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Chewy salted caramel pretzel cookies are packed with caramel chips and pretzel pieces for the perfect combination of sweet and salty.
You can never have too many cookie recipes, right?
After all, you never know when you’re going to be craving something rich and gooey, like giant s’mores cookies, or a quick and easy classic like no-bake cookies. Or maybe something totally different, like lemon ricotta cookies!
It just really is better to be prepared for any craving you might have by having plenty of recipes at your fingertips, ok?
These chewy salted caramel pretzel cookies are the recipe you’ll want to have on hand when you absolutely need a bite of something sweet and salty.
Perfectly Sweet and Salty Caramel Pretzel Cookies
If you’re a fan of that sweet-salty combination, this is the cookie recipe for you.
I love adding a little bit of flaky sea salt to the top of almost any chocolate chip cookie I make, from my favorite chocolate chip cookies to the Disney Floridian chocolate chip cookies.
And I absolutely love desserts with pretzels in them, like strawberry pretzel salad, peanut butter pretzel dessert, and monster cookie bars.
So when I found myself with several bags of caramel baking chips, I just knew that a chewy cookie combining sweet caramel and salty pretzels had to happen.
To make these salted caramel pretzel cookies, I used my brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe as base. The brown butter adds a nutty flavor to the cookies which pairs beautifully with the caramel.
In place of the chocolate chips, I used caramel baking chips and then stirred in chopped pretzel pieces. And don’t forget a final small pinch of flaky sea salt on the top!
The result is a chewy cookie filled with the rich flavor of caramel and an added crunch from the pretzel pieces. It’s all the things you love about salted caramel sauce in cookie form!
Psst! Can’t get enough of caramel and pretzels together? You have to try caramel pretzel linzer cookies.
How to Make Salted Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Salted caramel pretzel cookies are easy to make, making them a great option any time you need a sweet treat to take to a party or get together.
Ingredients you’ll need
To make this recipe, you will need:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 ounces caramel baking chips
- 1 cup roughly chopped salted pretzel pieces
- flaky sea salt
The majority of these ingredients are pretty standard for any chocolate chip cookie or even white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.
Where these cookies really differ is in the caramel baking chips and the pretzel pieces.
Look for caramel baking chips in the baking aisle near the other baking chips, such as chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.
If you can find salted caramel baking chips, that’s even better! I like to get the salted caramel baking chips from Trader Joe’s when I can find them, but love the Nestle Toll House caramel baking chips as well.
Any salted pretzels will work great for these cookies. I like to press a small pretzel twist into the top of the cookies, but pretzel sticks work just as well since you are chopping them up anyway.
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Before you make the dough for your salted caramel pretzel cookies, you will need to brown the butter.
Cook the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir it often; as it melts, it will bubble and then foam up before browning.
This whole process usually takes about 8 minutes or so. Don’t walk away from it, though, because once it starts to brown, it can become burnt very quickly!
As soon as the butter has browned, take the pan off the heat. Pour the butter into a bowl (don’t forget to scrape the browned milk solid bits off the bottom of the pan!) and let it cool for 15 minutes.
Once the butter has cooled, use a mixer to combine it with the sugars and salt. Mix until smooth, then add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda. Slowly add this to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
Fold in the caramel chips and pretzel pieces, then cover the dough and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or for up to 24 hours.
When it’s time to bake the salted caramel pretzel cookies, let the dough rest at room temperature while you preheat the oven. Use a medium (1.5 tablespoon) cookie scoop to portion the dough onto lined baking sheets.
I like to press a few pretzel pieces or a small pretzel twist into the top of each dough ball before baking, but this step is optional.
Bake the cookies at 350°F for 12-13 minutes. They’re ready when the edges have barely started to brown and the centers still appear a bit undercooked.
As soon as you pull the cookies out of the oven, sprinkle the tops with a bit of flaky sea salt. Let them cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Helpful Resources
- If this is your first time browning butter, don’t stress. I have a whole post that walks you through how to brown butter to help you feel confident in this step!
- Make sure you know how to measure flour correctly. Nailing this step will help your salted caramel pretzel cookies turn out perfect every time.
- Ran out of brown sugar? Make a simple brown sugar substitute to use instead.
- Did your brown sugar harden in the pantry? Check out my tips for how to soften brown sugar and save yourself a trip to the store.
- If your cookies don’t come out as perfect circles, it’s ok! I have a trick for making perfectly round cookies that you can use if you want yours to be picture perfect. (But they’ll taste incredible either way!)
Storage Tips
Salted caramel pretzel cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze them in an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Another option is freezing the dough balls before baking. That way, you can bake just as many cookies as you want, whenever you have the craving for them!
Check out my post on how to freeze cookie dough for tons of info on that process.
Recipe FAQs
Caramel baking chips can be found in the baking aisle by the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.
Note that I prefer the caramel chips over the caramel bits for this recipe. The chips are shaped just like a chocolate chip, while the bits are small balls.
I really recommend letting the dough chill for at least 2 hours before baking these salted caramel pretzel cookies.
If you skip chilling the dough, the cookies spread too much and the texture just isn’t right. 2 hours in the refrigerator makes for the perfect chewy texture.
I do think letting the dough rest for longer – overnight is my preference – gives the cookies and even better flavor and texture, but I know it’s hard to wait that long!
Salted Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 ounces caramel baking chips
- 1 cup roughly chopped salted pretzel pieces
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Cook butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it foams up and then browns. This should take about 6–8 minutes. Don’t take your eyes off it because no one wants burnt butter bits in their cookies. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer or wooden spoon (yes, you can mix this dough by hand) combine the sugars, salt and cooled brown butter. Mix until smooth.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Stir together the flour and baking soda and gradually add it to the butter mixture. Mix until it just comes together, but don’t overmix. Fold in the caramel chips and pretzel pieces. If making the dough by hand, the chips may not seem to mix into batter very well due to the melted butter, so I like to place the dough into a gallon zip-top bag and kind of roll the dough into a log to push the chips into the dough while it chills.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I typically shoot for overnight, but you can go as long as 24 hours.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Let the dough sit out at room temperature while the oven preheats. It will be quite hard until it sits out for a bit. Use a medium cookie scoop (about 1.5 tablespoons) to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. If desired, press some additional pretzel pieces or a small pretzel twist into the top of the dough balls.
- Bake cookies in preheated oven for 12-13 minutes, or until the edges barely start to brown. The centers will appear undercooked, this is what you’re looking for. At this point, give them each a light sprinkling of flaky sea salt. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Video
Notes
Helpful Resources:
- If this is your first time browning butter, don’t stress. I have a whole post that walks you through how to brown butter to help you feel confident in this step!
- Make sure you know how to measure flour correctly so your cookies turn out perfect every time.
- Ran out of brown sugar? Make a simple brown sugar substitute to use instead.
- Did your brown sugar harden in the pantry? Check out my tips for how to soften brown sugar and save yourself a trip to the store.
- If your cookies don’t come out as perfect circles, it’s ok! I have a trick for making perfectly round cookies that you can use if you want yours to be picture perfect. (But they’ll taste incredible either way!)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
