Mall Pretzels

I rate this recipe 5 stars because the dough is perfect, but it still has some room for improvement in the baking process. Here's what I did: I boiled the pretzels in 4 cups of water and 4 tbsp of baking soda until they floated, one at a time, as some German recipes advise. Then I let them rise for 20 other minutes uncovered, basted them with egg and sprinkled the coarse salt afterwards. Then I baked them for 20 minutes at 225ºC, and they came out golden and beautiful, and tasted as real pretzels. A definite keeper. Thanks for sharing!

I am the biggest fan of the "Pretzelmaker" but have been unsuccessful store-bought version. THIS IS IT!! Now I can enjoy the same pretzels at home!! We topped the pretzels with pizza spices, garlic salt or parmesean cheese and dipped in a variety of sauces. My only advice, DO NOT BAKE on the bottom rack in your oven...the bottoms will burn. Maybe all you bread experts may already know that but to novices like myself, this advice will save you 6 pretzels you would have lost due to burned bottoms. THANK YOU JEANNIE!!

Amazing pretzels! I was a bit afraid of making them because although a lot of people said they were great, some said they were too bready and difficult to work with. Not so. And this recipe is SO forgiving. First, I found that I didn't have any brown sugar so I ended up using regular granulated sugar. Then, I didn't have bread flour, so I only used all-purpose. Rolling them did prove to be a bit time consuming because they tend to spring back, but I found that a combination of rolling and picking them up to let gravity stretch them worked well. Also, because I was working on a short surface, I didn't have room for the entire 3 feet, but I did find that as I got each part to the desired thickness, I could wrap it around one hand to get it out of the way and continue rolling the rest with the other hand. I salted them before putting them in the oven, and rather than baking on parchment, I used well-buttered foil. The bottoms came out nice and crunchy and buttery, and the rest was chewy and soft. I made a garlic butter by just putting some minced garlic and butter in a pan and heating until the rawness was gone and dipped the hot pretzels in that rather than putting the topping directly on the pretzel. So yum and so easy!

I used only whole wheat flour as that was all I had so maybe that made a difference, but I have no idea what the reviewers who had problems with sticky dough did - my dough was actually a bit on the dry side! No problems with the water bath either, although I did blot the bottoms with a papertowel before putting them on a greased cookiesheet to reduce sticking (and had no problems with that either). I cut the recipe in half since so many people said the pretzels didn't keep well... I didn't have any problems here either? Then again, I didn't put any topping on them until just before eating (so the stored ones are 'naked') - at the mall they don't put the topping on until you request it and if it IS done beforehand, well, those pretzels have only been sitting there for a half hour or so! Oh, and just like I request at the mall, I use water to make my topping stick (spray bottle) instead of butter - trying to be healthy and all. :) Both me and my bf thought these made a great snack!

Good pretzel's. The best with cinnamon. I didn't use parchment paper and my pans were completely sticky. USE PARCHMENT PAPER. The pretzel barely came off after lots of shoveling them off the pan

I am the biggest fan of the "Pretzelmaker" but have been unsuccessful store-bought version. THIS IS IT!! Now I can enjoy the same pretzels at home!! We topped the pretzels with pizza spices, garlic salt or parmesean cheese and dipped in a variety of sauces. My only advice, DO NOT BAKE on the bottom rack in your oven...the bottoms will burn. Maybe all you bread experts may already know that but to novices like myself, this advice will save you 6 pretzels you would have lost due to burned bottoms. THANK YOU JEANNIE!!

For everyone having problems with the pretzels tasting stale the next day, just put them in ziplock bags, freeze them, and whenever you get the craving, pop them in the microwave for 45 sec.

Oh my golly these are amazing. I crave these things all the time...not exactly sure that it is a good thing that I can make them on my own now...LOL. I did have to add more flour to my dough because it was just too sticky...and the cook time was a little bit longer too. Didn't change anything else. Hubby ate this with a Garlic Parmesan butter and I had mine plain. Thanks for the post. One of my favorites.

pretty good for my first attempt at making pretzels. i converted the recipe for use with my sourdough starter: 2 cups active starter, 3 cups bread flour, 3 tblsp sugar (a little extra to make up for the sour flavor of the starter) and 2 tsp salt - everything else i left the same. the rise is longer, as expected for a sourdough starter. also, greased cookie sheets seem to work fine. underbake them slightly if you want them chewy.

