peanut butter pretzel chocolate chip cookies

Peanut butter and chocolate. Salty and sweet. Crunchy and chewy. What do these have in common? They all go together like a horse and carriage. Great. Combos. So can you imagine a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie with crunched up pretzel bits? Da. Bomb.

I can't explain exactly what happens to the pretzels. They soften just a little and take on this caramel-coated texture, but since there's no caramel ingredient, I'm not sure how this magical transformation occurs. At the same time, they retain their crunch and provide little bursts of salt that are perfect complements to the chocolate. I recommend crushing them coarsely so the crumbs are about the same size as the chocolate chips. 

See how rounded and thick these cookies are?

And these are flatter? These cookies don't spread a lot unless you flatten the dough slightly before baking. I guess it's a personal taste thing, but I preferred the consistency of the thinner cookies. They got nice and golden brown with slightly crisp edges, but stayed chewy. The thicker ones were cakier, which isn't my thing.

I can't recall how I came across these at But Mama I'm Hungry, but I thought they sounded great and bookmarked them for a future baking date. So worth it! You can use whatever kind of pretzels you like, but choose one thick enough to get decent size chunks. I'm a fan of Trader Joe's Honey Wheat Pretzel Sticks, and they were perfect here. 

Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup (9 1/2 ounces) peanut butter

1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

1 cup (7 ounces) brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cups crushed pretzel pieces

12 ounces chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Beat butter, peanut butter, and sugars until creamed. Add vanilla and eggs and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix. Finally, stir in pretzel pieces and chocolate chips until combined. 

Scoop cookie dough onto silpat- or parchment-lined cookie sheets, leaving at least two inches between cookies. Flatten slightly with dampened fingers or the bottom of a glass. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These are fine stored at room temperature, and they freeze well, too.

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