Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies w. Pretzels

These Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies with Pretzels are a delicious, easy, and fun recipe for your holiday cookie exchange. These sweet and salty treats can easily be adapted to be totally gluten-free or grain-free.

 

This Virtual Cookie Exchange is part of #FreakyFriday, a blog hop in which I am secretly assigned to another blog; I choose a recipe on that blog that would work for a holiday cookie or treat platter. It could be anything from cookies, candy, bars, to brownies or fudge—you know the type of yummy, holiday treats I mean. Make sure you scroll to the bottom of this post so that you can see all of the wonderful bloggers and their recipes.

I was lucky enough to be assigned to The Foodie Affair. Sandra is the brains and palate behind this fab food blog. Her food is so vibrant and delicious and she is so warm and fun! I love to drool over her savory dishes—like Slow Cooked Sirloin Tips with Mushrooms or her Mexican Style Corn on the Cob. But for this Freaky Friday challenge, it's all about the sweets. I was super tempted by her Ricotta Holiday Cookies because RICOTTA (insert drooling noise).

But then my son spotted Sandra's Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies and it was a done deal. We made her cookies and then decided to dip them in melted chocolate and sprinkle crushed pretzels on top, to add some crunchy saltiness. They tasted fantastic and looked amazing; we brought them to my niece's birthday party and they were literally gone in three minutes.

They're also incredibly easy to make. My eight-year-old helped every step of the way: making the dough, rolling it, pressing the balls with a fork, and then decorating with the chocolate and pretzels. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning, let me tell you!

Ingredients

yield: about 24 cookies

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (if you use unsalted PB, make sure to add a pinch of salt to the batter)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg, large
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies in before baking (optional) 
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips 
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped pretzels*

*NOTE: for gluten-free cookies, use gluten-free pretzels; for grain-free cookies, use chopped, salted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, use a mixer to beat the peanut butter, sugar and baking soda until the ingredients are incorporated. Blend in the egg and vanilla.

Scoop tablespoons of the dough and roll into balls, then roll the balls around the granulated sugar so that they are lightly coated. Place on prepared cookie sheets and gently press with a fork to form a crisscross pattern. 

My son's cute lil' hands.

Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Because these cookies are flourless, they can be delicate—especially while warm. If you try to dip them in the chocolate before they're fully cooled, they might break!

In a small bowl, melt chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave. Stir until completely smooth and fully combined.  Dip the cookies about halfway into the chocolate mixture (or spoon the chocolate over half the cookie), then place on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the crushed pretzels over the chocolate. Then place in the refrigerator or freezer until the chocolate is hardened.

That's it! Gorgeous Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies with Pretzels—a wonderful balance of sweet and savory, chewy and crunchy. And perfectly pretty for your holiday cookie exchange!

Wouldn't you like to see these sweet treats on your holiday cookie platter?

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