How to Make Easy Homemade Buttery Soft Pretzels and Pretzel Bites - Sprinkle Some Sugar (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in pretzels? ›

Traditional Bavarian pretzels are dipped in a lye solution before they are baked. Lye, also known as sodium hydroxide, is essentially the same stuff that's used to make soap and clean drains. It can even dissolve glass.

Auntie Anne Pretzels are somehow more delicious than your average pretzel. A healthy dose of sugar makes for a tasty dough, and a topping of melted butter and salt makes them positively addictive.

The answer lies in a brief dip in an alkaline water bath before baking. This bath essentially gelatinizes the outside of the pretzel, preventing it from fully “springing” during baking (as bread does) and giving pretzels their signature chewy crust. It also gives them their unique and indelible “pretzel” flavor.

Before any Auntie Anne's pretzel goes into the oven, it's brushed with their special solution of warm water and baking soda. Baking soda is a common ingredient in baked goods but it's usually in the actual dough as part of the "dry ingredients" like flour or sugar.

BUTTER PACKET: ANHYDROUS MILKFAT, NATURAL FLAVOR (WHEY, BUTTER OIL, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, SALT, GUAR GUM, ANNATTO AND TURMERIC [COLOR]).

Soft pretzels are large and have a chewy texture. They're usually served individually and are commonly sold at concession stands, restaurants, and bakeries. Meanwhile, hard pretzels are small and crunchy and can be eaten by the handful, depending on their shape.

Pretzel salt is a type of coarse long-grained salt.

Humble Pretzel Roots

Auntie Anne's got its start in 1988 when Anne Beiler bought a stand in a Pennsylvania farmer's market. After some experimentation, "Auntie" Anne created a masterpiece — the same freshly baked goodness you know and love today.

Soft pretzels are a convenient and delightful snack that can be enjoyed in the comfort of your home. These five toppings – salt, cinnamon sugar, cheese, honey mustard, marinara, and chocolate drizzle – offer a range of flavors and experiences that cater to different palates.

If your pretzels have any sort of a metallic, bitter taste, it all comes down to the baking soda bath.

What is the best flour for pretzels? ›

Gluten helps provide structure, allowing a baked good to have more body and sturdiness. As a result, bread flour will make it easier for a pretzel to hold its shape. This can be an advantage to beginner bakers, especially since the shape of a pretzel is so important.

Cover and store leftover pretzel bites at room temperature for up to 3 days. They lose a little softness over time. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds or bake in a 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes.

Lye is primarily used to make pretzels, and it's the reason for their unmistakable shiny, mahogany color. To prepare, shaped pretzels are dipped in a lye bath, then baked in the oven.

As noted above, baking soda is a staple ingredient for making homemade pretzels. Dunking your pretzels in a baking soda bath prior to baking is what enables them to develop their distinctive color and crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside texture.

Lye also happens to be a powerful corrosive, one seemingly designed to melt your biological meat suit's mix of proteins and fats. (Pretzels are safe to eat because the lye on their surfaces reacts with carbon dioxide when heated, transforming it into harmless carbonate.)

Lye is primarily used to make pretzels, and it's the reason for their unmistakable shiny, mahogany color. To prepare, shaped pretzels are dipped in a lye bath, then baked in the oven. This method can also be used with rolls or buns. Once lye-dipped pretzels are baked, they're totally safe (and delicious!) to eat.

Lye is the secret ingredient that gives pretzels their characteristic look and taste. Without lye, you have a breadstick. When you dip raw dough into a hot lye bath, the lye breaks down proteins and starches on the surface.

In the state of Bavaria, pretzels are more evenly formed and soft all over, with arms just about as thick as their belly. Before baking, however, they are all dipped in lye, a sodium hydroxide solution that gives them their glossy, chestnut brown crust and unmistakable alkali flavor.