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Wholesome Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies – super easy, but yet still oh-so-delicious. These are some of the best cookies. Decadent, extra peanutty, and loaded with oats, chocolate chunks, salted pretzels and made without any refined sugars or gluten. Every bite has a chewy crisp edge with a soft and chocolatey center, making them extra yummy! There’s absolutely nothing not to love about these salty, sweet peanut butter cookies. We just adore them!
I guess I’m under the belief that you can never have too many cookie recipes. Sometimes it shocks me how many wonderful, delicious combinations there are to try. From decadent to healthier, and from classic to trendy, there are just so many types of cookies to be made. Just when you feel like you’ve baked up every combination, another one comes to mind.
I love a classic cookie, but I love also love testing new recipes. And you never know, you may just discover your new go-to cookie, as I did with these!
These are VERY SPECIAL. I’m still in awe of how delicious these are and the ingredients used to make them. As I said above, I really adore these cookies.
When it comes to baking I’ve said it before, sometimes you just need to go all out. Add the real sugar, use all the flour, and even top with candies. But for every day, I’m trying more and more to bake healthier – no refined sugar desserts.
All about that 80/20 thought process. 80% healthy/20% have fun.
To me these cookies are healthy (everyone has their own view of healthy), but they’re also fun. They’re a win/win type of cookie!
Onto the details
As I often do, we’re going to first brown the butter. Cookies made with browned butter are just better. I recommend using a high-quality organic butter with 80% butterfat. My favorite brands are Straus Organic European Style Butter and Vital Farms Butter (there’s a $1.00 off coupon on their site). Love them both.
Let the butter cook until it bubbles up and foams on top. This is when I turn the heat off and continue to allow the butter to cook in the pan. Little brown bits will form on the bottom of the pan. Those are the nutty little bits that will make your recipes extra delicious.
Mix it all together
Once the butter has browned, the rest goes pretty much as you would think. I don’t use a mixer for these, just a good old-fashioned spatula will do the trick. Mix the butter with the maple syrup, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Nothing fancy.
For the peanut butter, the secret is to use peanut butter with just peanuts and salt. Don’t use a no-stir peanut butter that contains oils and or sugar. You just want natural peanut butter. This will give you the best flavor and texture for your cookies!
After you’ve added your wet ingredients, then add the dry. Almond flour (you can also use all-purpose if you prefer), oats, baking soda, and a small pinch of salt.
Then mix in the chocolate chips, crushed pretzels, and peanuts (if you’d like them). The pretzels really add something special to each cookie. A bit of crunch and salt, which is such a delicious combination with chocolate and peanut butter.
Let the dough sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes to help stiffen it. The almond flour will soak up some of the moisture in the dough, making them easier to roll. Don’t skip this step. Then bake.
The results!
But my favorite part? These cookies are perfectly crisp on the edges, but soft and oh-so-chewy in the center. The best kind of cookie. And they’ll stay that way over time too! These don’t get hard once cooled, gotta love that!
Looking for other healthier dessert recipes? Here are my favorites:
5 Ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Healthy…ish Homemade Samoas Cookies
Tahini Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Salted Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Wholesome Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Wholesome Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings: 18 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 251 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4-2 cups almond flour (see note for alternative)
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 cup mini salted pretzels, broken use gluten-free if needed
- 1/3 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped (optional)
- flaky sea salt for sprinkling (if desired)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Let cool 5 minutes or so.3. To the browned butter, mix in the maple syrup, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the almond flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Gently fold in the chocolate, 2/3 cup of the pretzels, and the peanuts, if using. Let the dough sit 10-15 minutes. If the dough feels too sticky, add 1/4 cup almond flour. 4. Roll the dough into rounded tablespoon size balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Add the remaining pretzel pieces to the dough balls, then gently flatten the dough down. Bake 9 minutes, then rotate the pan. Bake another 2 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges. They may look pretty browned because of the almond flour. 5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
Alternate flour: if you prefer, you can bake these cookies using a total of 2 cups all-purpose flour. The cookies will come out a little thicker, but be just as delicious!
These are delicious! Made exactly as written with great results. Don’t skip the flaky salt on top. Cannot tell they are GF.
Hi Maggie,
Happy Friday!!☀️🐰 Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, love to hear that it was delish! xT
Agree, very dry with AP flour…. Will try again with almond flour! Always love your recipes. Currently have creamy chili chicken cooking in crockpot!
Thanks so much Kara! Let me know how they turn out with almond flour! xx
I want to make these but I have friends that have celiac disease . Are these delicious cookies gluten free and if not Howe can we make GF ?
Thanks Jerry
Simple. Just use gf oats and gf pretzels. Bob’s gf oats and Glutino/TJ/Snyders pretzels
Hi Jerry,
If you use the almond flour that this recipe calls for and some gluten free pretzels then yes:) I hope you love the recipe! xx
I don’t like the way baking with maple syrup turns out for me. Is there a substitute for it?
Hi Tina,
So sorry, I have only tested this recipe with maple syrup, you could certainly try some sugar if you like! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
These turned out great. I used all Oat flour since I didn’t have almond and loved the results!
Hey Lorraine,
Happy Wednesday! ⛅️🌈 I’m so glad to hear that this recipe worked well for you and I appreciate you giving it a try! xx
I love the intent of this recipe. However if you want it to be healthy, you must use organic oats. Glycophosate is used to dry oat harvests. Non-organic oats are riddled with pesticides.
Thanks for sharing your feedback Vicky!
