Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

There she is. Pretty isn't she?

That's a chocolate chip cookie, stuffed with peanut butter chips and pretzels and sprinkled with sea salt.

You know, 'cause I like to be excessive.

I found the inspiration for these here at Sugar Cooking and then went a little rogue.

Since the blogger over at Sugar Cooking admittedly wasn't thrilled with her base cookie dough recipe I didn't follow hers. I used my recipe (adapted from the America's Test Kitchen recipe).

Side note: Have you bought The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook (2001-2011) yet?

It makes my skirt fly up.

I'm just saying.

So anyway, back to the cookies.

I'll post the recipe below so you can join me in sabotaging whatever diet you may be on.

If I'm going down I'm taking you all with me!

And why not when you can enjoy these??



They rocked my world.

And made me forget that I am supposed to be counting calories.

I counted the calories - I counted them all the way up into triple digits.

Totally worth it, if you ask me.

Now, if you ask Rusty, they were too sweet.

Which is silly given the amount of salt that goes into these.

He's the smartest man I know, and I trust him for lots of things - cookie critic is not one of them.

I call them delicious and declare you leave your computer right now and head to the kitchen to whip up a batch.

Bon Apetit!
(oops, too much Julie and Julia last night!)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
(original base cookie recipe adapted from America's Test Kitchen)

Makes about 18 large cookies

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
3/4 cup pretzel pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour some pretzels in a large plastic bag and use your hands to gently break them into pieces. Measure 3/4 cup pretzel pieces into a medium bowl. Add chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and set aside.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until smooth. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.

Mix in the pretzels and chips.

Divide the dough into 18 portions and roll them between your hands to make balls. Holding one dough ball with your fingers, pull the dough apart into two equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with the jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough's uneven surface.

Place the cookies on a baking sheet, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart.

Sprinkle cookies with sea salt.

Bake for 16-19 minutes. Cookies should be light golden brown, with soft centers.

Now, and this is important.

Eat one right out of the oven.

It's right here in the recipe - and you follow recipes, right?

You will not regret it. Your mouth will not regret it.

Your hips may regret it, but we're not listening to them today.

And maybe you want to make 19 cookies instead of 18 so that can be your little secret.

I'm just saying.

I won't tell.