Loaded Pretzel Cookies

Branching out from my usual Allrecipes, this fantastic find was in one of this past year's Taste of Home! Super yummy, and while it has coconut, you can't really taste it...I had a coconut-hater eat them today and LOVED them. :D Win! I recommend not measuring the chocolate chips...you can't have too many.

Loaded Pretzel Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 packed cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups mini pretzels, crushed
1 1/2 cup coconut
1 1/2 cup M&M's

        Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

2) In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Then slowly beat in to the wet mixture until mixed.

3) Add rest of ingredients and stir until mixed. Using about 1/4 cup per cookie, roll into a ball and put on an un-greased cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

As typical with baking, the only thing I changed was to add more M&M's...minus the ones that I had previously eaten out of the bag, I think it only added another 1/8th cup. ;) I used a cookie scooper, which I think made it a little less than 1/4 cup per cookie, and I got 36 cookies out of the dough, as opposed to the 24 that they told me I would get. These seemed to be a big hit with kids and adults - the salty/sweet mixture was a nice change from regular chocolate cookies without getting TOO far away from tradition. You really can't taste the coconut much - you could probably leave it out, but I think it adds a bit of moistness, and also some bulk. All in all, a keeper for this household!