Auntie Anne's Pretzels

bread pretzels snacks copycat

A copycat of the mall classic: soft, buttery, salty pretzels you can make at home in about an hour.

Adapted from The Spruce Eats by Leah Maroney.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups milk

  • 4 tablespoons butter (salted)

  • ⅓ cup brown sugar

  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

  • 5 cups / 745 grams all-purpose flour

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 2 cups water (warm)

  • ⅓ cup baking soda

  • 4 tablespoons butter (melted)

  • Pretzel salt (to taste)

Directions

  • Heat 2 cups (500 grams) milk in a small pot. Do not boil; just heat the milk until it is hot all of the way through.

  • Add 4 tablespoons (56 grams) salted butter and ⅓ cup (70 grams) brown sugar, packed to the hot milk. Stir until the butter melts and the sugar has dissolved. Set it aside and cool until just a bit warmer than room temperature. If the milk is too hot, the yeast will die; too cold, and it won’t rise as quickly (around 100°F is ideal).

  • Add the 2 teaspoons active dry yeast to the top of the milk mixture and allow it to soften for a few minutes.

  • Using the bread hook attachment on your stand mixer, add in the 5 cups (745 grams) all-purpose flour and 2 teaspoons salt and stir with the hook attachment until completely combined and a smooth ball forms.

  • Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until it doubles in size. Then punch down the dough in the bowl.

  • Turn the ball of dough out onto a cutting board. Cut the dough into 10 equal pieces. If you are looking to make smaller pretzels, cut the dough into smaller pieces. This will give you smaller pretzels. You need a decent size piece of dough to make the large, skinny pretzels that are Auntie Anne’s signature.

  • Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roll a piece of the dough into a long and very skinny “rope,” about 36 inches long.

  • Loop the dough in half and then twist the ends together 2 or 3 times.

  • Pull the ends back over the loop to make the classic pretzel shape, pressing the ends to make them stick.

  • Whisk together 2 cups (454 grams) of warm water and the ⅓ cup (90 grams) baking soda in a shallow dish. Dip the pretzels into the baking soda bath. Flip and dip the other side.

  • Place the dipped pretzels onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. You should be able to fit 2 or 3 onto each baking sheet.

  • Bake the pretzels for 7 to 8 minutes or until golden brown.

  • Brush the pretzels with 4 tablespoons (56 grams) melted butter.

  • Sprinkle them with coarse pretzel salt. Dig in immediately. They are best when eaten hot and fresh out of the oven.