Well, well, well – what do we have here? Is that the perfect combination of sweet and salty and ooey gooey goodness? You bet your pretzel buns it is! With another upcoming Holiday in the books, it’s that time of year to dish another one of my favorite cookie recipes. Loaded with peanut butter, caramel and pretzels!
Psst, these make the perfect gift for that foodie in your life. You’re welcome.
The kids will love these, too, because honestly who can resist peanut butter, gooey caramel and crunchy pretzel. At first I was trying to decide if I was going to do a caramel cookie filling, or just caramel chips. So my first batch (with the caramel filling), my cookies ended up staying in balls – literally. They were SO GOOD right out of the oven, as the centers just oozed with caramel, but I knew once they cooled it wouldn’t stay that way. So I ended up chopping up my caramel pieces and adding them to my dough like chips.
Seriously, though, they’re still just as good. So grab the recipe for your next Holiday party, and be sure to stash away some for yourself because these babies will go QUICK in every household.
Soft And Gooey Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies
Soft baked salted caramel peanut butter pretzel cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter (softened) *or Ghee
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (packed)
- 2/3 cup peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups pretzels *preferably the minis
- 1 bag soft caramels ~24 pieces (chopped)
- sea salt for garnish *sprinkle on top before baking
Instructions
- Start by unwrapping your caramel pieces and crushing the pretzels first. The caramel I bought came in tiny 1/4 inch squares, which I then cut each into fours. Place in a bowl and set aside for later. Put your pretzels in a ziploc bag and lightly break using your fist or rolling pin. You don't want crumbs, so be sure not to overly crush them.
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt – set aside. In your mixer, start by combining butter, brown sugar, vanilla and peanut butter and blend on medium speed until smooth.
- Incorporate the egg and egg yolk separately until blended.
- On low speed, slowly add the flour in increments until mixed thoroughly. Then fold in the chocolate chips, pretzels and half the amount of caramel pieces.
- You want to make 1/2 inch balls (which will make about 24 cookies), and lightly flatten before placing on the baking sheet. Leave about 1 1/2 inch between each cookie. Before placing in the oven, garnish the tops with extra caramel and pretzel pieces.
- Bake for no more than 11 minutes (for a chewy texture) – placing immediately on a wire rack to cool (so the bottoms do not overcook on the pan).
- Garnish immediately with sea salt once out of the oven.
