These Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies are oversized bakery-style cookies with milk chocolate, dark chocolate, caramel, toffee, pretzels and they are topped with flaky sea salt.
They are crunchy, chewy, sweet, salty, all things you want in a great cookie. They come together in under 30 minutes in one bowl with no refrigeration, and I’ve included plenty of tips and tricks so that your cookies come out just right the first time!
These cookies are bakery-style cookies, meaning they are double the size of regular drop cookies. I love bakery-style cookies so much that I’ve created a whole series of them.
For classic chocolate chip cookies, try these Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies. Or for a spin on the classic, these White Chocolate Pretzel Cookies, or these White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.
If I'm on a pretzel kick, and I want something savory I'll make these Pretzel Slider Buns.
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💡 Recipe Inspiration
These cookies are inspired by Panera’s kitchen sink cookies. A few years ago a couple of guests staying with us left one on my kitchen counter before heading home and I nibbled on it slowly for 4 days. I loved it so much. So I set out to make my own version.
These cookies are great if you’re hopping in the car for a road trip or going on a picnic, especially since they're just like one of those giant cookies that you get at a bakery while you’re on the road.
🌟 Why You’ll Love These Cookies
Oversized: These cookies are double the size of regular drop cookies, more to sink your teeth into.
Mix-ins: These cookies have dark chocolate, milk chocolate, toffee, caramel, and pretzels for so many different kinds of sweets in one cookie.
Easy: Ready start to finish in under 30 minutes, using one bowl, and no refrigeration.
📝 Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies.
- Butter: Softened to room temperature. If you have not taken out your butter ahead of time, place it in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl and microwave for 1 minute at 20% power, flipping it over and adding 30 seconds as needed.
- Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar: These cookies call for more brown sugar than granulated sugar for a stronger hint of that caramel/molasses flavor from the brown sugar.
- Eggs: Use large eggs, pasture-raised if possible.
- Vanilla Extract: Use real vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla. You can find a large bottle of vanilla extract at Costco which will last you for years, for the same price or less than the small bottles at regular grocery stores.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: For leavening.
- Salt: To balance and bring out flavor.
- Flour: Use all-purpose, unbleached flour.
- Bittersweet Chocolate Chips: I like to use Ghirardelli, but any brand will work. You can use bittersweet or semi-sweet or any type of dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate from baking bars.
- Milk Chocolate Chips: I use Ghirardelli, but any brand will work.
- Mini Pretzels: Some brands have super mini pretzels, smaller than the standard “mini” pretzels which work great. If you can’t find those use any pretzels and break them into smaller pieces so that they are easier to incorporate into the dough.
- Toffee: Toffee can sometimes be hard to find. If you can’t find toffee bits or bark, sometimes you can find chocolate bars with toffee. If it's too hard to find, just leave them out, there are plenty of great ingredients in these cookies already.
- Caramels: Use soft caramels cut into thirds or quarters.
- Flaky Sea Salt: For sprinkling on top of the cookies. A box of Maldon flaky sea salt is expensive but will last you for many months if not years.
To learn more about these cookie ingredients, see my Guide to Cookie Ingredients.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
Feel free to use any of the following mix-in ideas to make these cookies your own:
- Candy: M&Ms, Rolos, chopped Twix Bars
- Nuts: Pecans, Almonds, Peanuts
- Other: Chopped baking chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips
🥣 How to Make Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos along with tips and tricks to making Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies, just like the kitchen sink cookies at Panera.
*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.
Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Step 1. Cream the butter and sugar: Add the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and combine.
Baking Tip: If you did not soften your butter ahead of time, don't worry. This can be done quickly in the microwave. Add the butter to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute at 20% power. Flip the butter over and add another 30 seconds at 20% power, adding 30 seconds at 20% power as needed.
Different microwaves have different heat levels, and the size of the bowl and how much butter is in the bowl will also impact the timing. Experiment until you've figured out the timing that works for your setup.
Step 2: Add eggs and vanilla and combine.
Step 3. Add the dry ingredients: Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour and mix until just combined.
Step 4. Add the mix-ins. Add the bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, toffee bits, caramels, and pretzels.
Baking Tip: Use a spoon to stir in the mix-ins. If you use a hand or stand mixer you may break the pretzels into smaller pieces than you want. If you do use a mixer, (mixing this part by hand is easy, I promise), set it to low speed and mix until just combined.
Step 5. Shape the cookies. Use a quarter cup measuring cup to measure a ¼ cup of dough for each cookie. Use your hands to shape the dough into a small hockey puck shape.
Baking Tip: If you see any caramel pieces in the dough towards the bottom or side of the cookies do your best to push them into the middle of the cookies. If the caramel touches the baking sheet it will melt and harden onto the baking sheet instead of turning into a beautiful puddle inside the cookie.
Step 6. Bake the Cookies: Bake the cookies for 10 minutes at 350°F. Remove the cookies and immediately sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Allow the cookies to cool fully on the baking sheet before removing them. Otherwise, they may be too soft and fall apart.
Baking Tip: If there are any puddles of caramel on the baking sheet itself, you can use a stiff spatula to scrape the caramel away from the cookie on the pan while it's still warm so that it's easier to remove the cookie once it has cooled.
The cookies are done when they start to turn a very light brown around the edges. They may still be soft in the middle, which is what you want for chewy cookies. They will firm up slightly on the hot pan after taking them out of the oven.
More Tips and Tricks
Scrape Down the Bowl: Be sure to scrape down the bowl as you are mixing the ingredients to ensure that all the ingredients are incorporated evenly.
Flaky Sea Salt: Add the flaky sea salt immediately after removing the cookies from the oven. The salt will stick to the cookies better when they are warm.
Additional Mix-ins: Before baking the cookies you can add a couple of pretzels or chocolate chips to the tops and sides of the cookie dough rounds. It's a great way to "decorate" the cookies as these pieces will stay visibly on top of the cookies as they bake.
Pretzels: The pretzels in the cookies will get stale after a day or so. If you plan to bake these in advance, leave the pretzels out.
🧊 How to Store and Freeze
To Store: Store the cookies in an airtight container or plastic baggie at room temperature. While the cookies will last up to 3 days, the pretzels in the cookies start to become stale after 1-2 days.
To Freeze: Shape the cookie dough into the same hockey puck rounds and place them in a freezer bag. Store the cookie dough for up to 3 months. To bake, allow the cookies to thaw to room temperature, then place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookie FAQs
You can use any size or flavor pretzel that you like, just be sure that if the pretzels are larger, break them into bite-sized pieces that can be easily incorporated into the cookie dough.
Snyder's sells a version of pretzels called "Itty Bitty Minis" which are super tiny pretzels that I used in this recipe. They are small enough that you do not need to break them into smaller pieces.
Be sure to use soft caramels such as Werther's Original soft caramels.
If your cookies are spreading too much after baking them, place the remaining dough in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to cool the butter. This will help to prevent the remaining cookies from spreading.
If You're Interested In More Cookies, You May Like These:
If you tried these Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!
Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup pretzels, broken into pieces
- ¼ cup toffee bits, chopped
- 10 caramels, cut into thirds or quarters
- Maldon sea salt flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl mix together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and combine.
- Then add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. With a spoon, stir in the bittersweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, pretzels, toffee, and caramels.
- Press the dough into a ¼ cup measuring cup. Invert the measuring cup onto a cookie sheet and remove the cookie dough. Use your hands to shape the dough into a small hockey puck shape. Bake for 10-11 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.Allow the cookies to fully cool on the baking sheet before removing them, otherwise they may fall apart.
