Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

These cookies grew out of an old dream, and a new desperation to fulfill it.

I've been wanting to put pretzels and chocolate chips into a cookie forever. (I dream big). But buying pretzels was never on the top of my to-do list, and I never saw any in public or private that I could horde to bring home and bake with.

Then the boy turned 5 on the 13th (still in shock my baby is 5!), and I had a bunch of leftover snacks from his party. While I took care of seeing that all the Cheezies and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were gone in record time, the pretzels were lagging a bit behind, and I didn't have a spot in my cupboard to store the giant bag. I think you see where this is headed...

Anyway, they turned out amazing! The salt gives them a good edge, and cuts down on the sweetness of the chocolate. Now I'm trying to think up other ways to use a couple more cups of pretzels. Pie crust? Brownies?

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks

1 cup broken pretzel bits

Directions:

If you are feeling organized, meticulous, and/or up to cleaning extra bowls, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) in a medium bowl. If you are none of these things (me), don’t both and skip to Step 2.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a large bowl and a wooden spoon/hand mixer. Whatever gets the job done; these are cookies, not a soufflé for the Queen) cream the butter and sugars. Once the mixture is appropriately mixed and reasonably light, add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix mix mix until it turns a slightly lighter colour, you don’t see egg-y streaks, or you run out of patience; whichever comes first will do.

If you pre-mixed the dry ingredients-- bravo! -- you can add these to the wet ingredients now. Mix them until everything is nicely, but not overly, combined. If you did not pre-mix, add your baking soda and salt, and give it a quick mix to ensure they get dispersed nicely. Then add the and flour. Mix until things are a uniform colour.

Stir in the chocolate chips, and then the pretzel bits. Chill the dough (or don’t-- you be the judge of how quickly you need these in your mouth here) for a half hour or so.

Plunk spoonfuls of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.