I have to admit that I was skeptical to think I'd actually find a recipe that was as good as the mall pretzels. Call me a former skeptic! This recipe really surpassed my greatest expectations. I did as Flashsmith said back on February 6, 2004 and laid the pretzels on a few layers of paper towels after dipping in the soda water. It drained off just enough of the water so they didn't stick. I used Cooks Essentials insulated baking sheets and my pretzels actually slid off the pans. One thing that I also did was sprinkle my coarse salt on them while they were still wet (from the soda bath), then let them raise and then baked them. The salt dissolved just enough to make it stick so that I didn't have to use the butter and added calories. For those that have trouble rolling these out, and as other reviewers have said, a proper kneading of the dough is a MUST. After the dough raises (and make sure it has raised to at least double) punch it down and let it rest for a few minutes. Then divide the pieces and go from there. Also, when you put your yeast in the sugar water, don't put the salt in with it. Put the salt in with the flour mixture. The salt is used to control the yeast, and you want to activate it at this time. This is simply an amazingly good recipe and I thank you Jeannie Yee for posting it here on All Recipes!

Bread Machine Version - Just add dough ingrediants to machine and select dough cycle. They turn out perfect!! Some things I noticed: 1) Recipe made more than 12, more like 20. 2) Roll dough thin!! They will rise to almost double when baking 3)Do not add flour while rolling thin, it is better when dough sticks a little to counter while rolling (makes it easier to make thin ropes). 4) I used my baking stones with no parchment paper or oil and had no problems with them sticking. 5) We dip these in butter and then in a cinnamon/sugar mixture. They are delicious just dipped in the butter too! 6) These are absolutely wonderful, I have no idea how long they keep, because we never have them longer than a day!!

These are really like mall pretzels! Here are a few adjustments I made to make them taste like the real thing: -Boil 4 cups of water and 4 T. of baking soda, boil each pretzel for 30 seconds, then let dry on towel before baking. -Bake at 325 degrees for 10-11 minutes, on the middle rack, this way the bottoms don't burn and they get golden brown all around. -Buy popcorn seasonings, like sour cream and onion, garlic and parmesan, etc. Makes them DELICIOSO! It's also fun to make a whole bunch of 4-5 inch long pretzels "sticks," and easier than twisting them into the pretzel shape.

Very yummy and kids friendly. My son made alphabets and shapes. Good activity with bunch of kids.

It's ok with garlic salt. But, BETTER With cinnamon

OMG... Do not hesitate to try these. I will never buy a 5 dollar pretzel again! I made just a few allterations but these come out wonderfully. I made the dough just as written. I then doubled the water soda mix and boiled it, then placed the pretzels into the boiling water removing them when they floated. After boiling I dabbed off the excess liquid and then continued with the baking. While baking I noticed the bottoms were getting browned fast and the tops were still not done, so i removed the pretzels from the oven then brushed them with butter (I think the butter is key in making these pretzles taste like auntie annes)and sprinkled with salt and then placed them under the broiler for a minute or so until they were nice and brown on the tops. This is the only way I have been able to get the correct coloring with my finicky oven without the bottoms getting to dark.

My family thought the pretzels were ok, definitely not as good as the pretzels at the mall. They taste better if they are eaten right away. By the next day they do not taste very good.

Neither my daughter nor I were able to get these to roll out to a 3 foot length, maybe 18 inches, so our pretzels looked like dough blobs on the baking sheet before baking. They did however taste good with cream cheese and are yeasty...nothing like a traditional pretzel but more like a soft bread stick. My advise to anyone reading this: DO NOT substitute wax paper for the parchment paper! After airing all the smoke out of our apartment we were able to salvage half the pretzels. Will make again, however probably just shape like a bread stick instead of trying to twist them, and ofcourse NO wax paper!

