Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus get great new recipes from us every week!
Sweet and salty caramel pretzel cookies – your new favorite treat. Caramel pretzel cookies are a delightful combination of sweet, salty, and crunchy. Loaded with caramel bits, pretzel pieces, and creamy white chocolate, these cookies blend flavors and textures perfectly. Whether you’re baking for a holiday cookie swap or simply craving something indulgent, these cookies are guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth.
The Chemistry of Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Baking cookies is a careful balance of ingredients and techniques. Here’s how this recipe delivers the perfect cookie every time:
- Butter and Shortening Duo- Combining butter and shortening gives these cookies the best of both worlds: the rich flavor of butter and the structure provided by shortening, resulting in a slightly chewy texture with crisp edges.
- Brown Sugar for Chewiness- The moisture in brown sugar enhances the chewiness of the cookies while also adding a caramel-like depth of flavor.
- Chilling the Dough- Resting the dough in the fridge allows the flavors to meld and prevents the cookies from spreading too much during baking.
- Mix-Ins for Texture- The caramel bits melt into gooey pockets, the pretzel pieces add crunch, and the white chocolate provides a creamy contrast, making every bite exciting.
- Topping with Raw Sugar- Sprinkling raw sugar on top while the cookies are hot adds a sweet crunch and a little sparkle to the finished treat.
Ingredients for Homemade Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Raw Sugar
Adds a finishing crunch and sparkle to the baked cookies.
Chopped Pretzel
Adds a salty crunch that balances the sweetness.
Kraft Caramel Bits
Melt into gooey pockets of sweetness throughout the cookie
White Chocolate Chips
Made of milk, sugar and cocoa butter. No actual cocoa solids are used in white chocolate. White chocolate is sweeter than milk or dark chocolate.
Vanilla Extract
When using pure vanilla extract, as opposed to imitation flavoring, it will add the deep rich flavor that everybody wants in a treat.
Eggs
Adds both a protein (egg whites) and fat (egg yolks). The egg whites help with rising because, when foamed, little air pockets get trapped inside the egg white mixture. The water content in egg whites encourages steam while baking, which helps with gluten formation, resulting in nice and thick treats. Egg yolks have emulsifying properties that bring batters and doughs together and help them from collapsing. Unless otherwise specified, always use large eggs.
Granulated Sugar
Adds sweetness, provides a caramelized flavor and crisp texture. Sugar assists with rising when creamed with butter. It helps add moisture to your treat and helps it evenly spread as it melts into a liquid in the heat of the oven. Sugar also helps with naturally preserving your baked treat.
Brown Sugar
Is granulated sugar with a little molasses mixed in. Molasses is a somewhat smoky flavored natural sweetener, which makes brown sugar a bit sweeter than granulated sugar. Brown sugar draws more moisture into your treat, keeping it softer for longer. It’s also more acidic, which means it will help activate your baking soda.
Shortening
Being 100% fat, it provides a flakier texture and prevents spreading because it does not melt down in the oven.
Unsalted Butter
It is always important to use unsalted butter when baking. If you use salted butter, you have no way of knowing how much salt you are adding to your dough or batter and it will result in an overly salted treat.
Butter adds fats to your dough or batter which helps with moistness, flavor and texture. Butter melts at body temperature, which creates a ‘melt in your mouth’ sensation.
When baking with butter, the temperature is important. If the butter is too warm, your treat will melt too fast and overspread in the oven, leaving you with a greasy, flat mess. If your butter is too cold, it will have the opposite problem and not melt down enough, leaving your treat too thick.
Fine Sea Salt
Enhances flavor, adds balance, masks any bitter flavors. Salt is the most powerful and oldest preservative. Always make sure to use fine sea salt so it melts down at the right speed in the heat of the oven. If you use larger granule salt, it will not melt down fully when baked and will leave salt crystals throughout your treat, making it crunch like you dropped it into sand. All of my favorite salts are from Redmond and I have a discount code for you to get 15% off.
