Happy Thanksgiving! You know what I'm thankful for? Cookies. Sorry, I couldn't think of a better opening line. But seriously, if you need some cookies to get you through Black Friday or any other day of the week, try these Giant Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chunk Cookies! They are large (about 4 oz each), not too sweet, a little bit sandy and have chunks of chocolate and peanut butter filled pretzels. The peanut butter filled pretzels are optional, but they make the cookies more fun and add some salty to the sweet.
The dough is a riff on the famous NYT chocolate chip cookies and the Jacques Torres recipe, but with a full cup of peanut butter added. The peanut butter is an excellent addition because it makes the cookies a little thicker and crumblier. Pastry flour also makes the cookies a little better.
Pastry Flour
If you happen to have some pastry flour on hand, it works beautifully in these cookies as a stand-in for the 1 ¾ cup cake and 1 ¾ cup bread flour called for in other versions. The total weight of whatever flour or flour combo you use should be 445 grams (1 ¾ cup each). But I do recommend pastry flour for a delicate structure. I ordered up some of Dominique Ansel's.
Air Fryer
If you have an air fryer and want to bake big, brown, bakery style cookies, this dough works perfectly. Air fryers vary, so you'll have to experiment with the exact times and temp. I now have a Vortex Slim. For that model, I air fry two cold cookie dough balls at a time at 335F for 10 minutes, then let them sit in the closed drawer for another 10 minutes. Remove air fryer drawer, let the cookies cool completely, then scrape them off the rack. I prefer not to use a liner, but if you are okay with softer bottoms you can.
Yield
This makes 54 oz of dough before the add-ins. With 12 oz of chocolate chunks, you'll have around 66 oz of dough so enough for 16 cookies. These are big and sturdy and freeze well. I think they're even better after being frozen and thawed. Since they're so big, they work well as individual host or hostess gift cookies.
Recipe
Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ sticks salted butter, cold and cut into chunks (280 grams)
- 1 ⅓ cups light brown sugar, packed (270 grams)
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 1 cup peanut butter (regular sweetened type) (260 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 ½ cups pastry flour (445 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups chocolate chunks (12 oz)
- 45 count peanut butter stuffed pretzels (or just pretzels)
Instructions
- Beat the cold butter and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and creamy.
- Add the peanut butter and vanilla and beat until blended, then scrape bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium until blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl, increase speed and beat on high for 1 minute.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- Add the flour mixture and stir on medium low with the paddle attachment until blended, then stir in the chocolate chunks.
- Using a large cookie scoop, scoop out 4 oz size balls of dough. Flatten the tops slightly so they are rounds rather than balls. Press two or three pretzels into each dough ball. At this point you can chill the dough balls or bake right away.
Baking -- Times May Vary Slightly From Oven to Oven
- Arrange the dough rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet, giving them enough space to spread, then bake at 375 degrees F. for about 15 minutes, stopping to turn halfway through.
- Let the cookies cool completely before serving. The cookies also freeze well.
Air Frying Cold Balls of Dough
- If using the air fryer, preheat the air fryer to 335 degrees F. Once preheated, add dough rounds and air fry for 8 minutes. Open the fryer and check to see if the cookies look done. Turn off the fryer and let stand for 10 minutes. Remove fryer and let cool
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