Pretzel cookies are chocolate chip cookies but better

I test out cookies on pretty much everyone I know any chance I get. This month I made a batch of these for our board game group. Our friends unwrapped the cookies, initially unsure of a pretzel right in the middle of these pretzel chocolate chip cookies. Then I watched as one timid bite turned into growing fascination with all the good flavors therein. By the end of the night, people were taking more cookies for the road or to share with spouses.

To be sure, these are NOT health cookies, but they are pure fun.

Why the memory of these salted chocolate chip caramel pretzel cookies will stick with you

1. Coffee caramel: Coffee is one of the supporting flavors that makes chocolate taste more chocolatey. You’ll taste the caramel here and it won’t register “coffee”, but it will just unlock more rich chocolate flavor you wouldn’t taste otherwise.
2. Easy timeline (no chilling!!!): There’s no need to chill this dough unlike my classic brown butter chocolate chip cookies because the high proportion of mix-ins in the dough holds the cookie matrix together during baking. Also, while the cookies bake, you have plenty of time to make the coffee caramel sauce. That’s great because the caramel will be the perfect consistency for drizzling right as the cookies finish baking. Smart, this cookie is.
3. For texture lovers: In this one little cookie you get crunchy from the pretzels, softness from the chocolate chip cookie base, velvet smoothness of the chocolate, and chewiness from the caramel. If you love the crunchiness of bars like Twix or 100 Grand with an added bit of salt from the pretzel, you will love this chocolate chip pretzel cookie recipe.
4. So intriguing: The pretzel on the top of each cookie is an invitation to be a little adventurous. You know you’re not going to be eating a run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookie. We’ve all heard for forever how salt and caramel go together, but what do you really think of it? This is the cookie that will help you answer that question, and it’s absolutely daring you to try.

Places to bring the best chocolate chip pretzel cookies

1. Bake sale: These are a guaranteed hit at a bake sale. The pretzel will catch your customer’s eye, and the flavors will keep them coming back.
2. Potlucks: This is an easy potluck winner. You can cut the cookies into halves or quarters to feed more people if needed/wanted.
3. Sports teams treats: These cookies will beat the pants off of the flavor of any Crumbl cookie you want to treat your kids’ sports team to after a game, plus you’ll save SO MUCH MONEY making them yourself.

Process for making Pretzel Cookies

1. Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat until the foam starts to subside and you can see brown bits in the skillet. Scrape the butter into a bowl and set the bowl in the freezer for 20 minutes.
2. Prep the mix-ins: Cut up the dark chocolate into squarish/rectangularish pieces about 1/2″ wide. Set aside 20 big chunks of chocolate and 20 whole pretzels for the tops of the cookies. Break up the rest of the pretzels into about 8 pieces each.
3. Make the cookie dough: Mix the flour with the starch, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Scrape the partially chilled butter into a mixing bowl. Mix in the sugars with the butter just until the sugar is moistened. Add in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk and heavy cream, mixing just until smooth. Add in the flour and the dark chocolate, white chocolate chips, and pretzel pieces, mixing just until you get a dough that sticks together. The dough may seem dry, but be assured that it will bake up just right, especially if you’re at altitude like I am (see more geeking out about high altitude chocolate chip cookies.).
4. Scoop the cookies: Scoop 2 ounce balls of dough (6/sheet) onto parchment

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   lined baking sheets. Rough up the outsides of the cookies (see tips below) and then top each cookie with a piece of the reserved chocolate and 1 whole pretzel. Bake the cookies in a 375 F (190 C) for 12 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
5. Make the caramel: While the cookies are baking, follow the recipe for Coffee caramel sauce.
6. Drizzle: As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, drizzle them with a spoonful of the caramel sauce. If the caramel gets a little too stiff by the time the second batch of cookies comes out of the oven, warm it for a few seconds on the stove (or the microwave if you’re using jarred caramel).

Tips for making the best pretzel chocolate chip cookies

1. Make the brown butter in a lighter colored pan: If you make brown butter in a dark bottomed pan, it will be difficult to see the brown bits.  A regular light colored ceramic or silver metal pan will help you see the brown bits easily.
2. Don’t crush the pretzels to death: There’s no need to smash the pretzels going into the dough into smithereens.  You want to have enough of the pretzel texture in the cookies without distorting the shape of the cookies side too much.  In my tests, breaking each pretzel into about 8 pieces is perfect.  
3. Rough up the outside of the dough balls: After you scoop the balls, pull each one apart and stick the outsides together.  Doing so will make the dough balls look a little more craggy and less perfect, which is ideal for a cookie like these pretzel chocolate chip cookies that are all about texture.
4. Clean up the edges: If you want, you can trim off the extra drizzles of caramel that fall off the edge of each cookie. I would definitely do this if you’re going to package these cookies up for a bake sale for neatness. The caramel doesn’t need to be completely set to do this.

More Chocolate Chip Cookie Variations

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  Ultimate High Altitude Chocolate Chip Cookies: no more flat cookies

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