Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ooey gooey, salty and sweet with a delightful crunch. A delicious combination of flavors and textures in one cookie!

As you can probably tell, I love experimenting with flavors and textures to upgrade a chocolate chip cookie to something even more delicious! For this one, I was inspired by a 100 Grand chocolate bar (remember those?), except I subbed the crisped rice for pretzels. I hope you'll try this combination and add it to your own rotation of baked treats!

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Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

• 1 large egg

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup pretzels, broken into bite sized pieces

• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

• 1/4 cup KRAFT caramel bits*

* please see my Amazon list for pictures. Feel free to sub for regular baking caramel squares, and just cut each one into 4 pieces.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking pan with parchment paper.

2. Break your pretzels into bite sized pieces. If using caramel squares, cut each one into 4 pieces.

3. In a large bowl, heat the butter until it is just melted and let cool.

4. Pour both sugars in to the butter and whisk until combined.

5. Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.

6. Add the baking soda and salt and whisk until combined.

7. Spoon the flour into your measuring cups and level off the tops. Add the flour to the mixture and fold with a spatula.

8. Add the pretzels, chocolate chips, and caramel bites to the mixture and fold with a spatula.

9. Scoop the dough unto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

10. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cookie comes out clean.

11. Remove cookies from the oven. They may look puffy, allow them to cool on the pan for 5 minutes.

12. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow them to cool for another 5-10 minutes.

Notes

• Using a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop (medium) should yield about 24 cookies.

• I prefer to use a 3 tbsp scoop, which yields about 16 cookies.

• We don't need to use much salt in the cookie dough, since the pretzels are salted. If you're using unsalted pretzels, use 3/4 tsp of salt in your cookie dough.

• Don't refrigerate your caramel bits (like I did). Or if you feel you must, let them warm to room temperature before adding them to your cookie dough, so that they melt evenly while they bake.

• If your cookies do not come out of the oven puffy, do not leave them on the pan for additional time. Immediately move them to the cooling rack.

Photos