Sweet and salty ingredients come together to make these scrumptious Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies. A better-for-you cookie recipe made with less sugar, rolled oats, and natural peanut butter (as well as gluten-free and dairy-free ingredient options). Get ready to sink your teeth into the most delicious, soft, warm, peanut buttery cookie!
The addition of pretzels takes the tasty duo of peanut butter and chocolate to the next level!
The bits of pretzels add a nice little crunch to every bite, as well as a hint of salt to complement the sweet ingredients. You simply can’t go wrong with the combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and pretzels! These cookies are one you’ll want to try! They’re made with less sugar than a traditional cookie, one cookie contains just 9 grams of sugar! Additionally, you can make these cookies gluten-free and/or dairy-free if you desire.
You’ll love that this recipe is made with ingredients that are easy to find, and possibly ones you already have on hand. As we have continued to grow our audience we are making our best effort to create and share recipes that include ingredients that are accessible and easy to find in even the smallest grocery stores. Of course, we will always provide substitutions as we are able to fit all dietary preferences.
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Ingredients needed to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
- Old-fashioned rolled oats
- All-purpose flour – substitute a 1-to-1 gluten-free all-purpose flour for gluten-free.
- Organic brown sugar – may substitute coconut sugar.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Natural peanut butter – one that is natural and has a drizzly consistency at room temperature with the only ingredients being peanuts and a little salt (like this one). If it has a thicker consistency, simply heat just until smooth.
- Unsalted butter – substitute coconut oil for dairy-free.
- Whole eggs – large eggs work best.
- Pure vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips and/or chunks
- Crushed pretzels – substitute gluten-free pretzels for gluten-free.
How to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
This recipe comes together all in one bowl. First you’ll add the dry ingredients to a medium bowl, give it a quick stir, and then add the wet ingredients. If the peanut butter you’re using is not a drizzly consistency, you’ll want to heat it up just slightly. Not too hot otherwise it will melt the chocolate chips.
Next, you’ll mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until well combined. The dough will be pretty thick so use your muscles! Now it’s time to fold in the chocolate chips and pretzel bits. Once those are mixed in grab a cookie scoop and scoop the dough onto two cookies sheets lined with parchment. The dough will make about 2 dozen cookies, give or take.
The final step before baking is to press the dough mounds down and smooth the size to form a cookie shape. Since the dough is quite thick, this is an important step in order to get that nice cookie shape. You may need to wet your hands with water or spray with cooking spray so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. If you wish, top the cookies with a few extra pretzel bits and/or chocolate chips.
Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes in a 350℉ oven. Allow to set on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
How to store Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. No need to refrigerate. Depending on what brand of pretzels you use, the pretzels may soften over time. For longer storage, you can freeze in an airtight container, with rows of cookies divided by parchment paper, for up to 3 months.
The best gluten-free pretzels
The two brands of gluten-free pretzels we love are Quinn Snacks Pretzels and Glutino Pretzels. Both are very similar to the gluten containing pretzel options as they have a very similar to taste, texture, and crunch.
Our favorite gluten-free all-purpose baking flour
This recipe can be made with either regular all-purpose flour of choice (including a whole wheat flour) or an all-purpose gluten-free flour. I want to emphasize that not all gluten-free flours are created equal. Here are the two that we use and recommend as we feel they produce the best results: Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour and King Arthur Gluten-free Measure to Measure Flour.
Note: coconut flour is not a 1-to-1 ratio when it comes to using it as a substitute for another flour as it absorbs liquid much differently. Do not use coconut flour as your gluten-free flour in this recipe (or in any baked good recipe that doesn’t call for it). This recipe has been tested with regular all-purpose flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1-t0-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour.
Yes, absolutely. Simply substitute the butter for coconut oil and you’ll have yourself a delicious dairy-free cookie. Really any recipe that calls for butter can be substituted with coconut oil to make it fit your dietary preferences. It will change the flavor just a bit but it will still be delicious. If you are one who prefers to avoid any chance of the cookies having a coconut flavor, we recommend using a refined coconut oil option. Additionally, you’ll want to make sure the chocolate chips are dairy-free as well. For that we recommend Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels.
