With Christmas fast approaching, I have started my holiday baking.  Each year I try to find a new recipe or two to try.  This year, I actually come up with a couple ideas myself.

My first idea was  inspired by a recipe that I saw in a magazine – Pretzel Butterscotch Fudge.  When I saw the recipe, I thought that the combination would work for making cookies.  Using the classic Tollhouse Chocolate Chip recipe, I set out to try out my idea.

For my first attempt, I simply replaced the chocolate chips with butterscotch chips and replaced the nuts with pretzel pieces.   The result tasted good.  But, in my opinion, there was too much butterscotch flavor and not enough pretzel crunch.

So, I decided to try again.  This time I reduced the amount of chips by half and doubled the amount of pretzels. The changes were successful – these tasted great!

Butterscotch Pretzel Cookies
2  1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup granular sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butterscotch chips
2 cup pretzels, broken in to pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Beat butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chips and pretzels. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.  Cool slightly, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.