I thought these were pretty good! My daughters loved them and had fun attempting to shape them into pretzels as well as letters of the alphabet (great practice!) This dough was not as sticky as some others we have tried. For that reason alone we will make these again. I think the key to these pretzels is to roll the dough pencil thin. This can be difficult because it likes to hold it's shape and the dough seems to dry out quickly. Keeping the extra dough covered with a damp cloth does help this some. I think next time I will use more butter after baking, but other than that the recipe was very good. Not exactly mall pretzels, although close, but a very good alternative for the price. Will definately make again.

These pretzels are soooo yummy! I let my bread machine do the work, then followed these instructions for the remaining part of the recipe. They turned out just as good as those at the mall, maybe a little better ;0). I baked mine for only 7 minutes,and got a perfect golden color. Soft, chewy and very tasty with garlic butter and kosher salt. Thanks Jeannie. This is a keeper!

Very good recipe! Changed nothing except followed someone else's suggestion to drain on paper towel first!

Very good! A bit time consuming, but just throw it in the breadmaker and go shopping or clean the house. They are a bit hard to roll out, but once you get the hang of it it is easy. I will double the recipe next time cause my boyfriend ate them all before I could put them away :(

Incredible. They do taste just like the pretzels at the mall. Even my incredibly picky 8 year old thought so.

AWESOME! I brushed melted butter on them, and sprinkled them with salt and garlic powder before putting them in the oven. Then, I took them out 3 minutes before the ten minute timer went off, sprinkled mozzarella cheese and put them back in the oven. After I took them out, I brushed more butter on them. HEAVENLY.. :)

I tried to make these pretzels this morning and started off very good. Kitchen was smelling like I knew what I was doing. I got to the part where I needed to cut the dough in 12 pieces and everything started going downhill. I tried to roll it and it got stuck to the counter. then I added flour and then I still couldn't roll it thin. By the time I stretched and pulled the dough and tried to form it to a pretzel, I was EXTREMELY exhausted. I dipped it in the baking soda solution and the pretzel fell apart. This is where I gave up. I am letting the 1 pretzel and the other "rolls" (this is what I decided was best". I will let you know what I came out with. Oh, let me add that I am a beginner bread maker and this was really a challenge for me!

These are Great. I doubled the brown sugar to 4 tbs because we like them sweet. I put the ingredients in my bread machine and set it to the dough setting. It worked like a charm. Once done I rolled the dough into ropes, dipped into water/soda and baked. The dough was a little sticky so have flour on your hands when you remove it from the bread machine. They were so good. Just like the ones at PretzelMaker we had yesterday. I will definately keep this recipe.

these were okay but they werent as light as i thought they should be.

Very good recipe. I didn't bother with the bread flour and just used all regular-- It came out just fine.

very tasty. didn't have bread flour so I used all purpose.

These do turn out fabulous. I do not like dipping them however, I find it much better to brush the baking soda on the tops only with a pastry brush. When you dip them the bottoms burn.

Wonderful pretzels. I have had to make several batches since I first tried the recipe last week. Everyone liked it as a bread alternative, so I twirled the ropes of dough into concentric circle buns. Use the baking soda wash, then butter and salt just the same. They have actually been handy for sandwiches even.. Pretzels are fun, but I had to make back to back batches these were so popular with family and guests. My circle bun was a way to speed up the process -- with wonderful results!

This recipe went pretty smoothly for me - I just need to roll the ropes skinnier next time. They puffed up a lot during the rise and then baked into one big blob. They taste amazing, so we weren't too concerned with what they looked like.

Wow - these pretzels are super. I've tried MANY pretzel recipes and the pretzels always turn out heavy and tough. These "mall pretzels" are soft and fairly light and taste wonderful with cinnamon and sugar. I will definitely be making these again.

They turned out good, but they were diffidently NOT worth the time and energy. I'll just buy the ones at the mall. I have better things to do during a 3 1/2 hr period. If you want to waste 3 hours out of your short life, good luck to ya.

Tastes just like the "gourmet" mall pretzels! I like mine brushed with butter & sprinkled with garlic salt served with a little marinara sauce. My kids like cinnamon-sugar or salted, dh likes parmesan. They get eaten as fast as I can make them!

