Thursday, March 10, 2011

Pretzel, Chocolate Chip, and Caramel Cookies


"Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: Deliciusness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good. "

-Mariska Hargitay

I was making chocolate chip and caramel cookies because I had some caramels in the pantry I wanted to put to use. Cookies seemed like a good vehicle. I made a few tasted them and thought they were o.k. They were quite sweet because well, prepared caramels are candy, after all.



I thought they needed another element. Maybe something salty? That's where the pretzels came in. I added some chopped pretzels to the dough, and it added the salty dimension I was missing.

These cookies have lots of chewy caramely bits, chock full of chocolate and pieces of salty pretzels.

I used prepared caramels like I mentioned. You need to chop them pretty small so they won't turn into a molten pool of caramel on your cookie sheet. An arduous task, chopping caramels into pea sized nuggets.


Pretzel, Chocolate Chip and Caramel Cookies

adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (248 g.) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (one cup) (230 g.) butter
1 cup (192 g.) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100 g.) brown sugar
2 eggs
8 oz  (228 g.) chopped chocolate, or 1 1/4 cup chocolate chips
27 caramels (236 g.) such as Kraft, unwrapped and chopped into pea sized pieces, Mine came in 5.25 oz bag, I used a bag and a half, the leftover 1/2 a bag I used for topping
1 1/2 cups (76 g.) chopped pretzels

For Topping

a handful more chocolate chips, chopped caramels, and chopped pretzels

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit, 160/170 Celsius, or Gas Mark 3.


In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture. When all is incorporated, stir in chocolate chips (or chocolate pieces) caramels and pretzels.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto baking sheets covered in parchment paper. (the parchment is important some of mine had melted caramel on them, with the parchment it comes right off.)

Push the cookie down with your hand to flatten a little bit. Add a few bits of caramel, pretzel, and chocolate.

Bake for 12 minutes for a chewy cookie. Bake a little more if you want them more crisp. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheets, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

33 comments:

Pam said...

YUM - this is a keeper, for sure!

Amy said...

Thank you for participating in the Culinary Smackdown Battle! Best of luck to you. These Pretzel chocolate chip and caramel cookies sounds amazing. I love that flavor and texture combinations! Great choice in submitting this recipe to the contest. Have a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend.

Amy
http://utry.it

isabelleathome said...

another great recipe

Teresa@1800 Farmhouse Rd said...

Wow these sound and look great. Anything with caramel in it is good, and anything salty and sweet mixed together is good. Thanks for the recipe.

Nicole Pearce said...

These look delightful.

I found your link on Sweets for a Saturday and thought you might like to know I am giving away a copy of Lara Ferroni’s Doughnut Book, a donut pan, and an extra wide pastry bag for making French crullers on my blog. Stop by and enter to win. Winner will be announced on March 15. http://bit.ly/e29O8c

Amanda said...

These look absolutely delicious!

Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook said...

Those cookies look awesome! has everything, salty and sweet!

Inspired2cook said...

This sounds like a fun cookie! My kids would love them!

Tessa said...

Sweet-salty = awesome. These look great. Do you think you could use the caramel baking bits instead of chopping the caramels?

The Alchemist said...

Tessa- I don't think I've ever seen caramel baking bits in the store, but it sounds like it would be fine.

Mama J said...

Pretzels in cookies = genius.

Allison @ Alli 'n Son said...

This is like all of my favorite ingredients in one cookie. Yum!

I'm hosting a weekly link up, Sweet Tooth Friday, and I'd love to have you share your recipe. http://alli-n-son.com/2011/03/10/vanilla-donuts/

Anonymous said...

if you liked these cookies, you should try momofuku milk bar's compost cookie (similar salty/sweet theme). your cookies look great!

The Alchemist said...

Katherine- Yup, I've seen that recipe, but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for the suggestion.

Cami said...

These look perfect! My favorite combo, sweet and salty. Going to try these out. Thanks!

Bites of Sweetness said...

These cookies look fantastic! I found your post on Sweet as Sugar. Definitely going to try them!

metterklume said...

I made these tonight with a few tweaks based on what I had (about 1.3 sticks of butter, 1 cup white-whole-wheat flour and 1.5 cups AP flour, and fewer caramels) and made them as bar cookies because we have been building our house all weekend and I needed cookies with less effort. I used a 16x12 cookie sheet with parchment, kept out more of the topping ingredients and pressed them into the top, and baked approx. 18 minutes at 325. These were great, and exactly the treat we had been promising ourselves all weekend. Thank you so much!

The Alchemist said...

metterklume-

I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing that with me, a bar cookie is a great idea.

Lisa said...

Yours was the #1 spot for last week's Sweets for a Saturday. I can definitely see why. I don't think anyone could resist this sweet-salty combo of a cookie.

The Better Baker said...

These are a must-try in my kitchen! My mouth is watering just thinking about them. Are you aware you can buy little 'drops' of caramels in a bag? Kraft I believe...That's what I would use to make things a little easier. How creative!

The Alchemist said...

The Better Baker- Yes, someone mentioned using them instead, sounds like a great idea. Thanks!

Sarah said...

These sound amazing! Like a Take 5 candy bar in cookie form. I will definitely try these soon. Thanks for sharing!

Lisa@Pickles and Cheese said...

Wow! Thanks so much for this one. I can't wait to make them. Just found your blog today and LOVE it. Such great and creative recipes!!

The Alchemist said...

Sarah- you're welcome. :)

Lisa- Thanks so much, I appreciate it!

Cheah said...

This is a rather unique recipe because of the pretzel. Will certainly try this out when I've the time. The cookies look real yummy!

Fallon said...

I love sweet and salty cookies. The chocolate, caramel and pretzels are a great combination!

Unknown said...

This recipe looks awesome - I am going to make it tonight.

The Alchemist said...

Heather- Cool, I hope you enjoy it!

Creating Nirvana said...

Yum! I love the flavor combination. I made some pretzel bowls with maple syrup mousse that uses a similar flavor combination that you might enjoy. http://creatingnirvanatoday.blogspot.com/2011/04/pretzel-bowls-with-maple-syrup-mousse.html

The Alchemist said...

Creating Nirvana- Sounds great, I'll check it out!

Kirsten @ Mushki Loves said...

Oh my yumminess! Ok, you're killing me here! Ooh, like a take five candy bar in a cookie...I have to pin this one too!

ms.jellyfish said...

I made these for my church cookie exchange an they were a hit! Very good! other cookies were left but mine were all gone, perfect combination of sweet & salty!

The Alchemist said...

Ms. Jellyfish- I'm so glad you liked them! Thanks for sharing.