Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

Satisfy your sweet and salty cravings with a batch of Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies. Featuring crushed pretzels in the batter and mini pretzels on top, every bite of these bakery-style cookies is chewy and crunchy.

Forget everything you know about ordinary cookies. All of it. From mediocre box mixes and plastic tubes of Pillsbury dough to dry, crumbly cookies from a factory, there’s no time like the present to clear the cache of dessert disappointment in your brain. That’s because your humdrum cookie memories are about to be overwritten by a recipe that will blow your mind: Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies.

Made with browned butter, these wow-worthy cookies combine the sweetness of chocolate chips with the salty sass of pretzels. And while these opposing flavors typically fight it out for dominance, crammed together in cookie dough they’re a dynamic duo–a sweet and salty blend that’s perfectly balanced and ready to be baked.

But before these babies go into the oven, we need to take an intermission. Not for a well-deserved nap, but because the dough needs to chill for 4 hours. Yes, you heard that right; this dough likes to take its sweet old time getting ready. I won’t tell you that good things come to those who wait, you’ll taste it yourself with the first crunchy chewy bite. With a bit of patience, brown butter, chocolate chips and salted pretzels you’ll create and epic cookie that’s pure deliciousness.

Before sharing the recipe for Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies, here are a few baking tips to help you out:

Ingredient Tips

This recipe was made with salted mini pretzels but feel free to substitute mini pretzel sticks. Just be sure whatever pretzels you use are fresh from the bag and not stale.

Always use the spoon and level method to measure flour. Scooping flour is a no-no. That technique overpacks flour into the measuring cup which will result in dry, dense cookies.

Eggs need to be at room temperature before beginning. If you’ve forgotten to take yours out of the refrigerator ahead of time then speed up the process by placing it in a bowl of warm water. Don’t use hot water; we want to warm the eggs, not hatch them.

Preparation Tips

Browned butter takes approximately seven minutes from the time the butter initially melts until completion. If you’ve never browned butter before, it is simple. First, melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Next, stir constantly with a wooden spoon, taking care not get distracted. (There’s a fine line between browned butter and burned butter. Do not cross that line or you will be buying a new saucepan.) The butter will get foamy and release a nutty aroma. After that happens, you will begin seeing browned bits forming on the bottom. Right after, remove the pan from heat, pour butter into a heat-safe bowl and pop in the freezer until cool.

Chilling dough for a minimum of 4 hours is mandatory, therefore, do not skip this step or your cookies will spread and flatten when they bake. Cookie dough can be made ahead and chilled up to 2 days before baking.

A simple hack for perfectly round cookies is to place the rim of a large drinking glass over cookies when they are hot out of the oven then swirl the glass in a circular motion until each cookie takes shape.

How to Store Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

Baked cookies freeze well, after cooling completely simply place them in a freezer bag and store up to 3 months.

I hope you enjoy this Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookie recipe. Please leave a rating and review when you try it yourself. And, while you’re at it, sign up for my weekly Recipe Newsletter so you never miss a tempting recipe.

Finally, if you like chocolate chip recipes then you’ll love this Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie. Nestled in a flaky butter crust with hints of cinnamon, this fudgy pie with chocolate chips, pecans and a splash of bourbon will make you thankful for fall flavors.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

Heather Wolf

Satisfy your sweet and salty cravings with a batch of Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies. Featuring crushed pretzels in the batter and mini pretzels on top, every bite of these bakery-style cookies is chewy and crunchy.

5 from 18 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 minutes mins

Chill 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 31 minutes mins

Course Cookies and Bars

Cuisine American

Servings 24

Ingredients

  

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour unbleached
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp sea salt fine
• 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract pure
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup salted mini pretzels crushed

Topping

• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 24 salted mini pretzels broken

Instructions

 

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

• Brown butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for approximately 7 minutes or until the butter gets foamy and releases a nutty aroma.
• Once browned bits begin to form on the bottom of the pan, remove from the heat, pour butter into a heat-safe bowl then place in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
• Once brown butter has cooled, add to a mixing bowl with brown sugar and granulated sugar then beat with an electric mixer until light and creamy — approximately 1 minute.
• Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated.
• Reduce mixer speed to low then add dry ingredients to wet, mixing until almost combined and flour is still visible.
• Using a wooden spoon, mix in 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of crushed pretzels until evenly distributed. Do not overmix or cookies will be dry.
• Using a large, 2-Tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop cookies onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing cookie balls 2 inches apart.

  Note: dough will be wet but will firm up as it chills.
• Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap then chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 2 days.
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Remove plastic wrap from baking sheets and bake for 11 to 12 minutes or until the cookie edges are set but the centers are still soft.
• Remove baking pan from oven then press remaining chocolate chips and broken pretzel pieces into the tops of cookies.
• For perfectly round cookies, place the rim of a large drinking glass over cookies while they are still warm then swirl the glass in a circular motion until each cookie takes shape.
• Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

Keyword chocolate chip, cookies, pretzel