9 Copycat Auntie Anne's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in Auntie Anne's pretzels? ›

Despite the fact that an Auntie Anne's soft pretzel is more salty than sweet, it may not be those chunks of sea salt sprinkled on top or the buttery glaze that gives them that mouthwatering flavor. Rather, the secret ingredient in Auntie Anne's pretzels is likely sugar.

Well, the cheery ladies were very clear with me: they do NOT use lye. No sodium hydroxide/poison/caustic soda—none whatsoever—in their pretzels. (They do, however, dip their pretzels in a baking soda solution.)

Products sold at Auntie Anne's franchise locations are baked fresh in-store. In order to provide you with a great Auntie Anne's experience at home, we use the same proprietary blend of flour used in our stores.

Choices include Cheese, Hot Salsa Cheese, Sweet Glaze, Caramel, Honey Mustard, Marinara, and Light Cream Cheese.

All those pretzels are made and twisted on the spot.

Auntie Anne's definitely doesn't serve pre-made pretzels! Every location receives shipments of the signature flour mixture, which is put in a mixer along with water and yeast. They're baked, brushed with real butter, salted and served right there.

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. Another reason the popular pretzels are so good is they are made and served fresh and warm.

(Don't worry about eating baked pretzels; baking neutralizes the lye and makes it perfectly safe to consume.) Follow this guide to make your experience safe and comfortable.

That is by taking baking soda, spreading it out on a baking pan and putting it into the oven at about 250-300 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour. That changes the chemical properties in the baking soda to make it behave more similarly to lye.

Yes. The technique of dipping raw dough in a lye bath has been used in Germany for at least two-hundred years. And they eat all types of lye-dipped bread every day. The lye bath is a very dilute 1% solution, and the raw pretzels are only submerged for about 20 seconds.

Both Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's are part of Focus Brands, the Atlanta-based operator owned by Roark Capital, the private equity group trying to buy Subway.

How to get free pretzels from Auntie Anne's? ›

Order in the app for delivery to your door or pick up at the store! Enjoy a free pretzel after your first $1 spent, a free pretzel on your birthday when you spend $10+ annually, and other exclusive member offers.

GoTo Foods (formerly Focus Brands) is an American company that currently owns the Schlotzsky's, Carvel, Cinnabon, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli, Auntie Anne's and Jamba brands. It is located in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and operates over 5,000 stores.

Now that Auntie Anne's doesn't sell their sour cream and onion flavor anymore, this is the next best thing to flavor my pretzels! Kinda hefty price BUT I'll pay for good food any day! My husband and I LOVE the sour cream flavor and this definitely elevates our plain pretzels!

The pretzels are packed with sodium

The CDC's current guidelines for adults advise that American adults should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. A single Auntie Anne's Original Pretzel has 990 milligrams of sodium, or 41% of your total daily amount. A jalapeño pretzel has 1,060 milligrams of sodium.

Lye. The dough is simple; take a basic yeast-risen dough that can be readied in an afternoon. But the trick to great pretzels is dipping the pretzels in a liquid wash before baking — and not just any wash, but a combination of water and lye. That's what gives pretzels their terrific color, texture and flavor.

Combine the baking soda with warm water in a 2-quart baking dish and stir until dissolved. Gently dip each “rope” into the soda solution. This alkaline solution is what gives the pretzels their signature dark brown, shiny crust and distinctive flavor.

Lye has a pH of around 13 whereas baking soda has a pH of around 8. This extra alkalinity accelerates the Maillard reaction, allowing that caramelization to develop on the exterior of the pretzels. That ultra-deep color and slightly crispy, crunchy exterior crust is only made possible with lye.

original sound - Auntie Anne's Pretzels

For those asking if we dip our pretzels in oil, the answer is no. We dipped in yummy, yummy butter. The more you know.