August Bakin Friends

We are done with the wonderful month of August and it's time for Bakin' Friends reveal! If you are new here, this group connects bakers (bloggers and non-bloggers alike) and we share our baked goods with one another.  Through our common love for baking, we cultivate friendships across the country via USPS! Each month our leader, Steph of Steph's Bite by Bite, chooses a secret ingredient that we all incorporate into our baked goods. See the past few months here and here.

The secret ingredient for August: PRETZELS! I was lucky to be matched with the wonderful Latane Stacy, a mommy of two beautiful kids. She sent me these butterscotch chocolate chip cookies with pretzels you see below. They are seriously the softest cookies I have ever had and they melt in your mouth. The recipe uses a mixture of cake flour and bread flour and I'm guessing this is responsible for the softness. They are called the BEST cookies by the NY times for a very good reason. So delicious that they only lasted a night; well an our to be exact. That was the saddest part. Thankfully, she included a beautifully handwrittem recipe and I am going to try to replicate her magic cookies. So can you too, I typed it up for you :)

Thank you very much Latane for the AMAZING cookies! They were delicious and a big hit in my house.

If you would like to join this wonderful group (you don't have to be a blogger, you just have to love to bake), you can read all about it here and sign up here.

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pretzels
From: Latane Stacy; adapted from NY Times Best Chocolate Chips Cookies
Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies

Ingredients
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse (kosher) salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
about 11 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips, at least 60% cocoa content (she used Ghiraldelli 60% chips)
6 ounces butterscotch chips
2 cups tiny pretzels, chopped

Directions
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until very light, about 5 minutes on medium.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, 5-10 seconds. Mix in chocolate chips and butterscotch chips until incorporated. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate 24-36 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchemnt paper.
Scoop large golf ball sized mounds of dough onto baking sheet. Press pretzels into each mound of dough. Add extra chocolate or butterscotch chips for a more atttractive cookie.
Bake until golden brown, about 17-20 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and allow to cool completely.