You bet! Simply substitute sunflower butter for the peanut butter. The cookies will likely turn a slight green color.
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies
Sweet and salty ingredients come together to make these scrumptious Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies. A better-for-you cookie recipe made with less sugar, rolled oats, natural peanut butter as well as gluten-free and dairy-free ingredient options. Get ready to sink your teeth into the most delicious, soft, warm, peanut buttery cookie!
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cup (164 grams) old fashioned rolled oats
- ⅔ cup (84 grams) all-purpose flour (may substitute a 1-to-1 gluten-free all-purpose flour for gluten-free)
- ⅔ cup (132 grams) brown sugar, packed (may substitute coconut sugar*)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 cup (250 grams) natural peanut butter (**see recipe notes below)
- ½ stick unsalted butter (1/4 cup), melted (substitute coconut oil for dairy-free)
- 2 whole large eggs
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips or chunks
- ⅔ cup pretzel twists, roughly chopped (substitute gluten-free pretzels for gluten-free)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.
- Next add the peanut butter, melted butter, whole eggs, and pure vanilla extract and mix until combined. Dough will be thick.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and/or chunks and pretzels.
- With a cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared pans.
- With hands press dough down the dough mounds and smooth edges. May need to dampen hands with water or spray with a little cooking spray to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Start checking at 12 minutes – depending on flour used, baking time will vary a bit. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.
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Notes
*If using coconut sugar, you may need to add a few drops of water to the dough for it to come together
**We recommend a natural peanut butter that has a drizzly consistency at room temperature with the only ingredients being peanuts and possibly a little salt. If the peanut butter you’re using has a thicker consistency, simply heat it in the microwave or on the stove-top just until smooth (you don’t want it too hot otherwise the chocolate chips will melt when they’re added to the dough).
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 180
- Fat: 11 g
- (Sat Fat: 4 g)
- Sodium: 95 mg
- Carbohydrate: 19 g
- (Fiber: 3 g
- Sugar: 9 g)
- Protein: 5 g
Dietary
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I just made this and I’m curious why the dough was more on the crumbly side. Hard to keep it all together?
Hi Joann! I’m not sure. I made two batches today – one with gluten-free flour and one with all purpose and both batches turned out great! The peanut butter I use is pretty drizzly so I’m wondering if that could the problem. If the peanut butter you use isn’t drizzly, you’ll want to heat it up just slightly to make it a thinner consistency. Another thought is the if you used gluten-free flour. They do not work equally. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-free Baking Flour in all of my gluten-free baking. Hope that helps!
Turned out great, and picky hubby likes them more than I do! I only had quick oats, dark brown sugar, and regular store peanut butter to use, so I put an extra 1/4 cup melted butter into the mix. I broke up stick pretzels with my hands instead of chopping so there were some nice chunks here and there. The 1/4 cup extra butter made them easy to handle and form by hand with no sticking. They took almost twice as long to bake (I probably made them too large as they all fit on one cookie sheet) but they weren’t awfully dry, just a bit dry. Will continue to play with this one, especially since it’s a great way to get rid of things that normally “sit” around our house! Thank you!
Hello,
Would quick oats work? Thanks!
We haven’t tested them with quick oats but it should work just fine.
Made the for dairy free and gluten free crowd and they are sure to be a hit. I had to keep them in a bit longer than 15 minutes and since the dough is dark it’s always a challenge to determine how ‘browned’ they should be. Swapping out some holiday regulars and replacing it with this recipe. Thank you ladies!
I made this recipe with ingredients as stated only I had pretzel sticks and not twists so some of the broken sticks were too long to adhere well to the dough. Taste was great just what we were looking for a sweet and salty treat. I contemplated adding shredded coconut but didn’t since it was my first time making these cookies. I will make these cookies again even though the dough was a bit crumbly and adding the coconut. I used a 2 Tblsp cookie scoop so one batch made 36 cookies which I think is better than 24 cookies if I’m going to bake cookies I want more than 24 out of one batch. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi there! This could have been related to the consistency of your peanut butter. Try adding a couple tablespoons of water to the dough. That may help! Thanks for the feedback!