Copycat Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels

Hello! Today I'm going to share one of my favorite recipes with you, soft pretzels! These copycat Auntie Anne's soft pretzels taste just like the real thing! They're a little bit crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside. So, let's get started!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of water

1 1/4 Tbsp of yeast

A loose 1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp of salt

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of bread flour (If you don't have bread flour, you can substitute with 1 cup of all-purpose flour)

2 cups of water

2 Tbsp of baking soda

4 Tbsp of butter

1/4 tsp of brown sugar

Kosher salt - enough to sprinkle on pretzels when they're finished baking

1. Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve. Let sit for five minutes.

2. Add sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve.

3. Add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic.

4. Place in a large, lightly greased bowl. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

1. While dough is finishing rising, so water is still hot, prepare baking soda and water bath in a small bowl, big enough to dip a pretzel in. To make this, mix 2 cups hot water with 2 tablespoons of baking soda.

2. Stir well with whisk until perfectly clear. (May need to keep stirring occasionally.)

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

4. For a traditional pretzel shape, follow these instructions. Pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope about 1/2" thick. Then, form the rope of dough into a U shape. Next, twist the two top ends around each other. Finally, bring the two top ends down, the top right going to the bottom left side and the top left going to the bottom right side. I personally thought it was a lot easier just to make a pretzel twist, or pretzel bites, rather than the traditional pretzel shape.

5. Dip formed pretzel into baking soda and water solution. I found that it helps to use a slotted spatula. Then, place pretzel onto lightly sprayed baking sheet. Keep enough space between pretzels so they bake evenly.

1. Bake in oven at 450 degrees for about 6-8 minutes or until medium golden brown. (You don't want to bake the pretzels too dark, but keep in mind that they will lighten up a little with butter, so make sure that they're a nice medium brown when you take them out.)

2. Brush with melted butter and brown sugar mixture. (Melt 4 Tbsp butter and mix with 1/4 tsp brown sugar.)

3. Sprinkle some kosher salt onto pretzels, and you're done!

For Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzels, melt a stick of butter in a shallow bowl big enough to fit a pretzel. In a second bowl, make a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Dip pretzel in butter. Then dip pretzel into cinnamon and sugar mixture.