Fun With Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

 Chocolate + cookie dough = kittens and unicorns frolicking under rainbows.

A couple weeks ago, a client walked into my family's business bearing a gift: a big sparkly bag of chocolate-covered pretzels from Trader Joe's.  Truth be told, I'd rather this client pay his past-due bills than bring us conciliatory junk food, but I'm also not one to look a salty, chocolate-covered gift horse in the mouth, so when my mother said, "Hey, you should take some home for Nelly," I happily obliged.

This was a rare treat, as our junk food allowance is usually blown on potato chips (mmm, potato chips!), leaving little room for indulgences like regular pretzels, much less fancy pretzels that taste like candy.  Nelly, a baking fiend with a sweet tooth the size of Texas, immediately started looking for the best way to utilize her bounty, and fell in love when she stumbled upon this recipe: Brown Butter Cookie Dough Pretzel Bars.

We already had all the ingredients it required, and Nelly was particularly pleased that it used up some of the cream cheese and chocolate chips we've had stockpiled since late December.  I'm particularly pleased for another reason: it's freakin' delicious!

Bon appétit.

Have you baked anything recently?  Feel free to share recipes in the comments!