Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup peanut butter (See Notes)

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1 tsp GF vanilla

1 cup flour or 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free flour or 1 cup of your favorite GF flour blend + ¼ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour already contains)

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 cups chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)

1 cup mini pretzel twists or 1 cup GF pretzel twists, gently crushed (see notes)

½ cup GF caramel sauce (I use Trader Joe’s Fleur del Sel)

Coarse sea salt (to sprinkle on top)

Whisk together flour, xanthan gum (if using), baking soda, baking powder, & salt. Set aside.

With stand mixer beat together butter, peanut butter & brown sugar until creamy.

Add egg & vanilla. Beat until well combined.

With mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture until completely incorporated.

Stir in chocolate chips, pretzels & caramel sauce. (I recommend doing this by hand)

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet lightly sprayed with GF baking spray or lined with parchment paper (my personal preference).

Or (see Notes)

Cover bowl tightly & chill for 1-2 hours. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet lightly sprayed with GF baking spray or lined with parchment paper

Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with a little sea salt right away (it sticks better when the cookies are warm)

Cool 1-2 minutes on pan, then move to wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes:

This recipe is adapted from a recipe on cookingwithcocktailrings.com/2016-chocolate-caramel-peanut-butter-pretzel-cookies. Thanks Kylie!

These cookies have a lot going on in them! That’s why I use smooth peanut butter. I think chunky complicates the texture. Also, the dark brown sugar adds to the depth of the flavor, but regular brown sugar would work too. And semi-sweet chocolate chips are just the right amount of chocolate – dark chocolate is too much & milk chocolate is a little too creamy for this cookie.

When breaking up the pretzels, you can do it by hand or put them in a ziplock bag & gently break them up with a mallet, rolling pin, or the back of a spoon. They should end up as small pieces (not chunks, but not powder).

To refrigerate dough or not? Both methods are good! My personal preference is to refrigerate them because I think they have a better texture. But the choice is yours! Skipping the refrigerating step, means you get to eat them sooner!

Left - not refrigerated Right - refrigerated