If you boil these like a previous reviewer said, they are awesome..tastes just like a soft pretzel!! I boiled some, and cooked the rest like the instructions above, they were still good, but more bread tasting. I liked the boiled ones much more. Great recipe!!

Followed the recipe exactly, except I substituted whole wheat flour for all purpose. I did not have any issues with rolling out the dough. I made traditional twists, long ropes then cut them in pieces, and also shaped out Superbowl XLIII. These disappeared fast at the Superbowl party I baked them for. I also made beer cheese dip, honey spread, and blue cheese dip for the pretzels.

I made these twice, once following the recipe exactly and I would give it a 4 * for the recipe...I then made them and boiled the pretzels in water and baking soda before baking for 30 seconds. Wow! What a difference! Nice crust on the outside and chewy middle. Without boiling they came out yummy, but more like pizza bread. Boiled they came out like pretzels, fantastic! Thank you for the recipe!

Very easy to make. I put all of the ingredients in my kitchen aid with the dough hook and let it do the hard work. I divided the dough in half, twisting half in to mini pretzels and leaving the rest as pretzel twists so people could tell which were butter/salt and which were cinnamon sugar. I served the salt/butter with the cheese dipping sauce from this site. I also followed another reviewers advice and patted them a little dry after dipping them in the soda solution so they wouldn't sit in puddles. UPDATE: 2 years later and we are trying to do the "whole grain" thing, so I used the 1 cup bread flour, 2 c whole wheat and about a cup of AP to thicken it up to the right consistency. Good, but next time I'll just use one cup of whole wheat- just a bit too gritty for me- and I eat whole wheat bread everyday for lunch. Still a 5 star recipe though

I made these twice in one week. My kids love them! First time, I forgot to let them rise after shaping them. But still turned out good. Second time, way better. First time, I use middle rack to bake them, but bottom brown way faster then top, so second time, I move it to 1 level higher on rack to bake, and both side baked beautifully.

This is a wonderful recipe BUT Iv already tried so many and found the most important thing to me is the chewy crusty outside that your only going to get if you BOIL them, just ever so slightly... don't tell me dipping them in warm water will just do the trick! They taste more like bread sticks that way. If you want a chewier pretzel BOIL them like you would a bagel, just not near as long. 1 min is plenty, drain well. And the key ingredient to this recipe is brown sugar! if you don't have any add a dribble of molasses... gives it that yummy yeasty flavor. I agree with Flash-smith that plenty of kneading and then rising time make a HUGE handling difference so they roll out perfectly. Have fun!

Makes lots of dough - pretzels don't keep well - so refrigerate extra dough

I have a nephew who is addicted to the pretzels at the mall, so I saw this recipe an had to give it a try. They came out great!! And they were very easy to make, although I did not have bread flour I just used all purpose flour instead and these still were great will definately keep this recipe!!!

A winner! This is too easy, especially if you make the dough in a bread machine...you do not need extra flour to roll out the ropes. I did not use parchment paper, but just sprayed down the cookie sheet with Pam and they came out perfect, with that crusty-chewy bottom. The hardest part is not gobbling them all up at once when they come out of the oven.

When you make cinnamon go on top instead of salt, you can't dunk the whole thing. Next time, I'll make it so that I use a pastry brush on the pretzel so it's not so strong. Let the smaller people (kids) make their own shapes of the pretzels (if they're siblings, letters of their names are fun!).

I make pretzels all the time and this one was great! The dough stretched well for me and I thought that they tasted just like "mall" pretzels. I followed a tip from here about letting the pretzels rest and then finish rolling and that worked great. If you find the dough is slipping too much too roll, a little water on my hands from the baking soda mixture solved that for me. Will be making these again!!

