I’m kind of in love with the combo of pretzels and chocolate right now. The salty and sweet together is just divine. There are a few photos of this type of cookie floating around on Pinterest and I’ve been dying to try one. After reviewing a few, I decided the ratio of cookie to “other stuff” was way too slanted in the stuff direction. I like to taste cookie in my cookie. And while adding peanut butter chips, toffee chips or butterscotch chips to this recipe would (I’m sure) still be incredibly delicious, I decided to hold back a little. Sometimes, simple is better.

I’ll tell you one thing, I’ve never met a chocolate chip cookie recipe that could hold a candle to this basic dough from America’s Test Kitchen. It is amazing. Perfectly sweet with a glorious texture. They stay soft and chewy and just delicious even after they’ve cooled.

The addition of pretzels gave it a salty crunch that was awesome. I loved it. As did my hubby, a rare thing in my little baking world. He ate more than one of these.Trust me. That never happens. Someone pulled out his sweet tooth as a child. It’s very sad.

As we were munching on rich chocolate, crunchy pretzel and sweet dough he remarked, “Now THIS is my kind of cookie”. You’ll love it too.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
12 tbsp/1½ sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup broken pretzel pieces

Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, 1 or 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beater as needed.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chips & pretzel bits by hand until incorporated.

Roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies,  rotating sheet halfway thru baking, until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t overcook!

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.