Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites are the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and totally irresistible! These no-bake treats feature safe-to-eat cookie dough sandwiched between crunchy pretzels and dipped in rich chocolate.

Love More Desserts Recipes? Try My Strawberry Kiss Cookies or this Lemon Cranberry Cookies next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Sweet and totally irresistible, Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites are the perfect no-bake treat. Creamy chocolate chip cookie dough is sandwiched between crunchy pretzels, then dipped in chocolate for the ultimate bite-sized dessert that’s fun to make and even more fun to eat.

Print

Ingredient List

Cookie Dough:

• 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/4 cups heat-treated all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Assembly:

• 40-50 pretzels (I use mini pretzel twists or pretzel snaps)
• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate (I love Ghirardelli for melting)
• 1 teaspoon shortening (optional, for thinning chocolate)

Substitution Notes:

• Got salted butter? Use that and skip the extra salt
• Doesn’t matter what milk. I’ve literally used whatever’s in my fridge
• Any chocolate works. Dark, milk, white, whatever
• Mini pretzels are easier but regular ones work too

Why These Ingredients Work

You gotta heat-treat the flour. Sounds annoying but it’s not optional. Raw flour can literally make you sick. Like, hospital sick. Five minutes in the oven or microwave kills all the bad stuff and then you can eat dough straight from the bowl.

Brown sugar is what makes this taste like actual cookie dough instead of just sweet flour paste. I tried regular sugar once because I ran out of brown sugar and it was wrong. Just wrong.

The butter has to be soft or you’ll be there forever trying to mix it. I leave mine on the counter while I drink my morning coffee and it’s perfect by the time I’m done.

Two tablespoons of milk is the difference between cookie dough and cookie crumbs. Don’t skip it. I did once and had to add it anyway after five minutes of wondering why my dough wouldn’t come together.

Mini chocolate chips are small enough that they don’t make your dough balls fall apart. Regular chips are too big and everything just breaks. Trust me on this one.

The shortening makes chocolate thinner. Skip it if you want but your chocolate will be goopy and hard to work with. Coconut oil does the same thing.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Nothing fancy:

• Bowl for mixing
• Mixer or a spoon and strong arms
• Measuring stuff
• Cookie sheet
• Parchment paper
• Bowl for melting chocolate
• Thermometer for flour
• Spoon or scoop

How To Make Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

Step 1: Prepare Workspace

Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet. That’s it. Don’t overthink it.

Step 2: Make Cookie Dough

Mix butter and both sugars until it’s fluffy. Two minutes with a mixer. Dump in milk and vanilla, mix again. Should smell really good right now.

Step 3: Add Dry Ingredients

Turn mixer off first or you’ll have flour in your hair. Add flour and salt. Start on low speed, then turn it up once things are combining. It’ll look weird and crumbly for a minute but keep going. Suddenly it’ll be actual dough. Stir in chocolate chips.

Step 4: Form Sandwiches

Grab about 2 teaspoons of dough, roll it into a ball. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Squish between two pretzels. Not too hard or dough squishes out the sides. Not too gentle or it falls off later. Medium squish. Line them up on your cookie sheet.

Step 5: Freeze

Put the sheet in your freezer. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Walk away. I tried rushing this once and it was a disaster. The dough just slid everywhere when I tried to dip them.

Step 6: Melt Chocolate

Break up chocolate into chunks, add shortening if you’re using it. Microwave 20 seconds, stir, microwave 20 seconds, stir, microwave 20 seconds, stir. Keep going til it’s melted and smooth. Don’t just microwave for a full minute or it’ll burn.

Step 7: Dip in Chocolate

Take frozen bites out. Dip halfway in chocolate. Let extra drip back into bowl. Put on parchment paper. If chocolate gets thick while you’re working, microwave it again for 15 seconds.

Step 8: Set Chocolate

Fridge for 10 minutes. Chocolate gets hard.

You Must Know

Heat-treat the flour. I already said this but I’m saying it again. Raw flour is not safe. Period. Heat it to 165°F and you’re good to go.

Soft butter matters. If you can’t easily press your finger into it, it’s not ready. Cold butter makes lumpy dough. Melted butter makes soup.

Personal Secret: I put flaky salt on top of the chocolate before it hardens. Sounds weird, tastes incredible. My neighbor’s daughter asked if I was a professional baker because of this. I’m not. I just like salt.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Don’t take all the bites out of the freezer at once unless your house is cold. Work in batches of 10-12 or the dough gets soft and messy.

