Is there anything better than a warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie? The answer is no…or so I thought, until I had today’s Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookies with Pretzels & Sea Salt. Sweet, salty, crunchy, gooey, chocolatey, peanut buttery, and salty all in one bite. Is your mouth watering yet? If not, let me add in that they’re super easy to make. That did the trick, didn’t it?
Now, I’ve always appreciated and respected a classic recipe I was raised on, a recipe like the Nestle Tollhouse cookie recipe. But with a few small tweaks, and the addition of a salted crunch factor, I promise today’s cookies will be your new go-to. For these chocolate chip peanut butter cup cookies, the trick is to use a small ice cream scoop to scoop all the dough onto a baking sheet. Next, each scoop gets a small pretzel and a generous sprinkle of coarse sea salt. Here, make sure not to press down too hard; use two fingers to keep the pretzel in the center of the cookie as much as possible, and just slightly indented into the dough.
Like baking anything, be sure to remember that each oven heats differently so always watch your cookies making sure to not over-bake them. And always remember that the cookies continue to bake after you take them out of the oven. I always remove them when their edges start to turn golden brown, but their centers still seem a little soft and almost underdone. Once removed, the centers will continue to bake just a smidge, giving you that perfect, ooey-gooey amazing bite. Enjoy! Truly, MKR
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels
- 1 1/2 cup Reese's mini peanut butter cups, halved
- 1 bag (16 oz.) Rold Gold classic tiny twist pretzels
- Coarse sea salt
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips morsels and small peanut butter cups. Drop by ice cream scoop onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Place one pretzel onto each scoop of cookie dough, gently pressing into the dough for a soft indent. Do not press too hard.
- Sprinkle generously with sea salt.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
This sounds like the makings of a Take 5 bar in cookie form. Yum! I have my go-to cookies that I make every Thanksgiving, but I just might have to switch it up this year.
These look fantastic!! Thanks for the idea. I’m always looking for new cookie recipes for the holidays. xox, Haley
Thank you so much for you recipe!! I used Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups as a substitute and crumbled pretzel sticks. So yummy. Thank you.
sounds delicious!!!