Holiday

Molly Yeh's 3-Ingredient Pretzel Shortbread Cookies

by:
December  4, 2014

To ready ourselves for gift-giving (and cookie-eating) season, we've declared this week Cookie Week. We'll share recipes and tips about cookies of all kinds, be they spicy or chocolate-y, chewy or crunchy, round or square. Mix up some dough and join us.

Today: Molly Yeh from My Name is Yeh shares a 3-ingredient cookie that tastes just like a pretzel pie crust.

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There is a correct way to eat a pie and an incorrect way.

The incorrect way is to eat it as a neat slice on a small plate over small talk. You've probably showered that day; you might even be wearing pants.

The correct way isn't too different: You eat it as a neat slice on a small plate over big, or at least medium, talk. And then when you finish your slice, you sit hunched over and pick at the remainder of the pie, extracting nibbles of the crust, muttering something like “calories don’t count on Sunday,” or whatever. What remains at the end of your correct pie eating session is a blob of filling in the center of a pie plate with no remaining crust because it's all in your belly.

That is how I eat pie. This also applies to pizza pie.

And this is how I envisioned myself eating my friend Ashlae's amazing pretzel-crusted pie the other day, had my fiancé’s family not gobbled it right up, down to the last crumb. In that moment, I wished with all of my might that I could just have an entire pretzel crust all to myself.

So I hurried home and got experimenting with shortbread cookies that would essentially be little rounds of pretzel pie crust.

These little guys are a lot of things that you want in a cookie: salty, quick and easy to make (only three required ingredients necessary, no refrigeration required), and very possibly gluten-free (if you use gluten-free pretzels). They’re a delightful combination of salty and sweet, and a perfect addition to any holiday party. 

Pretzel Shortbread Cookies

Makes 18 to 20 cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups pretzel flour (see headnote)
Chocolate, for drizzling (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Molly Yeh

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  • bw
    bw
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  • Ashlae W.
    Ashlae W.
  • Ellie Betzen
    Ellie Betzen
molly yeh recently moved from brooklyn to a farm outside of grand forks, north dakota, where her husband is a fifth generation farmer. she writes the blog my name is yeh.

4 Comments

bw May 2, 2024
Horrible recipe, complete waste of ingredients, followed the directions to a T, watched the video to make sure, a crumbly mess.
 
sally B. December 7, 2014
Wow! what an idea. Can't wait to try it.
 
Ashlae W. December 4, 2014
I love Molly Yeh. And these cookies.
 
Ellie B. December 4, 2014
Perfectly delish! I'm alllllll about the pie crust and if I could just eat all the crust I would. Looks like this is on my to-make list for someday {hopefully} soon. ^_^