Stick a fork through the pretzel to dip it. Tap fork on bowl edge to shake off extra chocolate. Slide bite off fork onto parchment. Way less messy than fingers.

No shortening in the house? Coconut oil works exactly the same.

Everyone messes up by not freezing long enough. Your dough needs to be rock solid. If you’re questioning whether it’s frozen enough, it’s not. Give it more time.

Some grocery stores sell flour that’s already heat-treated. Says something like “edible cookie dough flour” on the bag. Costs more but saves you a step.

Flavor Variations / Suggestions

Swap 1/4 cup butter for peanut butter and use peanut butter chips.

White chocolate everything. White chips in dough, dip in white chocolate. Looks fancy.

Half teaspoon mint extract plus dark chocolate for dipping. Crush some candy canes on top in December.

Throw mini marshmallows in the dough, dip in milk chocolate. S’mores situation.

Add sprinkles while chocolate is wet. Kids go nuts.

All brown sugar instead of mixing them, top with fancy salt. Tastes expensive.

Make-Ahead Options

Make dough three days early. Keep it covered in the fridge. Let it warm up for 10 minutes before rolling or it’s too stiff.

Make the entire thing and freeze finished bites for two months. They thaw in 10 minutes.

Put dough between pretzels the night before, freeze on the sheet, move to a bag. Dip in chocolate whenever you need them.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Spoon flour into your cup, don’t scoop from the bag. Scooping packs in way too much flour and your dough comes out dry and sad.

Stop mixing as soon as flour is combined. Overmixing makes tough dough and nobody wants that in their life.

Let melted chocolate sit for a minute before dipping. Too hot and it melts the dough right off.

Try to make dough balls the same size so they look nice. But honestly if they’re not perfect, nobody cares once they taste them.

Serving Suggestions

Put them on a plate at parties next to other desserts.

Bag them up with ribbon for gifts. My mom does this every Christmas and people ask for them specifically now.

Movie night snacks. They disappear fast.

Holiday cookie plates. They look way harder to make than they actually are.

Eat them with milk. Or wine. I’m not judging your choices.

Fancy tiered stand for showers. Makes you look like you really tried.

Optional stuff: Drizzle with different colored chocolate, add sprinkles, throw some salt on top.

How to Store Your Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

Room Temperature: Container with a lid, three days max. Keep them away from windows or sun or the chocolate melts.

Refrigerator: Sealed container, good for a week. Chocolate stays nice this way.

Freezer: Layer them with parchment paper in a container. Two months easy. Thaw 10 minutes before eating.

Reheating note: Don’t. Just eat them cold or room temp.

How to Heat Treat Flour (Food Safety Essential!)

Gotta make the flour safe. Pick one:

Microwave Method:

• Flour in a microwave-safe bowl
• 30 seconds on high, stir
• Keep doing this til thermometer says 165°F everywhere
• Cool it down before using

Oven Method:

• Oven to 300°F
• Flour on a baking pan
• Stir every 2 minutes, check temp
• Needs to hit 165°F in all spots
• Smash clumps with your hands
• Cool before using

Allergy Information

Contains: Dairy, wheat, soy (maybe, check your chocolate)

May contain: Tree nuts (read your chocolate bag)

Swaps:

• Dairy-free: Vegan butter, non-dairy milk, dairy-free chocolate
• Gluten-free: GF flour, GF pretzels, heat-treat it the same way

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Do I really need to heat-treat the flour?

Yeah. Raw flour can have E. coli or salmonella in it. Not trying to scare you but it’s real. Five minutes to heat it and then eat all the raw dough you want safely.

My chocolate coating is too thick. What can I do?

More shortening, half teaspoon at a time. Or coconut oil. Or even regular vegetable oil in a pinch. Should coat smooth but not be runny.

How do I know when my cookie dough is the right consistency?

Squeeze it and it should hold together. Not sticky, not crumbly. Too crumbly? Add milk one teaspoon at a time. Too sticky? Add a tablespoon more flour. Should feel like Play-Doh basically.

Why did my cookie dough fall off the pretzels when dipping?

Not frozen enough. Has to be solid all the way through. Put them back in the freezer for 15 more minutes. Also let your chocolate cool down a little.

💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! I’d love to hear how your Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites turned out!