Discover this wonderful combination of sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy, all in one mighty cookie! With luscious pools of melted chocolate and bits of crunchy pretzels, these cookies are a perfect treat to enjoy any day!
Perfect match of sweet and salty flavours
One of the things I love most about these chocolate pretzel cookies, is that combination of sweet and salty. They are loaded with all the good things, like puddles of melted, dark chocolate and bits of crunchy, salted pretzels. To intensify the flavours and textures even more, they are also sprinkled with sea salt flakes.
All of that results in a delightful cookie, that is sweet, chewy, salty and gooey! This recipe is based on my favourite chocolate chip cookies, with few small modifications and additions.
Secret to a perfect cookie texture
If you want to achieve that perfect texture of the cookie that is crispy around the edges, but has that soft and doughy middle, then you are in the right place my friend!
Firstly, make sure to be patient with your dough. It requires chilling in the fridge, for minimum of 2 hours, but ideally, overnight. Waiting for the dough to chill is the hardest part, but I promise you it will be worth it!
Keeping the cookie dough in the fridge overnight will make it chilled all the way through. It will allow the butter to set and firm up again, and that will slow down the baking process, giving you that soft middle which we all love.
How you scoop your dough matters
Secondly, the way you scoop your dough matters! It can make or break your cookie, and can completely change the texture of them. When making these, or almost any other cookie recipe, I always use an ice cream scoop for scooping my dough.
It keeps the shape of the cookies even, and also gives them that rippled, wrinkly texture on top. Simply just scoop the dough out into a baking tray, and leave it in the shape of that scoop. Don't be tempted to roll or flatten that ball!
If you use your hands for scooping the dough and rolling it into balls, the texture of your cookie, especially on top, will be very different. If you flatten your cookie balls, the middle will bake much faster, resulting in thinner and much crispier cookie.
Also, scooping the dough before chilling it makes it much easier to use. If you chill the bowl with cookie dough without scooping it first, it will become really hard and much more difficult to scoop out.
Use a good quality chocolate
This is another tip that can make or break your recipe. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. You can, and you will taste the difference!
I'm using one of my favourite chocolate bars, Tony's Chocolonely dark milk pretzel, which also has some toffee bits (soooo good!). Feel free to use your favourite bar, but if you can get your hands on this stuff, I promise you will never look back at any other chocolate!
Using chopped chocolate bar, rather than chocolate chips, will create these lovely, big and smooth puddles, unlike chocolate chips, which will hold their shape and won't melt as well.
Freezing tips
When freezing the cookie dough, make sure to scoop it onto the baking tray first. Place the tray into the fridge or freezer, allowing the dough to firm up. Once firm, remove from baking tray and transfer it to the zip lock bag.
It can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. When baking cookies from frozen, add an extra 5-7 minutes to the baking time. The pretzel bits will become softer if the cookie dough was frozen.
As always, thanks for tuning in to today's post. If you tried this, or any other of my recipes, I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and a rating below the recipe card, reading your feedback always makes my day! Feel free to also follow me on my Instagram or my Pinterest channel!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Pretzel Cookies
Equipment
- 2 baking trays
- electric mixer
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 225 g unsalted butter cubed, room temperature
- 110 g caster sugar
- 160 g soft light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 175 g plain flour
- 150 g strong bread flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 180 g dark chocolate chopped
- 30 g mini-pretzels chopped into smaller pieces
- 2 tablespoon sea salt flakes
Instructions
- Add the butter and both sugars into a bowl of an electric mixer and beat together on a medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla, and mix together, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients get combined together.
- In a large bowl, mix together both flours, baking soda and salt. Add this mix to butter and egg mixture, and incorporate together, on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix! You should have few strokes of four remaining, that is absolutely fine!
- Remove the bowl from the mixer, and using a wooden spoon or a spatula, mix in the chopped chocolate and pretzels until they are evenly distributed in the cookie batter. You can reserve a small amount of chopped chocolate and pretzels to top the cookies with later.
- Line two baking trays with baking paper. Using an ice cream scoop or a measuring spoon, scoop the cookie dough and arrange on baking trays, leaving roughly about 5 cm of space between each cookie. You can now add more of the chopped chocolate and pretzels on top of your cookies, if you want. Transfer it to the fridge for minimum of 2 hours, ideally overnight. (At this point, you can also freeze your cookie dough. Transfer it to zip lock bag or a freezer-safe container and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months)
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 170 C (fan). Bake one tray at a time, in the middle shelf of the oven for 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet half way through the baking. When ready, the cookies should be slightly golden around the edges, but the middle should be still a bit soft. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with some sea salt flakes, while they are still warm. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on a baking tray, then transfer to a wire rack. They taste best when they are still a bit warm!
