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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!
I used all purpose flour and added some maple syrup and a handful of sugar at the end because the batter was not sweet at all. I don’t regret that because the taste was pretty good! However they were dry :/ It helped to flatten the down a lot. I also tried baking them at 375-400 for less time, but overall it was still a bust for me :/ definitely going to eat them with workouts like another review suggested
Hi Tess! I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you! Thank you for letting me know! xT
Hi Tieghan! Could I add a tablespoon or two of whisky/bourbon to this recipe? I was looking at this recipe: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/brown-butter-bourbon-pecan-chocolate-chunk-cookies/ – and wondered if I could just add the bourbon to this recipe 🙂
Hey Jen,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
these cookies are perfect because they are not too sweet. chocolatey, peanut buttery and just the right amount of salty. i used regular flour and the cookies are soft and lovely.
nom nom nom….
Thank you so much Maya!!
Just made this tonight and got rave reviews. I reduced the butter to 1.5 sticks but followed everything else. Delicious! Thanks for another great recipe!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Have an amazing week! 🙂 xT
Pretty dang good for healthy-ish cookie! I was out of vanilla extract so I used almond extract and they were delicious!
Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! xT
My husband and I really enjoyed these. I was glad I did not add extra flour, even though the dough was much more wet than I am used to. I felt like this saved them from being too dry after they were baked. We found we liked the flavor and texture even more the next day. They also froze well
Hi Laurie,
Wonderful!! So glad to hear that these cookies were a hit, thanks so much for making them and your comment! xT
To me, these cookies taste more like a healthy homemade (albeit a bit dry) granola bar. They’re not very sweet–you taste a lot of the peanutbutter and oats with the occasional dash of chocolate. They’d be great to take along on a hike. I just had one after a long bike ride, and it did hit the spot. I used regular flour.
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback:) They definitely are not your classic cookie! Hope you are having a great Monday! xT
I made these over the 4th of July and my family loved them! Seriously so good. I saw some comments about them being dry, but mine were not! I used almond flour
Hey Kelly,
Happy Friday!!🍉🥭 I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks for making it and sharing your comment! xT
I don’t know what I did wrong, but they were super dry 😭
Hi Cherie,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear these were dry! Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? Did you use all purpose flour? That seems to be an issue here! xx
I made these and honestly they turned out really yummy! I was nervous at first because they seemed to be crumbly but once I let them cool completely they really stuck together well. I used almond flour and did end up adding the extra 1/4 c.
Hi Ruthie,
Happy Friday!!😎 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and your review! xT
Just made these today. They are very dry and crumbly. Will not make again.
Hi Nonna,
Thanks for trying these cookies, sorry to hear they were not enjoyed. What kind of flour did you use? Let me know how I can help! xx
You knocked it out of the park again! These are incredible. I’m sharing some with the neighbors and some with teachers at school, and I know they’ll all love them as well. Thank you!
Hey Aimee,
Fantastic!! 🍇🍌 I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it and your comment! xx
I made these tonight and they were dry. So disappointed ☹️ I used regular flour, maybe Almond is the way to go. When I added the chocolate chunks they melted, maybe let the mixture cool off a little longer. Not sure I will make these again😢
Hi Yamile,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Unfortunately, I think the all purpose flour is causing these to dry out. Let me know if you try them with almond flour! xx