Chewy Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
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Where have I been, you ask? Just a few weeks ago my excuse was that one of my big projects at work was ending and I was super busy. Well, now I’m on a new project and find myself just as busy, trying to meet a very important deadline next week. Earlier this week I was getting to work at 6:30 in the morning in order to coordinate with folks in South Africa, a time when I’m usually snug as bug in my bed. I may have been a morning person as a kid, but those days are long gone and these early mornings and long days are hitting me pretty hard. I’ve been able to sleep till a reasonable hour the past two days, and today is the first day all week that I didn’t feel like a walking zombie.
With all this work craziness going on now, I’m so glad that I got a few days off from work before starting on this new project so that I could make the trip down to DC to see my family over Memorial Day weekend. That all feels so long ago now, but I finally got around to making some cookies for our neighbors to thank them for feeding our cat, Snoopy, while we were away. I could have just made some chocolate chip cookies, but it seemed so run-of-the-mill and I’ve been wanting to make something with chocolate and pretzels for a while. I, like most of my female friends, love the salty sweet combination of the two together and was quite ready to see them come together in cookie form.
I decided to try out Alton Brown’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, which I plucked from Joy the Baker’s blog. I figured if she was a big fan, it would be the perfect base for my chocolate chip pretzel cookie fantasy. Was it everything I dreamed of? Pretty darn close. I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips both because I love the deep, rich, fruity flavor, and because they’re bigger than the average chocolate chip. If I’m gonna do chocolate and pretzels, I’m gonna go all the way after all. The pretzels delivered the salt and crunch, but I kinda wish they had been just a tad saltier. Next time I might try sprinkling just a bit of sea salt on top to amp it up a little more. Now I just need an extra hour or two in the day so I can make another batch!
Chewy Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
recipe adapted from Alton Brown, via Joy the Baker
If you really like some salt with your sweet, sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the cookies before baking.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups crushed pretzel pieces
Directions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
- Pour the melted butter in the mixer’s work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar and cream the butter and sugars on medium speed.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed and slowly add the egg mixture and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces.
- Chill the dough for at least an hour, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.