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
- make sure your ingredients are at room temperature
- if you don't have any strong bread flour, replace it with plain flour
- don't chop your chocolate too finely. Chunkier, irregular pieces are better for creating these delicious puddles!
- chill your cookie dough for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight
- bake one tray at a time
- the cookies are ready when they look still a bit undone
- when baking from frozen, add an extra 5- 7 minutes to your baking time
Nutrition
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Blitzo
I made this chocolate pretzel cookies last night and it was a winner!
Anna
I'm so happy to hear that, thank you.
Blitzo
Hi Anna, your recipe was wonderful and excellent.
Anna
Thank you very much! Really happy to hear that!
Toni
This is so good and delicious! Totally irresistible!
Wendy
Husband and son couldn’t wait for these puppies to come out of the oven, me either👏. Fantastic recipe! I used a dark chocolate bar with caramel pieces in it like you used and wow!!!
Keep up the great work Anna🤗
Anna
Wendy, you are such a star! Thanks so much for taking time to leave this comment and rating! I'm so happy to hear that the whole family approved of this recipe! Sending big hug your way, have a great week ahead!
Natalie
These cookies look fantastic. I love the idea of pretzels inside. What a treat. I bet my boys would love to nibble these. I just saved the recipe and will give it a try. Thanks!
Anna
Thanks Natalie, I hope you and your boys will enjoy these! Let me know if you try them!
Gunjan
I could not have asked for a tastier cookie. Turned out excellent and we all loved them. Quickly vanished within minutes.
Anna
Haha, that's the same problem we've had Gunjan! They always disappear so quickly! So glad to hear you tried and enjoyed this recipe, thanks for your review!
Erin
Ooh, I just love sweet and salty treats! And these look especially awesome. I have no idea why I've never tried pretzels in cookies before. It sounds amazing!
Anna
Thank you Erin, pretzel in cookies are soooo good, if you never tried it before, you are up for a treat! 😉 have a great week ahead!
Andrea Howe
these sound amazing! The combination of chocolate and savory pretzels is right up my alley. Can't wait to give these a try!
Anna
Thanks Andrea, I hope you will like them as much as I do! Let me know if you try them!
Farrukh Aziz
These chocolate pretzel cookies were so so delicious Anna. My kids loved them very much, I am going to make another batch again soon. I love the fact that these crisp cookies has both sweet and salty flavour that melds just amazing with the chocolate here, perfect gifting idea this holiday season. Lovely post, gorgeous pictures and amazing recipe, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Anna
Hey Farrukh, thanks so much for this lovely and positive review! I'm over the moon to hear that you and your family enjoyed these cookies!
Kushigalu
Love sweet and salty combo. These cookies look fantastic. Would be great for holidays thanks for sharing.
Anna
Thank you, they would definitely make great edible gifts!
Kathryn Donangelo
I made these amazing cookies this week and topped them with halloween sprinkles! So good and they have the perfect amount of sweet and salty! Thank you for this delicious sweet treat recipe!
Anna
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear Kathryn! Thanks so much for trying and enjoying the recipe, and for leaving this lovely review! Have a great weekend!
Patti@PattyCakesPantry
When I saw chocolate, pretzel, and cookie in the same sentence, you got my attention. I am almost always too impatient, and too disorganized to make my dough ahead of time and put in in the fridge to allow the butter to firm up again. Now that you have shared the secret to crunch edges and soft centers, I may try that with all of my cookies. This recipe is amazing.
Anna
Oh Patti, I know what you mean, I'm normally quite impatient when it comes to recipes, but this is worth the wait! I always freeze some as well, to have a stash ready when the craving strikes!
veenaazmanov
Perfect gifting option. Delicious cookies with all the amazing flavors, Sweet, Salty, Gooey and Chocolaty. Yum.
Anna
Thank you Veena, I would love to be gifted these! 🙂
Tracy
Sweet and salty is my FAVORITE flavor combos. These cookies are just so so delicious. Love that flaky sea salt on top, too. The perfect touch – thank you!!
Anna
Pleasure all mine Tracy, glad to hear that you are also a fan of this flavour combination! It's sooo yummy! Enjoy your weekend!