Salted Pretzel & Choc Chunk Cookies
Hi there! How’s it going you guys? I’m back with another delicious recipe that is sure to knock your socks off! Drumrolls pls….it’s only the MOST amazing…brown buttery, salty pretzely, filled with chocolate chunks cookies! (I mean, the title pretty much says it, but you know I gotta be dramatic) These cookies are so freaking delicious but I understand that it may sound like biased opinion, so I’m gonna let YOU decide it. You try it and you tell me. Agreed? Before we actually get into the recipe, let’s do a quick poll here. What kinda cookies do we like here? Chewy? Crispy? Chunky? Thin & flat? I’m more of a crispy on the outside, chewy and chunky on the inside kinda gal, pretty traditional I’m guessing? These cookies are just like that. They are nice and crispy on the edges, chewy in the centre and decently chunky I’d say. Currently snacking on them as I write this and my god, let me tell you- they are GOOD! Ok ok enough teasing, shall we get this cookie party started? Hell yeah!
These cookies are pretty straightforward and just like how you’d make your regular CCC. It’s based off my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I have tweaked it slightly. We are browning the butter in this case to get that beautiful nutty flavour to go well with the chocolate and the saltiness from the pretzels. For the perfect balance between crispy and chewy, we are using a combination of castor sugar and brown sugar. I’m gonna spare you the cookie science here because I have already explained it in my ‘Best Damn Chocolate Chip Cookie’ recipe on the older blog, so if you’re interested in reading the science behind cookies, head here. If you’re here just for the cookies, no shame in that. You can head straight to the recipe below.
Let me give you a fair warning though- these are bloody addictive! I mean there are worse things you can be addicted to so let’s not be too harsh. We will dance a little and burn it out. Right? Awesome, let’s do this! Happy baking you guys and bon appetite! (P.S let me know what you think of it in the comments below)
Recipe
Serves: 12
Ingredients
110 g unsalted butter
100g packed light brown sugar
40g castor sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
160g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp espresso powder (optional, but recommended)
200g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks (no chips please)
50g salted pretzels, broken into slightly smaller pieces
Method
To brown the butter: In a saucepan, heat the butter until melted. Once the butter has melted, cook for another 2 mins until it starts to brown. The butter will first foam and then brown. You can see burnt milk solids at the bottom of the pan and it will start to smell nutty. That’s when you know it is done. Once lightly browned, remove from heat.
Transfer to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool completely.
Meanwhile, prepare your baking trays. Line two baking trays with parchment/baking paper and keep aside.
Once the browned butter has cooled down, add the two sugars and using a paddle attachment on the stand mixer, beat until well combined for about 2 minutes. Alternatively, you can use a whisk to do this step by hand or a hand held beater.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again until well emulsified.
Add the flour, baking soda and espresso powder to the butter-sugar mixture and mix until all the flour is well incorporated.
Lastly, fold in the chocolate chunks and the pretzels. . It will be a thick cookie dough.
Roll the dough into 2 tbsp balls or use an ice cream scoop to portion the cookies and place them on the prepared baking tray. If you’d like, stick a whole pretzel on each cookie. However, this is not compulsory.
Press lightly with your palm. Don’t flatten them. They will spread once you bake. Refrigerate for 30 mins.
Preheat oven to 190 C (fan-forced) or 200 C (conventional). Bake one tray at a time for 9-11 mins until the edges turn golden brown. Mine took exactly 10 mins but keep an eye on them as they can bake quickly.
Remove from the oven. Sprinkle flakey sea salt for extra goodness. Let cool on the tray for a minute before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. (The cookies will still be very soft when you remove from the oven. Use an offset spatula or a knife to transfer the cookies. They will harden once cooled.) Serve with a cuppa of coffee or enjoy them plain.
If you enjoyed that and tried it at home, please tag me at @myyummyspatula on Instagram so that I can see all your bakes! For more BTS stories, updates and fun, you can follow long here:
