Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
The first batch I made with all the pretzels stirred into the dough came out of the oven looking like plain chocolate chip cookies. Every pretzel bit had sunk and gone soft. Kind of sad. Now I fold a handful of chopped ones into the dough for crunch, then press two little twists onto each ball right before it goes in, so they toast on the surface and stay crisp.
The other thing I won’t skip is the 30-minute chill. Without it the butter melts too fast, the cookies spread thin and the pretzels slide off the edges. I also pull them when the middles still look a little underdone, because they keep setting on the hot sheet. We eat them warm with a glass of cold milk, and they keep three days in a tin.
These pretzel chocolate chip cookies bake up big, with crackly golden edges and soft, chewy centers. Semisweet chocolate melts into puddles around the salted twists, and a pinch of flaky salt on top sharpens the brown sugar. It's a proper sweet-and-salty cookie. The batch makes 18, each about 3 1/2 inches across.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and fine salt in a medium bowl and set aside.2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- Beat the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Add the egg, the egg yolk and the vanilla, then beat 1 more minute, scraping down the bowl once.10 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture on low speed and mix just until no dry streaks remain. Fold in the chopped chocolate and the chopped pretzels with a spatula.6 oz semisweet chocolate, 1 cup mini pretzel twists, chopped
- Scoop the dough into 18 balls of about 3 tablespoons each (roughly 52 g). Press 2 whole mini pretzel twists onto the top of each ball, then chill the dough balls on a tray for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F.36 mini pretzel twists, whole
- Arrange 9 dough balls on each lined sheet, about 3 inches apart, and sprinkle all 18 with the flaky sea salt. Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 13 to 15 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers still look slightly underbaked. Keep the second sheet in the fridge while the first one bakes.1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- Let the cookies rest on the hot sheet for 5 minutes to set, then move them to a wire rack to cool.
Nutrition
Notes
For a salted caramel version, swap 1 teaspoon of the vanilla for salted caramel extract, or press a soft caramel candy into the center of each ball before chilling. The topped dough balls freeze well on a tray; bake them straight from frozen and add 2 minutes.
You might also like our Copycat Levain Bakery Cookies.
made these for my kids class party and doubled the batch. the little twists on top stayed crunchy even the next day which i didnt expect. used a chopped dark chocolate bar instead of chips and loved the puddles
good cookie. skipped the chill the first time bc i was impatient and they spread way too thin, second batch got the full 30 min and held their shape fine. a bit salty for my wife but i liked it