Very good, in fact I believe better than the ones at the mall because you don't have to make them super greasy and heavy from being drenched in butter. The dough was pretty easy to work with- I kept the dough ball covered with a wet paper towel cause it was drying out a bit while I was doing the rolling, which was a bit tedious and the ones I rolled 'pencil thin' were almost a bit too crisp after baking exactly 8 mins so next time I'll roll them a bit thicker or bake a minute or 2 less. Brushed them with butter and sprinkled with kosher salt. Served with a cheesy sauce that was so yummy. I also made a few pretzel dogs which were soooo good! They were perfect after baking 8 mins. Next time I might put a pat of cream cheese in with the hot dogs (it's a Seattle thing...trust me, it's good) and maybe even some grilled onions. This would also make a great pizza or calzone dough. I love this recipe and will keep it in my arsenal. It'd be a fun thing to do with kids too, although since it takes a long time younger kids might get impatient... Well worth the work and the wait!*******UPDATE: Out of curiosity, I froze a portion of this dough for about 3 or 4 weeks and it kept well. I used it to make herbed breadsticks that were YUMMY with soup and salad. I just patted the dough ball down to about 1/2" and sliced with a sharp knife into sticks. Brushed with garlic butter, sprinkled with thyme, baked 11mins. Really good!

Delicious! Here's my substitutions - I didn't have bread flour, so used regular AP and just kneaded it longer in my stand mixer so it would produce more gluten, making them chewier. I use bread machine yeast, from a jar, so just use 2 tsp instead of the packet, and reduce the rise time by 1/2. Another reviewer said to use parchment paper...big mistake. I had to remove little bits of paper from the finished pretzels. The cooking spray the next time did the trick and they slid off smooth and easy. Oh, and the 2nd time I doubled the brown sugar, and liked the flavor even more. The almost-sweet & salty was irresistable. Thanks for a great recipe! Even my 14 yr old stepson wanted to help!

Two things are a must: Kneading and Parchment Paper. Dough ball is smooth after 4-5 minutes of kneading-DON'T LET THIS FOOL YOU!- Continue kneading for the full time. I did the full 8 minutes on a half-sized recipe-and it was *VERY* easy to roll (don't flour the surface when rolling-having them slightly stick to the counter helps them roll out-also combining the jump rope method helps work out thick spots)So maybe even up to 10 minutes would be appropriate on the full size recipe. Wiping off excess water is not necessary when using parchment paper (the paper will absorb some), and they don't stick at all. In fact wiping off the excess may remove some of the baking soda needed to give the outside of the pretzel a nice skin, and the bottoms a crispy golden brown. Best right out of the oven, but they weren't too bad when reheated at 450 degrees. Loved it, can't wait to make again!

These are awesome! I use my bread machine and my kids like to help make some of the dough into pretzel sticks. A winner!

These turned out pretty well. I will definitely make them again. However, I will change a couple things. First, once you have made the dough into a preztel shape, the directions say to dip the preztels in warm water mixed with baking soda (110 degrees F). Make sure you shape all your preztels before you start dipping. Otherwise, if you shape one pretzel, dip, and shape your next pretzel and dip, and so forth, your water will cool down too much and the later pretzels won't rise very well. Next time, I think I'm going to heat some water in a deep skillet and let it cool down to 110 degrees in the pan. Given that the water is in a warm pan, I would think it would stay warmer longer. Second, the recipes said to put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and to lay the pretzels on the parchment paper and then stick them into the oven. I haven't had good experience with wax paper in the oven in the past, so I was a little leary, but I decided to follow the recipe to a T. Although the paper did not burn, as I thought it would, the pretzels stuck to the paper. Next time, I will eliminate the wax paper and bake them on a greased sheet. Finally, the recipe says to roll the dough out into 3 ft ropes. I thought 3 ft was too long. The pretzels ended up very big - - I could only fit 4 on a cookie sheet. Next time, I think 2 feet will be sufficient. Despite these modifications, I will definitely be making them again. They tasted pretty authentic.

I searched a lot for a good pretzel recipe, this morning I spotted this recipe by mistake, and within an hour my dough was ready and resting, and it took me 30 minutes to assemble the pretzels, and rest them again. One advice, when you roll the ropes to shape the pretzels, let the ropes rest for couple of minutes and then reroll them again, it will be easier to shape a good size pretzel, dip in the baking soda water, keeping a paper towel handy to collect the excess water before you put them on the parchment paper to rest before baking. This is a very good recipe, and definitely will use the recipe again. Here are some pictures from the batch I made this afternoon.

