Pretzel Stuffed Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Salty and sweet is a combination I have loved since high school.  A friend introduced me to the joy of dipping french fries into a chocolate shake.  Now that friend also regularly ate peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.  I'll have to pass on that one.  This recipe is a complete rework of one I had previously posted as pretzel crusted cookies.  When I went back to it, I decided I didn't really like the way the cookies turned out as much as I thought I had.  They were pretty, but more like candy, and not tooth friendly.  I completely reworked the ratios and tweaked ingredients.  It's a whole new cookie and after a few tries, I absolutely love it.  If you wanted to bump it up and add some peanut butter chips, it would be like a Take 5 Candy Bar cookie!  They were quite popular at a recent homework club meeting for dessert.

Pretzel Stuffed Chocolate Chunk Cookies

make 2½ dozen large cookies

2¼ cups light spelt flour
1 cup rolled oats, finely ground
2 tbsp arrowroot starch
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1½ cups light brown muscovado sugar
¼ cup evaporated cane sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup (heaping) white chocolate chunks
1½ cups pretzels, chopped

Combine melted butter and sugars in a mixer until completely incorporated.  Beat in eggs one at a time, then mix in vanilla.  Mix in the ground oatmeal.  (Oatmeal may be ground with a blender, food processor, or coffee/spice grinder.)  Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder, starch and salt, and add to the creamed mixture gradually until incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chunks, and pretzels by hand.  Let the dough stand for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Line baking sheets with parchment and place 2 tbsp scoops of dough on paper, 3 inches apart.  Press a mini pretzel on top of each scoop if desired.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are lightly golden. Allow to cool on the sheet for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container when cool.  These cookies also freeze well.