Enjoy a wonderfully balanced sweet and salty fusion with crunchy pretzels, gooey melted chocolate chips, and a tropical flair from shredded coconut in these Loaded Pretzel Cookies!
If you enjoy cookies with different textures like these trail mix cookies, this cookie recipe is for you. These chocolate chip pretzel cookies have a chewy base—thanks to the brown sugar and white sugar combo. Pretzels and M&Ms give each bite a crunch, while melted chocolate chips give it gooey chocolatey goodness.
As for flavors, you’ll be surprised that they all blend together so well! It’s sweet, salty, chocolatey, and coconutty all at the same time, similar to these Caramel Pretzel Cookies. Pair your cookies with cold milk for kids or iced coffee for adults and they’ll love you.
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What makes a good cookie?
A good cookie has a crisp outer layer and a tender, chewy core. It is not too tough or too brittle that it breaks so easily.
For the appearance, the cookies should have a uniform size, shape (not flat or too rounded) and color. In order to get that, the cookies need to be well-portioned and baked evenly in an oven that gives a consistent and accurate baking temperature. A good oven thermometer comes in handy in here.
The flavor shouldn’t be too sweet, and it should taste great whether it’s at room temperature, refrigerated, or warmed.
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Aside from its sweet and salty fusion, and the medley of tastes and textures in it, there’s just more to love about this cookie recipe. I swear, the calories will be worth it!
- It’s easy and fun to make—a great family bonding activity.
- It fills your house with a delicious aroma. Mmm, cookies!
- These cookies are customizable according to your liking.
- You can make them with or without a stand mixer.
- The dough balls freeze well. If you’re serving them for a party, you can make them ahead and bake on the day they’re needed.
These funfetti cookies decorated with sprinkles are also fun to make! Check them out and try them next time with the kids.
🥘 Ingredients
The ingredients you’ll need for this recipe are super simple and easy to find. Some of them you probably already have on hand.
- Butter: Pick a good quality unsalted butter. Some “butters” are actually butter-flavored margarine. To achieve the most premium flavor, be sure to double check the label and get one that’s real butter.
- Granulated sugar and brown sugar: The addition of brown sugar makes the cookies moist and chewy. If you use only granulated sugar, it won’t be as chewy.
- Egg: To check for freshness, place an egg in a bowl of water. A fresh egg will sink; an old one will float because of the air pocket that forms inside the egg. Plus, a fresh egg when cracked open has a firm, intact egg yolk.
- All purpose flour: This type of flour gives the cookies just the right structure. Cake flour will make tender cookies, while bread flour would form more gluten which would make cookies tough.
- Baking powder and baking soda: Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, while baking powder has added acid and cornstarch. Although both are leaveners (they make the cookies rise), you need both because they have different compositions.
- Chocolate chips: I recommend using good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli Premium Baking Chips.
- Miniature pretzel sticks: Of course, the star of this recipe!
- Shredded coconut: For an added chew and fresh flavor.
- M&M candies: They make the cookies even more fun!
See recipe card for quantities.
🔀 Substitutions
Shredded coconut: You can also use desiccated coconut. It’s just a bit finer and drier, but will give pretty much the same flavor.
All purpose flour: Make these cookies gluten free by using a gluten free flour blend instead of all purpose flour.
Pretzel sticks: You can also use pretzel twists or chips, or gluten free pretzels.
🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins
Here are ways to customize your homemade pretzel cookies:
- Mini: Make mini cookies by using a measuring teaspoon to portion them. They will bake faster, so you will need to lessen the baking time.
- Salted caramel: Try switching the chocolate chips with toffee bits, caramel, or butterscotch chips and topping each cookie dough ball with kosher salt or sea salt flakes.
- Peanut butter pretzel cookies: Use a mix of peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips and Reese’s pieces instead of M&Ms.
- Sprinkles: Have your kids decorate their cookies with different sprinkles.
