So with all the excitement of visiting home, I've been thinking of all the foods and shops I've missed. Auntie Anne's came to mind the other day. I thought since they were pretzels that there would have to be a good copy cat recipe out there. Well there was. I didn't do too well with the sizing and shape of the pretzels but after this recipe, I have no need to do the real thing now. Here it is for those of you who miss it like I do or just want to try it. I added a few things but this is a standard recipe I found on the net
Auntie Anne's copied pretzels:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)
1 tablespoon butter softened
Kosher, rock, sea or pretzel salt
Directions:
Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and softened butter and mix; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.
While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and top with kosher or sea salt and enjoy!
For Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!
* The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be.
*Sweet butter, not regular butter, is supposedly also one of her secrets!
