step until we add all the flour (photo 5).
Step 5: To finish our dough, we add the chocolate chips and pretzels (photo 6) and then stir to ensure these delicious morsels are studded throughout the cookie dough (photo 7).
Step 6: We chill our dough for 30 minutes and then place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake (photo 8). After a couple minutes, we can transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling completely (photo 9).
And just like that, we have the most delicious batch of chocolate-pretzel cookies! You're in for a real treat.
Recipe FAQs
While you can technically bake these cookies right away, I recommend chilling the dough for 30 minutes first. Chilling the dough helps prevent overspreading. If you do bake right away, just know that your cookies might be a bit flatter.
After the cookies cool completely, keep them in an airtight container for up to five days in room temperature to enjoy them at their best. That's another reason to love this recipe -- you can make these pretzel cookies well in advance for easy entertaining.
You bet you can freeze both cookie dough and baked cookies. For cookie dough, roll into balls and then store in a freezer-safe bag and bake within three months. You can bake the dough while frozen, but you might need another minute or two of baking time.
If you're like to freeze baked cookies, place them in a single layer in freezer-safe bag and freeze flat. Make sure you enjoy them within three or four weeks. To thaw, leave the cookies in room temperature.
Expert Tips
- When measuring the flour for these pretzel-chocolate chip cookies, don't scoop the measuring cup into the bag. That packs in too much flour and throws off the recipe. Instead, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level with a butter knife.
- Make sure your eggs are room temperature. They mix much better than cold eggs. Simply leave the eggs in room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. However, if you forget to take care of this, you can speed up the process by placing the eggs in warm -- not hot -- water for 10 minutes.
- If you're using a stand Kitchenaid mixer, I find beating the butter on speed four for four minutes is perfect.
- Using parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet also helps prevent overspreading, so I do not recommend skipping this.
- Looking for some fun variations? Try adding a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Substitute a teaspoon of the vanilla for maple extract. Drizzle with some bourbon caramel sauce. Beat in a tablespoon of fresh orange zest.
- Want to make extra-pretty cookies for Instagram? You can add additional chocolate chips and crush pretzels to the top of the dough balls, and they will bake more on top for a photogenic cookie.
Perfect Pairing
With the loads of chocolate chips, I love a barrel-aged imperial stout with these pretzel cookies. This type of beer comes with a residual sweetness that makes it delicious with desserts, and that roasted malt was made for chocolate. Plus, you’ll love how the vanilla and caramel flavors from the barrel play with the buttery base.
Chocolate chip cookies and cabernet sauvignon are a classic combination. The wine has big, bold dried fruit and mocha notes that complement our cookies well. Prefer a dessert wine? Try a ruby port, which is always delicious with chocolate.
Or maybe you’d like a cocktail option. My Baileys coffee martini is lovely. Bourbon and spice are also wonderful with these pretzel-chocolate cookies, so you’ll love my gingerbread old fashioned or chai old fashioned on the side.
When you need an easy, crowd-pleasing dessert, I hope you try these pretzel-chocolate chip cookies. You’ll fall in love with every soft, chewy bite.
Cheers!
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
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Pretzel-Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Hand or stand mixer
- Parchment paper or silicone baking sheet
- Baking sheets
- Wire racks
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups chocolate chips the equivalent of a 12-ounce bag
- 1 cup crushed pretzels
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt until combined. Set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter, dark brown sugar and white brown sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Using a spatula, scrape the beaten butter and sugar off the side of the bowl. Beat in one egg and the vanilla just until combined. Repeat with the remaining egg.
- Again, use a spatula to scrape off any of the butter mixture on the side of the bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the flour mixture and beat on low until combined. Repeat until you incorporate all the flour mixture.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and crushed pretzels. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. In the meantime, heat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Form the cookie dough into balls so that they're about the size of a golf ball. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Bake for nine minutes and remove from oven. Let the cookies set for a minute or two and then use a baking spatula to move to wire racks to cool completely. Once cooled, store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Notes
- When measuring the flour, don't scoop the measuring cup into the bag. That packs in too much flour and throws off the recipe. Instead, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level with a butter knife.
- Make sure your eggs are room temperature. They mix much better than cold eggs. Simply leave the eggs in room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. However, if you forget to take care of this, you can speed up the process by placing the eggs in warm -- not hot -- water for 10 minutes.
- If you're using a stand Kitchenaid mixer, I find beating the butter on speed four for four minutes is perfect.
- Using parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet also helps prevent overspreading, so I do not recommend skipping this.
- Want to make extra-pretty cookies for Instagram? You can add additional chocolate chips and crush pretzels to the top of the dough balls, and they will bake more on top for a photogenic cookie.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Kelly says
Amazing cookies! Will make again 🙂
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Awesome to hear, Kelly! Thanks for trying and reviewing.
Lauren says
These are the perfect chocolate chip cookies. Crispy on the outside and gooey and soft inside. I added a little sprinkle of sea salt and they were perfect!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
I'm so glad to hear that! The extra sea salt sounds delightful. Thanks for sharing!
Nicoletta says
The salty crunchiness of pretzels was the perfect addition to the chewy texture of these cookies. Yum!!