Wonderful recipe!!! Made them today and there is not one left!! My daughter said they were the best she has ever had. We plan on making a bunch to freeze over Thanksgiving break. To do that, just leave off the butter and topppings and freeze the baked pretzels in a single layer on a cookie sheet. When you want one or two just take them out of the freezer, brush frozen pretzels with water, sprinkle with salt and bake at 450 for about 5 minutes or until hot. Or heat, then brush with butter and sprinkle salt. It's a great,quick snack.

Great! Everyone loves them. I've used rapid rise yeast with good results. I usually just toss the ingredients into the bread maker and run the dough cycle (1.5 hrs) and it works fine. I brush with an egg wash to add shine to the finished product. A pain to roll out into pretzel shapes.

These are the BEST!!! I know others said they had problems rolling out the dough. I made the recipe exactly as written and I didn't have any problems. As far as comments on how they taste the next day, I will have to wait till I make them again. My pretzels barely made it out of the oven before my family attacked them. Great recipe!!!!!!

Thanks for a GREAT recipe!! These are AWESOME! My kids and I love making these. I made only one change, not to the recipe, but to the preparation. Instead of just dipping the pretzels in the baking soda solution, I made a larger batch of the solution, heated it to a simmer on the stove, and simmered the pretzels for 15-30 seconds, removed them with a slotted spoon, and drained on paper towels for a few seconds. This gave them a much chewier crust, more like the Hot Sam mall pretzels I grew up loving. I do agree with one post's suggestion not to use parchment paper, but spray the pan with Pam instead. Every time I try using the paper, my pretzels stick badly, but if I spray the pan, they slide right off. Happy baking!!

Love this recipe! It is super easy and the taste is perfect. However trying to make pencil thin 3 foot strands of dough is probably the hardest part. I made them just about as thick as a Crayola marker and they turned out fine.

These are really good! They are just like the mall pretzels, only fresher. I prefer to put the coarse salt on when they are wet and let them rise that way. Then the flavor is really set in to the whole thing.

My husband went nuts over this, his mother is a baker (for a living) it is not easy to please him. He said it was the best pretzel he ever had!

This is an easy recipe, especially if you have a kitchen aid mixer. Toss the ingredients in and mix, change to a dough hook and let the machine do all the kneading. When we got to rolling out the ropes, I let my kids do it, (ages 5-14) so it is definately kid friendly. They loved the pretzels. We took half of the pretzels and brused on a mixture of 1 TBSP. butter and 1 TBSP honey, and sprinkled on ground almonds. Then we melted 18 carmels and 1 TBSP milk for a dipping sauce. LOVED it! We'll be doing this again-soon!

Very easy to make! I didn't have any problems with the dough sticking or not sticking and they baked perfectly!

AMAZING!!!!! These are so good and they really do taste like the ones at the mall! I did pretzel shapes and sticks and they all came out wonderful. I have a feeling I will be making these again tomorrow because the family gobbled them up quickly. Thanks for a great recipe.

Baking time is definitely longer than the 10min stated in the recipe, i took almost 25min for mine. other than that, looks great, a tad sweet.

well done recipe. we were able to roll the dough out further to make even larger pretzels which we like. next time we will try raisins or cheese to get more "mall-like" varieties.

These were outstanding. I doubled and boiled the baking soda solution, dipping them in that as another reviewer had suggested, then I brushed with melted butter and they baked up golden, chewy and delish. I covered most of mine with cinnamon sugar and dipped in caramel sauce to eat. Slap yo mama.

Yes, these live up to the reviews. I made it two ways: One batch with an egg wash and coarse salt; the other batch with melted butter, garlic and parmesan cheese. I gave a second dose of garlic butter and parmesan sprinkling after they came out of the oven. Both were wonderful, but my family voted the egg wash batch best because it gave the pretzels the chewy texture you get from mall pretzels. I did follow two key suggestions from other reviewers: I let the ropes rest a few minutes before rolling and twisting for final shape. And I boiled in baking soda-water for 15 seconds. The egg wash is critical. Brush on and sprinkle with coarse salt before baking. The dough is easy to work with, too. Yummy. Everyone wants this one in my permanent files. Thank you so much. Update: Don't boil in baking soda water. Just dip as stated. When they are boiled, they won't rise very much. I learned that the second time I made them and tried the advice of another reviewer.

