You no longer have to wait in long lines to get Auntie Anne’s pretzels. Auntie Anne’s is one of the few fast food chains I’m proud to eat at. The fun of making these mall-flavored pretzels is that they are made with basic ingredients you probably already have: flour, yeast, milk, butter, sugar, and cinnamon. They’re fluffy, buttery, slightly salty and super sweet. They’re the perfect pretzels to keep you coming back for as you stroll through your favorite stores. Follow these techniques to make the best version of this nostalgic treat.
material:
-brown sugar: This makes sense, since Auntie Anne’s Frozen Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels have brown sugar on their ingredients list: Brown sugar has a higher moisture content than granulated sugar, which makes it steamier and fluffier.
-milk: I chose milk over water because it nourishes and softens the dough.
-baking soda: Use 1/3 cup baking soda for every 3 cups water to give the batter a strong metallic flavor.
-butter: Amazingly, these pretzels are made with real butter, and while you don’t need a ton of butter, you do need to let the hot pretzels soak for a few seconds once you remove them from the oven.
-Cinnamon Sugar: The outside of the pretzel clearly shows the ratios of granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt. You don’t want your pretzel to be so sweet that you can’t taste anything but butter and sugar; it should have a light sugar coating with the warmth of cinnamon. There is definitely salt in it, so mixing in a little bit helps balance the sweetness and spice and brings out the sweetness.
Baking:
After stopping by my local Auntie Anne’s, I noticed how light the pretzels were underneath the cinnamon sugar blend. Many recipes call for baking the pretzels at 400 degrees or higher, but I find that it’s not as easy to control how browned they are. I chose to bake these at a lower temperature of 375 degrees and remove them when they are just golden brown. They won’t be as dark as the salted soft pretzels. You’ll notice that there isn’t much of a skin when you remove them.
Tips and Tricks:
Another way to impart the iconic metallic and slightly bitter taste these pretzels give off is to bake them directly on a baking sheet, a great idea from Delish food editor Brooke Cason. If anything, it creates a beautiful crust on the bottom of each nugget. Roll out the dough into thin strings and cut into 2- to 3-inch nuggets. It’s best to make the nuggets longer so they can hold their slim shape in the oven, as the dough may shrink. Auntie Anne’s pretzels are elongated rather than square or round.
storage:
Any remaining pretzels can be stored in an airtight container lined with parchment paper at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Leave it for a few days. When the cinnamon-sugar mixture starts to become sticky, stir it gently to combine.
Have you tried this? Let me know how it turned out in the comments!
