My mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies. I know, I know. That’s something that most people could probably argue, but I have a whole family of Italians that agree with that fact. There are some incredible cooks in my family, and even with her recipe, none of them can manage to get her chocolate chip cookies just right.
I’m not sure what it is that no one else can replicate. I never had a problem with her recipe. In fact, her cookie recipe was the first I ever modified. It used to just be that I’d add peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips, but then, I started to toss in oats, substitute the semi-sweet chocolate chips for a combination of milk and dark, and just about doubled the number of good bits that went into them.
It was my first lesson in re-working a recipe and I didn’t even know it at the time. Eventually, thanks to my friend Ade who hates eating things with nuts in them, I started swapping the walnuts in my mother’s recipe for pretzels. The pretzels still give that slight crunch that the nuts used to have, but they also add a saltiness that perfectly complements the sweetness of the cookies.
That’s when these double chocolate chip cookies with pretzels were born. It’s a classic chocolate chip cookie, but instead of the cold butter in my mom’s recipe, I used brown butter for a deeper, slightly nutty flavor. I put in a tiny bit of cinnamon, just to give the cookies that thing–that thing that you recognize when you eat it, but just can’t quite pinpoint until you know what it is. These two things combined give these chocolate chip cookies another layer that almost makes them feel a bit more sophisticated when, really, they’re still a simple classic.
Of course, you mix in a full cup of combine milk and dark chocolate and a 1/2 cup (or really just a handful) or pretzels. I like to use either pretzel sticks or mini twists and just slightly break them so that large chunks of pretzels can be found in each bite. If they’re too small, I find they get lost in the cookie, and really, these cookies are so much better when you can see and taste those pretzels!
These go great with a cup of milk or some coffee. Some days, you just need to turn to a classic to get your cookie fix and these are exactly what you need to hit that home-y, comforting spot.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20-22 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1/2 cup brown butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup bittersweet/dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup pretzels broken, but not crushed
Ingredients
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- Brown the butter: Cut your butter evenly into cubes and line them on the bottom of a medium saucepan. Over medium heat, melt the butter. Allow it to bubble and foam for about five minutes, stirring occasionally with a spatula to keep the heat evenly distributed and to keep the milk solids from sticking to the bottom of the pan. After five minutes, remove the pan from the heat and swirl for 15 seconds. It should start to smell a bit nutty and the color of the butter will be noticeably darker. Pour the butter into a small bowl or ramekin and stick in the freezer for ten minutes to keep it from cooking. There will be brown grainy bits at the bottom, you want to scrape all of that out of the pot--that's where most of the flavor comes from.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, prepare your chocolate chips and pretzel pieces.
- Once the butter has cooled, place it in a mixing bowl with the sugars. With a stand mixer, hand mixer, or even a wooden spoon, mix the sugars and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in your egg, mix to combine. Add the vanilla, mix to combine.
- Add in your dry ingredients, half at a time, mixing until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and pretzels. Leave the cookie dough to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a large ice cream scoop, spoon out your dough onto the lined baking sheets. Sprinkle the tops with a little bit of sea salt.
- Bake 20-22 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately transfer over to a cool baking sheet.