These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are everything you love about chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies with a crunchy pretzel twist. They’re made with basic pantry staples and baked in the oven until golden brown and chewy. The perfect combination of creamy peanut butter, gooey chocolate chips, and crispy, salty pretzels.
Salty Meets Sweet in These Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies
If you thought peanut butter cookies couldn’t get any better, try adding chocolate chips and pretzels. Seriously, these are a scrumptious combination that you’ll want to make again and again.
These cookies are like a cross between a chocolate chip cookie and a peanut butter cookie with the perfect texture from bits of crispy pretzels throughout.
The cookie dough is as simple as making regular peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies and produces a chewy cookie that’s a little crisp on the edges. By adding pretzels you get a salty crunch in most bites and a little flaky sea salt on top brings out the flavors.
This is a dough that needs to be refrigerated, or it will spread too much, so don’t skip this step.
You’ll get a warm, gooey cookie with a little bit of crunch from the pretzels for a salty-sweet treat. These are great to take to the pool or on a road trip because they won’t get melty or make your fingers sticky. If you like a bit of salt with your cookies, you could also try some cookies with potato chips.
I added pretzels to these cookies years ago and forget how good they are. I shipped this batch off to my girls, they travel well in the mail.
Your New Favorite Sweet and Salty Cookie
Here’s why you’ll never settle for basic cookies ever again:
- Salty and sweet: The crunchy pretzels, creamy peanut butter, and melty chocolate are a match made in heaven.
- Quick: Besides chilling the dough, these cookies come together in about 30 minutes, which is great for last-minute cravings.
- Customizable: Swap out the chocolate chips or toss other add-ins to make these cookies your own.
Everything You Want in a Cookie and More
These are the 3 main things you will need for this cookie recipe. Don’t forget to check the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and measurements.
- Peanut butter: The key ingredient for that classic peanut butter flavor. Creamy peanut butter provides the best texture. Don’t use natural peanut butter, as it can affect the texture.
- Pretzels: Pretzels add a crunchy texture and a salty bite that complements the sweet and creamy peanut butter and chocolate. If you can find the tiny ones, they are easier to break up into small pieces.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: These give the cookies a chocolate chip cookie feel. You can swap these out with other types of baking chips if you like, such as butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, etc.
These Salty, Sweet Cookies Come Together Easily
Step One: Mix the Dry Ingredients
Whisk together the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set it aside. This helps get everything ready to mix into the dough.
Step Two: Cream the Butter and Peanut Butter
Pro tip: Room temperature butter will mix much more easily than cold butter. Make sure to learn how to soften butter quickly if you forget to let the butter sit out.
Step Three: Add Eggs and Vanilla
Mix in the eggs and vanilla until the dough is creamy and smooth. This helps bind everything together.
Step Four: Combine the Dry and Wet Ingredients
Pro tip: You can customize these add-ins however you like. Swap out the chocolate chips for another type of baking chip, or add nuts or other candies to the dough. Just don’t add too much, or the cookies may not bake correctly.
Step Six: Chill the Dough
Chill the cookie dough for a couple of hours to keep the cookies from spreading too much when baking.
Step Seven: Bake
Short and Long-Term Storage for the Freshest Cookies
Store your leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Make and Bake Later
If you want to prep the cookies ahead of time, you can scoop the dough into balls, place them on a baking sheet, and freeze until solid. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container. Let them thaw on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator before baking.
Don’t Forget!
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Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup pretzels broken into pieces
- sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside.
- Use a mixer to beat the peanut butter, butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Reduce speed to low and stir in flour mixture just until combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips and pretzels.
- Chill dough for 2 hours
- Take out chilled dough and preheat the oven to 350º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a large cookie dough scoop to place cookie dough balls on top of parchment paper. Lightly sprinkle cookie dough with sea salt.
- Bake 10-12 minutes until cookies are brown around the edges.
Notes
- This recipe makes 18 very large bakery size cookies. If making them smaller, reduce the cooking time slightly.
- To get rounder cookies, take a large glass and swirl it around the hot cookies on the cookie sheet as soon as they come out of the oven.