Oh my word. Leaving a 1 star review because she didn’t specify that a specific item be organic is ridiculous. That has nothing to do with the quality of the recipe! That’s your job as the baker (if you want to make them) to choose the specific ingredients you use. Reducing the average star rating for something so petty tells a lot more about you than about the author or her recipe.
Completely agree, Heidi. Tieghan has mentioned that she is thinking of moderating the comments and requiring pre-approval before publishing and I hope she soon does this. The rampant abuse is ruining the experience for those of us who are actually interested in the recipe content, and it should be nipped in the bud, ASAP. Thanks for being a voice of reason. I don’t have the patience to try to play nice with these tools. 😀
I think there is some moderating going on. I’ve tried posting multiple times and my comments didn’t get posted. I said nothing mean or rude, but I had questions. it’s frustrating that comments like this that call people “tools” is ok but anything that may seem negative towards a recipe is not?
Jay, people are responding to someone being completely obnoxious, so it’s bound to happen. They bring it on themselves. “Tool” is pretty darn gentle and going lightly on them, all things considered. That said, aside from who is right or wrong or what rude comment is worse than another, all the off-topic spammy stuff can and should be prevented. Nobody cares if someone has “questions” but leaving one star because the poster is too lazy to choose her own oats is kind of screaming to be called tool, or worse, and everyone who is here for the content is pretty tired of it.
As for your comments not showing, I don’t think that’s moderation, it seems to be a glitch in the comment form. I have had that happen too, even if it’s just to say “I enjoyed this recipe!” So overall, the comment section needs some improvements, to fix glitches, and to thwart useless disruptors. Sometimes you have to try a couple of times for it to work. Hopefully they can fix it soon.
To be fair though, Vicky is being a complete tool. That was a very necessary response.
There’s definitely weird glitches in the comment form. Some comments just don’t show, even if they are harmless, and other will post three times. I’ve experienced both scenarios! 🙂
Loved this recipe, BTW. Used “regular oats” – did not grow a third eye. Five stars for “as is written”.
Thanks for being an uptight know-it-all Vicky!
Five stars for Judith (and these cookies!) Thanks for telling it like it is. <3 Vicky definitely needs to chill with the lectures.
Wow, 1 star for your comment. That’s harsh.
The truth can be upsetting. But Vicky IS a huge downer, sadly.
It’s on you to pick your own damn oats, Vicky.
Even if you eat all organic, many oat-based foods such as cereal, granola, instant oats, and bars contain glyphosate, the toxic weed-killer in Roundup.
The independent study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) measured levels of glyphosate in 45 samples of products made with conventional oats, and 16 samples made with organically grown oats. The results were shocking.
Thirty one of 45 samples made with conventional oats had 160 ppb or more of glyphosate, higher than what the EWG considers protective of children’s health.
In the organic products, glyphosate was detected at concentrations of 10 ppb to 30 ppb in 5 of 16 samples — well below the EWG health benchmark, but still present. Contamination happens unfortunately, so I hope you are buying the right oats! I am an organic agricultural inspector, and these issues are a constant problem, due to contaminated groundwater, wind direction, etc. I simply want to sink my teeth into those cookies organic oats or not!!!🤣
Thank you for making sense, Lin. Vicky’s gonna lose it! 😀
Would love to see the recipe but there are too many ads popping up! Will have to unsubscribe from your site which is too bad.
Try an ad blocker. Very easy, and helps on a lot of sites, not just this one. It’s a godsend!
Bro, click skip to recipe. Simple
I used the 2 cups of AP flour & for some reason they are dry. I followed everything else. I don’t know what happened.
Same for me, dry & crumbly! I love the taste and want to try with almond flour next time. 😊
Sorry to hear this Joy! Let me know if you try them with almond flour! xx
Hi Linda,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear the cookies were dry. I would try reducing the all purpose flour next time, it’s definitely going to work differently than the almond flour. I hope this helps! xx
Would almond butter work as well as peanut butter?
Hey Magon,
Totally, almond butter should be just fine for you to use! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Could you swap half the AP flour for whole wheat?
Hi Carly,
Sorry, I have never tested that, so I’m not sure what your results would be! Let me know if you give that a try, I hope you love these cookies! xx
Can you use King Arthur’s gluten-free flour? Thank you. They look delicious.
Hi Connie,
I’m sure a gluten free flour blend would be just fine for you to use here! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
These are going at the top of my baking list! My son who loves to bake will want to make these asap!!
Love to hear this Molly, I hope you both enjoy the recipe! Let me know how they turn out! xT
Is it possible to get this recipe in grams rather than ml?
Yes, let me look into getting that fixed! Sorry about that! xT
Can I use cassava flour for these?
From my personal experience using cassava flour I think it would work ok. I’ve only ever done it with replacing all purpose flour which you can sub the almond flour for here in this recipe. You may only need the 1 3/4c. and not a full 2 cups. Let me know if you try!
Hi Hannah,
So sorry, I’ve never tested these cookies with cassava flour, I’m not sure that would be the best option here. Let me know if I can help in any other way! xT
What brand of natural peanut butter do you typically use for your recipes? I am never sure which works best! I have loved all the recipes I have made of yours, but have stayed away from ones specifically mentioning natural peanut butter because I am never sure which bake well. Thank you!
I LOVE Trader Joe’s organic peanut butter. It is so good!
Hey Chelsea,
Whole Foods has a great option, just peanuts and salt:) I’ve also heard great things about the Kirkland brand at Costco! Let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Thank you so much, Tieghan! I really appreciate your help – and all your delicious recipes!