Looking for fun cookies? I recommend these delectable Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies. They’re a peanut butter lovers dream dessert!
🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools
The tools you’ll need for making this recipe are:
- Mixer: Any electric mixer whether handheld or stand will make things easier. But if you don’t have one, you can always use the good old wire whisk and a lot of elbow grease!
- Parchment paper: To make sure that your cookies won’t stick to the pan.
- Cooling rack: Cooling the cookies on wire racks gives them proper air circulation, which helps them achieve the best texture.
🔪 How to Make Loaded Pretzel Cookies
This recipe comes together in 6 simple and easy steps that even beginners can follow. Here’s how to whip up these phenomenal cookies:
Step 1: Prepare wet ingredients
In a large bowl, cream butter and both sugars. Beat them together using a whisk attachment on high speed until the mixture becomes fluffy and pale in color. Then, add the egg and beat again just until incorporated.
Step 2: Add dry ingredients
Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold all ingredients together until a cookie dough forms. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are blended.
Step 3: Add Additional Ingredients
Add the pretzel sticks, shredded coconut, M&Ms, and chocolate chips. Fold them in until incorporated.
Step 4: Chill
Chill the cookie dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes or in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.
Chilling the dough will solidify the fat. The cookies will hold their shape better when you bake them, compared with cookie dough balls that have not been chilled. Skipping this process will result in flat cookies instead of beautifully mounded ones.
Step 5: Preheat and Portion
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, line your baking sheets with parchment. Form 1 1/2 inch cookie dough balls. Place them on the prepared baking sheets 1-2 inches apart.
Step 6: Bake
Bake for 10-12 minutes and allow the cookies to cool on a rack before serving. Enjoy!
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
Of course, nothing beats the classic cookies and milk combo. But if you want, you can serve these cookies as ice cream sandwiches! Take two cookies and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle and voila, you’ve got super fun ice cream sandwiches for snacks.
👩🍳 Pro Tips
Here are some more valuable tips to help you feel like a pro baker!
- Use an ice cream scoop to portion the dough balls. It will help speed up the work, plus your cookies will all be the same size. They will bake evenly and will look pretty on a serving plate.
- Make them ahead. Whip up a batch or two and form them into dough balls. Each time a cookie craving comes, you can just pop out a couple pieces, thaw them for at least 30 minutes, and bake. Freshly baked cookies every time.
- Amp up the appearance of your cookies by topping them with more pretzels, M&Ms, and chocolate chips before baking.
❓ Recipe FAQs
Flat cookies are the result of either skipping the chill time or not having enough flour to hold their shape. The ingredients might not have been accurately measured. Be sure to measure properly.
Beautiful fluffy cookies are achieved when the sugars and butter are creamed well, plus the addition of egg and leaveners. These ingredients help trap air into the dough which expand during the baking, making the cookies rise.
We do not recommend freezing the cookies. They’re best stored at room temperature in an airtight container. However, you can freeze the dough and thaw and bake them later!
Cookies turn out hard due to two factors: overmixing and overbaking.
If the cookies are too soft, they’re probably underbaked or you’ve used less flour than the recipe calls for.
🙏 Pairing
These are my favorite treats to serve with Loaded Pretzel Cookies:
Ready to get cooking? Print off the recipe card below or toggle on Cook Mode to keep your screen from going dark while you follow along on your phone or tablet.
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📋 Recipe
Loaded Pretzel Cookies
Equipment
- Mixer can be stand or hand held mixer, or wire whisk
- Baking sheet
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- 1 cup miniature pretzel sticks broken into small pieces
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup M&Ms
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars. Once creamed, add egg and mix.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold all ingredients together until a cookie dough forms.
- Fold in pretzel sticks, shredded coconut, M&Ms, and chocolate chips.
- Chill the cookie dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes. If using fridge, cool for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Roll the cookie dough into spheres, about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Leave about 1-2 inches of space between each cookie, working in batches if necessary.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, then allow the cookies to cool on a rack before serving.