If you love the whole salt-sweet combo, these Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Pretzel Cookies are your dreams come true! These homemade cookies are filled with chocolate and butterscotch chips, crunchy pretzels and topped with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. This recipe makes 3 dozen cookies in about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Basically these sea salt chocolate chip butterscotch pretzel cookies are the end all be all cookies. I’m not kidding. They’re like the chocolate chip cookie’s older, cooler and more popular sister. Filled with milk chocolate chips, butterscotch baking chips and salty pretzel pieces and sprinkled with sea salt.
Now it’s been awhile since I made cookies, and being that it was a rainy day I decided to make a recipe I remember seeing on Pinterest over the years. I’ve never made them before this, so I took the base from this cookie recipe and applied it to this one, simply swapping out ingredients.
The end result?
Salty and sweet perfection. The butterscotch with the pretzels is heavenly and the flaked sea salt sprinkled over top helps balance the sweetness of the cookies.
To Make These sea salt chocolate chip butterscotch pretzel cookies You will need:
- unbleached all-purpose four – Adds structure and is the base of the cookie dough.
- baking soda – Creates a gas while baking which helps the cookies rise.
- kosher salt – Use either sea salt or pink himalayan.
- unsalted butter (at room temperature) – Lends richness, tenderness and structure to cookies.
- light brown sugar – Adds sweetness and gives the cookies a chewy texture.
- granulated sugar (white) – Also lends sweetness but will give the cookies a crispy edge.
- pure vanilla extract – Adds warmth and enhances all of the other flavors in this recipe.
- eggs (also at room temperature) – Add structure, leavening and flavor.
- milk chocolate chips – Or chocolate chips of your choice.
- butterscotch baking chips – Lends a rich, sweet and buttery, toasted brown sugar and toffee-like flavor.
- pretzel pieces – Adds delicious texture and flavor.
- flaky sea salt – Lends a pop of salty flavor and crunchy texture.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2-1/4 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon kosher salt, then set aside for a minute.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, add the 2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter with 1 cup of light brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
Then mix on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, and light and creamy.
Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl before adding in the 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Next crack and add in the first egg. Continue to mix on low-speed until the egg is incorporated. Then repeat with the last egg, mixing until incorporated as well.
Scrape down the bowl before adding 1/3 of the flour mixture.
Mix on low until just combined. Then add in 1/3 more of the flour mixture and repeat until the flour is incorporated.
Now comes the fun part! Add in 1 cup milk chocolate chips, 2/3 cup of butterscotch baking chips and 2/3 cup crushed pretzel pieces.
Cover and Chill The Dough:
Use a rubber spatula to mix in the baking chips and pretzels until thoroughly combined, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350℉ (or 180℃) and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
Then use a 2 tablespoon scoop to measure out the cookie dough and place 12 scoops a few inches apart onto the prepare pan. No need to flatten, the hot oven will make that happen.
Slide the pan onto the middle rack of you preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown.
Before you bake all the cookies:
Do me a solid and taste test the cookie dough–only if you like raw cookie dough, of course– it’s pretty spectacular. Which is a sure sign that once baked, the cookies will be too.
Once the cookies have baked, sprinkle with flaked sea salt.
I only had smoked flaked sea salt, but plain is just as delicious.
For aesthetic reasons, I like to press extra chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and pretzel pieces into the top. This is totally optional and really only for looks–but I do it anyways!
Back to these cookies!
You guys, they are so good! I was especially surprise how much I love the butterscotch with the pretzels and chocolate chips.
My family ALL love these and I know you will too.
Enjoy! And if you give these sea salt chocolate chip butterscotch pretzel cookies a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Pretzel Cookies
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, brought to room temperature
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips, I use Ghirardelli*
- 2/3 cup butterscotch chips
- 2/3 cup crushed pretzel pieces
- flaked sea salt
Equipment
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and both sugars. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding in the vanilla and 1 egg. Continue to mix on low until the egg is incorporated. Repeat with the last egg.
- Scrape down the bowl before adding 1/3 of the flour mixture. Mix on low until just combined, add in 1/3 more of the flour mixture and repeat until the flour is incorporated.
- Remove the bowl from your mixer and scrape the cookie dough off of the attachment.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and pretzel pieces.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to a 3 to 4 days.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉ (or 180℃) and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- Use a 2-tablespoon scoop to measure out the chilled dough and onto the prepared pan. Bake on the middle rack of your preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
his recipe was originally posted on August 30th, 2018 and has been updated with clear and concise instructions, new photography and helpful information.
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Laurie:
I can’t wait to try these. Just a heads up to you – under your 3rd photo where you list the ingredients… you list 1/2 cup granulated butter as an ingredient. 🙂
HA! Well that’s a first! Thank you for Kindly pointing that out, Diana. 🙂
OMG!!! I don’t even know what to say to this………. I never actually made any kind of cookies before and I’m exactly your age, but I’ll be making these guys!
YOU MUST E! They are so good!!
These look divine and cannot wait to try these out. I wonder what these would taste like/bake like, if you omitted the butterscotch chips and added caramel chunks. Like a turtle cookie goodness.
I like the way you think, Pam! My husband wants me to try them with peanut butter chips next!
Trying this today. Dough is chilling in the fridge as I’m typing this. We’ll see how it goes. Just wanted to say, your instructions read first incorporate 1/3 of flour, then 1/3 more. You may wish to amend that line with and carry on until the rest of the flour mix is incorporated, or something along these lines, because I kept searching for the moment when to add the last 1/3 of the mixture:)
Hi E! Weird, I actually do write it out in the instructions. “Scrape down the bowl before adding 1/3 of the flour mixture. Mix on low until just combined, add in 1/3 more of the flour mixture and repeat until the flour is incorporated.” I wonder if it didn’t print out on your end?
So… tried them and they are delicious! Was afraid they’d be too sweet but nope, they were great!
One more thing, with respect to the recipe directions, you may wish to say, for newbies (like me), right after you said to use the two table spoons scoop to form balls and put them on the cookie sheet, that the heat from the oven will melt them flat 🙂 Having not made cookies before, I was wondering if I should flatten them out prior to or some such:)))) Haha silly me! Anyway, really neat treat cookies, love the sweet-salt combo and the crunchiness from the pretzels!
Hi E! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies! As a rule, I typically would write (and/or snap a photo) of that step if it was indeed required. I have no problem adding that in to the post, but just as a fyi – if it’s not written out to do it (ie. flattening out the dough), then don’t worry about having to do it. 🙂