Baking Soda
Elevates the pH level of your batter or dough. It increases the spread in your treat and encourages browning, which gives the crispy outside and soft inside texture that everyone loves. Baking soda needs both an acid and a liquid to react. Things that will activate your baking soda are: vinegar, fruit juice, molasses, brown sugar, tartar, buttermilk and sour cream. Baking soda only reacts once, which is right when it’s mixed into your batter or dough. The soda creates little air bubbles all throughout your treat. When the air bubbles get heated up in the oven, they expand.
All-purpose Flour
Builds structure as it absorbs liquids and expands. All-purpose flour falls in the middle of bread flour (high in gluten) and cake flour (low in gluten). It’s exactly what it is named, all-purpose, the most universal flour that can be used in most baked goods.
Homemade Caramel Pretzel Cookie Instructions
Cookie Dough
- Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup shortening, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Mix until combined, then beat on high for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Incorporate eggs and vanilla. Stir in 2 eggs and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Mix just until combined, being careful not to over-mix.
- Add dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until the dough comes together.
- Fold in mix-ins. Gently fold in 1 bag of Kraft caramel bits, 8 ounces of chopped white chocolate, and 1 cup of chopped pretzels.
- Chill the dough. Cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
Baking
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line light-metal colored cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop and bake. Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centers look set.
- Top with raw sugar. Sprinkle raw sugar on top of the cookies while they’re still hot from the oven. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Storage Tips
Room Temperature: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Freezing: Freeze unbaked cookie dough balls or fully baked cookies for up to 3 months. If you freeze the cookie dough balls, bake from frozen and add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
Reheating: Warm cookies slightly in the microwave for a gooey caramel center.
Making Ahead
You can prepare the cookie dough and refrigerate it up to 24 hours in advance. Scoop and bake when ready. Baked cookies can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container or freezer.
Recommended Products
Gooey Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Sweet and salty desserts have always been my weakness, like regular caramel pretzels; these caramel pretzel cookies are no exception. The first time I made them, I was inspired by a similar cookie I found at Silver Dollar City Theme Park in Missouri. The gooey caramel, crisp pretzel bits, and creamy white chocolate create a texture and flavor combination that’s impossible to resist. They’ve quickly become my go-to cookie for holiday gatherings and cozy nights in.
Caramel pretzel cookies are a delightful combination of salty, sweet and crunchy. These cookies are guaranteed to become a new family favorite, perfect for the holiday season or as a decadent treat anytime. Happy baking!
Trouble Shooting
Can you use regular caramel instead of caramel bits?
Yes, you can chop regular soft caramels into small pieces and use them as a substitute for caramel bits.
What kind of pretzels work best for these cookies?
Mini pretzels or pretzel sticks chopped into smaller pieces work best, as they distribute evenly throughout the dough.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus get great new recipes from us every week!
Caramel Pretzel Cookies with White Chocolate
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 bag Kraft Caramel Bits
- 8 ounces white chocolate chopped
- 1 cup pretzels chopped
- raw sugar to top
Instructions
- In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, mix your 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar.
- Once combined, beat the sugar mixture on high for 1-2 minutes until lighter in color and fluffy in texture
- Fold in 2 eggs & 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Be sure not to over-mix.
- Pour in 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda & 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Mix until the dough comes together & then stop
- Fold in 1 bag Kraft caramel bits, 1 cup chopped pretzels, and 8 ounces chopped white chocolate
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap & place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours to rest
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees
- Scoop cookie dough with a large cookie scoop onto a light metal colored cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
- Bake for 8-9 minutes
- Sprinkle raw sugar on top of the cookies as soon as you remove from the oven and they are still hot.
- Allow to set for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheets
- Transfer cookies off of the cookie sheet and enjoy
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
I’d love to see it! Follow @_mrs.madi_ on Instagram and tag your photos with #mrsmadi.
