Auntie Anne's Pretzel Clone
These soft, gluten-free pretzels are inspired by the buttery, chewy ones you’d find at malls across America—made with our amazing Pizza Crust Mix! Fresh from the oven, bathed in sweet cream butter, and finished with coarse salt or cinnamon sugar... they’re absolute perfection.
Auntie Anne's Pretzel Clone (w/ Pizza Crust Mix)
Serves: 8 | Prep Time: 2 hours | Cook Time: 20-25 min
Ingredients
Pretzel
- 1lb Package (3 1/4 cups, 454g) of Better Batter GF Pizza Crust Mix
- 1 1/2 cups (340g, 354ml) to 1 3/4 cups (400g/ml) warm water at 105-110°F
- Tip: start with 1 1/2 cups and add more, 1 Tbsp at a time, as needed
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp (30g) oil
- 1 Package (2 1/4 tsp, 7g) Instant or Rapid Yeast (included in 1lb bag)
Pretzel Bath Spray
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 Tbsp baking soda
Toppings
- 2 sticks unsalted butter or vegan butter (melted and kept warm)
- Coarse kosher salt or cinnamon sugar
Instructions
Mixing:
By Hand: Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to stir and knead until ingredients form a dough, about 10–12 minutes. until it forms a bread dough. You can shape and knead like regular bread!
Stand Mixer: Place all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low for 2 minutes. Turn speed to medium high and mix for another 5 minutes. until it forms a bread dough. You can shape and knead like regular bread!
Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest and hydrate for 45–60 min at room temperature (until doubled). (This could take up to 90 minutes in a colder environment. This could take up to two hours. (This must happen before we proceed with the rest of the recipe.) This option can happen after warm proofing. Alternatively, cold‑proof up to 24 hours; bring to room temperature ~90 min before use.
Making the Pretzels
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Place into a plastic spray bottle or bowl. Be certain to stir or shake often.
Flour surface. Dough should now resemble a bread regular dough and should be able to be shaped easily. Use gluten free all-purpose flour (or more gf pizza crust mix if you have some) to flour the rolling surface, as needed.
Create dough balls. Separate the dough into balls slightly larger than baseballs but slightly smaller than tennis balls - about 4 ounces per ball. Roll slightly on a lightly floured surface to ensure the outside is lightly coated with flour. Taking one ball at a time, roll the ball between your hands until it is about four inches long. Lay onto the rolling surface. and roll a "snake", about 14 inches long - dough will be about 1/2 inch in diameter.
Make the pretzel shape. Take the rope and quickly form it into a pretzel shape. This dough should be able to be handled well.
Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat.
Spray each pretzel with soda solution or brush the solution onto the pretzel. Allow pretzels to rise for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Check & spray. Ensure oven is correct temperature, then spray pretzels one more time and place into the oven.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden, then remove from oven.
Dips & Toppings. While still warm, dip in melted butter and desired toppings, then serve in additional parchment paper & enjoy!
This post was originally published in July 2025 by Patrick Auger. Original photo by Patrick Auger.
