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
- ----------
- The Soda Bath:
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 2½ cups warm water
- ----------
- 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!
First time making pretzels and they turned out SO GOOD!
The only different thing is that it only took me 6-7 mins on the oven.
AAH.. SO HAPPY! I love this so much :D
My husband devours these too!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I will be making this again.
Love from Norway.
Hi Stefie, I am so glad the recipe turned out good for you! Thank you for taking the time to comment, we really appreciate it!
I just made these and they were soooo good! I ended up needing another 140 g of flour when everything was said and done but it didn’t dry out the pretzels by any means.
This recipe is definitely going into my keep folder!!! Question: I did a second proof to get them a little thicker, but I didn’t see that mentioned in the recipe. Does skipping the second proof have benefits to the end result?
Thanks again for such a wonderful recipe.
Hi Courtney, I am so glad you liked the recipe. I find that most pretzel recipes don’t call for a second proofing of the dough. Proofing a second time may result in a thicker softer pretzel though. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.
Hi, I’m making these for a second time this week as they are so yummy. I can’t buy freshly baked pretzels near me so this recipe is perfect. Is there a tip for making the cinnamon sugar stick to the pretzels? Thanks, Thalia
Don’t worry I figured it out. I put the butter and sugar on each one at a time, you need to dunk the pretzel in to the sugar as soon as you’ve put the butter on it for the sugar to stick.
Thalia, I’m glad you were able to get the cinnamon & sugar to stick. I usually brush with butter then roll in cinnamon and sugar immediately. Thanks.
Hi Katie! I have never made pretzels, so I figured today would be a great day to try! The taste of my pretzels turned out wonderful. I am clumsy with kneading the dough. Mine felt “wet” as I’ve seen the other comments describe. I tried adding some more flour as I went along. I had a very hard time rolling out the dough to make the pretzel shapes because it was too slinky. I think it needed more flour? Any tips for next time on shaping them?
Thank you for this recipe! Even though my shapes were off, they taste amazing :)
Hi Brooke, If you were able to shape the dough into a ball after kneading then enough flour was probably added. When you rolled out the dough to shape the pretzels did you put vegetable oil on your hands and use a lightly oiled surface? The dough is sticky and I find that putting vegetable oil down on my kitchen counter really helps to roll out the dough.
Thanks, Katie
Hi there
I’m making some pretzels using this recipe, however I need some help as I do not know how many degrees I need to heat them at. I know it says 450 degrees but I have found that it isn’t possible for me as my oven only goes up to 220 degrees
Hi Noorjaha, Are you talking about 220 celsius or fahrenheit? If your oven only goes to 220 degrees celsius then you would just need to adjust the cooking time to a little longer. 220 degrees celsius is equal to 428 degrees fahrenheit. Thanks!
My dough does not seem to be rising ? It’s been 50 minutes and appears exactly the same . Any trouble shooting tips?
Hi Maria, Here is a link to a great article that should answer your question: https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/9-reasons-your-bread-isnt-rising-and-what-to-do-about-it/
Thanks.
Made these pretzels yesterday! They taste amazing when there warm!! Any tips on heating them up the next day?
Hi Ellie, I’m so glad you liked the pretzel recipe. To reheat you can microwave them for 10-15 seconds or in the oven at 400 F. for 3 minutes. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
Hi, what are the measurements in grams?
Hi Amrit, I am sorry I am not familiar with grams, you would need to find a conversion measurement table. I’m sure if you google it you can find one easily. Thank you!
Do you think these would stay fresh for 2 weeks if I vacuum sealed them right after they’ve cooled?
Sam, Bread items usually freeze pretty well but if vacuum sealing pretzels I think you need to freeze them first then take them out and vacuum seal them froze. Thanks.
Hi, I tried them with Almond Milk because that’s all I had and they came out perfect ! I done the 12 instead of 6 so I rolled them out 15 inches but I think I’ll do 30 the next time because they were a little tight . Thanks for sharing your recipe ! They taste delicious almost just the same !!!!!
Hi Shaelyn, I’m so glad you liked the recipe. Good to know that almond milk works as also. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
How do you adapt the recipe if you use instant yeast?
Hi Zara, The two yeasts can be used interchangeably. With instant you can just add it right to the dough, it doesn’t have to wait 2 minutes to be dissolved.
Hi there. I’m going to make this today however I have a question. Do these store well? And if so how do I store them? I want them to taste fresh for the next couple of days if possible.
Hi Mawa, These are definitely best eaten the same day. I would store them in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat as needed if you plan to keep them a few days. Thanks!
I just made them and I honestly don’t think they’re gonna last till tomorrow they’re delicious!!
Thanks for the recipe. It is delicious. I make the dough in the bread machine. Then take it out and let the kids (5&7) make the pretzel shape. It is very fun for them. ?
Hi Jane, So glad you liked the recipe. Thanks for commenting, we appreciate it.
I’ve just made these today!! They came out amazing! Soooo tasty , although I need to work on the shape :)
Hi Arti, So glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.
Most yeast recipes require letting the dough rise 2 times. Your recipe doesn’t require letting the pretzels rise after shaping?
Hello, You are correct this recipe only requires one rise. Most of my bread recipes require 2 rises but typically with pretzel recipes you don’t do a second rise. Thanks!