last updated on October 29, 2026

Making Cookies Inspired by TV Shows, Part 4: The Office!

The Office is one of my favorite TV shows of all time and Stanley is for sure one of my favorite character. So, I had to do a pretzel cookie, but i wanted it to be a soft pretzel (because who doesn’t love soft pretzels??) so why not just stuff a soft pretzel with cookie dough? And friends, it is SO GOOD. I got the idea (and recipe for the pretzel dough) from Half Baked Harvest!

The secret is to be generous with the salt on top. The salt makes such a good contrast of sweet and salty!

This pretzel is seriously all good things in life and is one I am SURE Stanley (and Michael lol) would be proud of!

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough (Recipe courtesy of Half Baked Harvest)

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp honey
1 packet (or 2 tsp) instant yeast
1/2 cup butter melted
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 – 5 cups flour
1 egg beaten
coarse sea salt

Cookie Dough

1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Instructions

Mix the warm water, honey, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the butter, salt, and flour and mix for 3-4 minutes. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and let rise until it has doubled, about 1 hour.
While the pretzel dough rises, make the cookie dough. Combine the butter and both sugars in a bowl. Mix until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until just combined.
Once the dough has doubled, divide it into 8 pieces. Working one at a time, roll out 1 piece of dough into a long rectangle (about 12 in x 3 in). Put a few tbsp of cookie dough in the middle of the pretzel dough, then close the pretzel dough around it.
Shape the pretzel dough as shown in the video above. In a large bowl, combine warm water and a couple tsp of baking soda. Drop each shaped pretzel into the warm water for 30 seconds. Remove the pretzel and put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush each pretzel with beaten egg, then generously top it with salt. Bake the pretzels at 425 for 15-18 minutes. Let them rest for about 5 minutes then dive right in!

What’d you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts or if you have any questions!