The first Auntie Anne'spretzel store opened in 1988 in the heart of pretzel country - a PennsylvanianAmish farmers' market. Over 500 stores later, Auntie Anne's is one of the mostrequested secret clone recipes on the Internet. Many of the recipes passedaround the Web require bread flour, and some use honey as a sweetener. But, byanalyzing the Auntie Anne's home pretzel-making kit in the secret undergroundlaboratory we can determine a better solution for recreating the delicious malltreats than any other recipe out there. For the best quality dough, all-purposeflour is what you need. And powdered sugar can be used to perfectly sweeten thestuff. Take your pick from salted pretzels, or the cinnamon/sugar coated kind,and crank the oven up real hot.
1 1/4
1 tablespoon plus 1/4teaspoon yeast
3 3/4 cups all-purposeflour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoonspowdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Bath
4 cups warm water
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted
kosher or pretzel salt
Cinnamon Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Dissolve the yeast in thewarm water in a small bowl or cup. Let it sit for a few minutes.
Combine flour, powderedsugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add water with yeast and vegetable oil.Stir with a spoon and then use your hands to form the dough into a ball. Kneadthe dough for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Dough will be nice andsmooth when it's ready. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover itand, and store it in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until the doughdoubles in size.
When dough has risen,preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Make a bath for thepretzels by combining the baking soda with the warm water and stir until bakingsoda is mostly dissolved.
Remove the dough from thebowl and divide it into 8 even portions. Roll each portion on a flatnon-floured surface until it is about 3 feet long. Pick up both ends of thedough and give it a little spin so the middle of the dough spins around once.Lay the dough down with the loop nearest to you. Fold the ends down toward youand pinch to attach them to the bottom of the loop. The twist should be in themiddle. Give the dough a twist, then fold the top down and pinch to attach.Glue is not required.
Holding the pinched ends,dip each pretzel into the bath solution. Put each pretzel on a paper towel fora moment to blot the excess liquid. Arrange the pretzels on a baking sheetsprayed with non-stick spray. If you want salt, sprinkle pretzels with kosheror pretzel salt. Don't salt any pretzels you plan to coat with cinnamon/sugar.You will likely have to use two baking sheets, and be sure to bake themseparately. Bake the the pretzels for 4 minutes, then spin the pan halfwayaround and bake for another 4 to 5 minutes or until the pretzels are goldenbrown.
Remove the pretzels fromthe oven, and let them cool for a couple minutes.
If you want to eat somenow, brush 'em with melted butter first, if desired, before serving. If youwant the cinnamon/sugar coating make it by combining the 1/2 cup sugar and 2teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush the unsalted pretzels you plan tocoat with a generous amount of melted butter. Sprinkle a heavy coating of thecinnamon/sugar onto the entire surface of the pretzels over a plate. Munch out.
Makes 8 pretzels.