If your a lover of cinnamon & sugar toast, elephant ears, churros or basically anything covered in cinnamon & sugar then this recipe is for you! I love the flavor of cinnamon & sugar. My Mom used to let me have cinnamon & sugar toast occasionally for breakfast & I was always crazy about it! Can you say yum?
This past week has been crazy with the 4th of July weekend & so much going on now that we are in the heart of summer. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I did, I loved watching fireworks & spending time with my family & friends! I don’t know about you but its also fair time in my hometown and that makes me think of elephant ears. Every time I go to the county fair I can’t resist the vendors that are selling those warm, greasy, deep fried elephant ears that are smothered with cinnamon & sugar. I think this recipe is a great alternative to elephant ears & a healthier one too because there is definitely no deep frying involved!
I wasn’t sure how I would feel about cinnamon & sugar on a pretzel because I love salty pretzels. However my sister made these & made me try one & I was instantly like why haven’t I tried this before?!
*I think these taste best served warm.
**If you don’t want to knead the dough by hand you can just pour all the ingredients into a bread machine or a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook & let it knead for about 5 minutes.
- The Dough:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
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- The Soda Bath:
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 2½ cups warm water
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- 4 tablespoon melted butter for brushing
- ½ cup sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon for topping
- Make the pretzels: Warm the milk in microwave (about 30 seconds); pour into a medium bowl & add yeast. Let it sit about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Add 2 tablespoons softened butter; mix. Add the remaining 1¼ cups flour and salt to make a sticky dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface & knead, adding more flour if needed, knead about 5 minutes. Shape into ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper, non-stick mat or grease with butter.
- Divide dough into 6 pieces if you want big pretzels (12 pieces if you want smaller ones). Use a lightly oiled surface to roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
- For the soda bath: dissolve the baking soda in warm water in a shallow baking dish. Dip each pretzel in it, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are turning golden brown.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a shallow dish. Brush pretzels with butter or dip them in it. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mix.
WOW! I made this last night and they turned out so well! Thank you so much for a gorgeous recipe! :D
Hi Renee, I’m so glad you liked the recipe! :)
Making these for the second time and doubling the recipe today because my children made them disappear way to quickly and I wanted more the last time. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Beth, glad to hear your children really like this recipe. Thanks for commenting! :)
Omg! These pretzels were just as good or maybe better then auntie Anne’s pretzels. I devoured one just waiting for the others to bake! Thank you so much for the amazing recipe
Hi Abby, I’m glad you liked the recipe! :)
Just made these with my 4-year-old – super easy and definitely delicious! Soft pretzels aren’t a big thing here in Australia, but we were feeling nostalgic for the ones we used to eat while living in the US and your recipe brought back some great memories – thanks :)
Hi Kate! So nice to hear you made these with your 4 year old. I’m glad you liked the recipe! :)
What butter shouls I use salted or unsalted?
I used salted but it doesn’t really matter which you use with this recipe.
Is there a way to freeze and make as needed?
Hi, I’ve never tried freezing dough with yeast but I read that you can as long as it has already risen once. You could also make half a recipe or bake them & freeze them.
Have just made it. It is the most delicious pretzel recipe. My son loved it. Thank you so much for the recipe.
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for commenting!
I made it this morning but the dough seemed very soggy and difficult to shape. I continued to knead and let rise. In the end I could make the pretzel shape, just long strings (and very odd too). But the taste is still as good, except no “crisp” of the outside when u bite into it. Nonetheless it was soft and fluffy and delicious to eat.
Hi there! Sorry to hear the dough was soggy. If the dough seems too wet when first kneading I usually keep adding more flour until the dough stiffens and forms a nice ball. Depending on the time of year & weather you need to add extra flour or extra liquid to the dough.
When i baked mine the dough turned out undercooked and the bottom really burnt, i dont know what did i do wrong :(
Hi, Did you use a dark baking sheet? That could be the problem. I recommend using either a silicone baking mat inside the cookie sheet or using parchment paper also works well.
Mine are in the oven right now!! Can’t wait to try them! Easy to make too!
Hi Kellie, I hope you liked them!
Thanks for the recipe! Made these with a stand mixer (first paddle attachment and then dough hook for kneading) and only 1/2 tsp salt (personal preference). The dough was a bit wet, I ended up adding about 1/4 c more flour. But I didn’t want it to be dry, so just made it so that it could be not too sticky to be taken out of the mixer bowl. Made 6 pretzels, not as big as Auntie Ann ones but decent size. The dough was easy to work with after raising. Was a bit skeptical about the high temperature but they actually came out great. Only needed 1tbsp butter for brushing and half of sugar mix. Kid approved. :)
Hi Jelena, I’m so glad you liked the recipe. I sometimes need to add more liquid/flour to my bread recipes, I think it depends on the time of year/weather. Thanks for commenting!
making at school cant wait can you make dough day before?
Hi Harleen, I have never tried making the dough ahead of time so I don’t know how they will turn out. You could try kneading the dough then refrigerating it overnight, then letting it warm up & rise some before making it.
I made these are they are very good, I made a couple substitutes. It calls for butter but I have a family member that won’t eat butter so I used sour cream. On the outside of the pretzel instead of butter I used olive oil and they turned out great. It did take more flour than called for it was way to sticky, I used about 1/2 cup more flour.
Hi Loretta, I’m so glad you liked the recipe. That is great that sour cream worked as a substitute. I also use olive oil to substitute butter sometimes too. Thanks for commenting, we appreciate it!
Thank you for your time sharing with us your recipe. I just made it. Waiting to bake them. ♡
Hi Nelly, Hope you like the recipe! Thanks for commenting!
I love it. ☕. I’m making them today as well. Thanks
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting us know.
Hi from Nova Scotia .. Made these today and they were a hit !! Amazingly easy for any beginner but takes a little practice getting the shape perfect.. Thank you so much for sharing .
Hi Lisa in Nova Scotia! I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!