Very, very good! I did boil them until they floated, but that was the only change I made. They are really fabulous, thank you!

These were not thick skinned and chewy on the outside as they should be. In hindsight I believe the problem lies with dipping them in the warm water. I would make these again, but put them in boiling water for a few minutes, just as you do with bagels. In comparing a few recipes in cookbooks and on the net with this one, I see that that is the one common factor that this recipe lacks. Brushing with an egg wash and sprinkling the coarse salt on before baking is one other thing I would adjust. I found the melted butter made these softer and it was hard to get the salt to stick. I found the editor's tip for rolling out the ropes worked really well. Be sure to keep your dough balls covered with plastic wrap while forming the pretzels, as I found them harder to form when the dough started drying out.

This was what was muttered around my kitchen table as my family of four sat down to eat them. The 4-year old exclaimed, "Mmmmm...yummy!" My six-year old said, "These are better than the ones at the mall!" and my husband said, "Wow, I can't believe how good these are!" The only change I made was to put the ingredients in my bread machine and used the dough cycle. Other than that I followed the recipe to a "T." They were absolutely delicious and I agree with my 6-year old in that I too think they are better than the ones at the mall! I baked 6 of them and froze the rest after the baking soda bath. I'll update my review after I thaw them later in the week. I'm hoping they taste just as yummy as they did today! Fantastic recipe!!!

I tell you what. I'm so glad these are called pretzels, because I sure did get turned around and twisted up in the recipe a couple of times LOL...recipe is excellent. I goober in a few spots but it sure wasn't the recipe...it was the baker...aka ME! ;-) so next time and I hope some take the advice on what not to do in this recipe. So not add all the flour at once... ya might not need all of it. Use what is left if any for the flour board to knead on. Also do not forgot if your warmer box has a proofer button to forget to add a little water cup for moisture reasons...just learned my oven had one and totally didn't clue that in, when I pulled my dough out of it with a slight crust. And also don't roll your dough on a flour board when you pull it out of the proofer either...it won't be able to roll out into a rope like strip when you need to. ;-) I also brushed my pretzels with butter and sprinkled salt on BEFORE I put in the oven to bake...not reading that part of the recipe resulted in a beautiful pretzel because when I saw that part and went opps, I then did it the way the author said...and didn't have the same pretty affect not did the salt stick on like the 1st baked batch...so because of my little goobers, I ended up making pretzel nuggets, brushing them with butter and the salt, made them so easiby pop-able. My kids LOVED these!! They were awesome even after my foo-barbs. I will soo make this again and again!!! What a keeper!

YUMM!! I followed the advice of another and quickly laid the pretzels on a paper towel to absorb the excess water/baking soda before putting them on a baking sheet. They turned out perfect, 6 made with butter, cinnamon and sugar, the other 6 with butter and salt. I can't wait to make them again!!

Recipe worked perfectly - delicious with cinnamon and cream cheese icing! Highly recommended.

This was my first time trying pretzels. The hardest part for me was rolling the dough into the right thickness so mine wound up with smaller than desirable holes. Tasted fantastic though! For the soda bath, I just shaped them on an extra wide spatula, dunked and splashed quickly to cover any areas that didn't get submerged, then removed to the parchment paper right away. Great recipe!

These are wonderful! At first, I didn't think they tasted like my favorite mall pretzel with the initials A.A., but once I had one with nacho cheese sauce, I did agree it was *almost* the same. I made some with kosher salt, some with cinnamon & sugar, and some with fresh parmesean & granulated garlic. My favorites were the kosher salt ones...with the nacho cheese salt. I did drain them on paper towels. I tried layering them like someone mentioned, but they stuck too much and made the pretzels misshapen. Thank you for posting! Next time I may add a bit more brown sugar and add a squirt of molasses.

mmm...delicious! Best right out of the oven. I topped mine with garlic salt, ground cinnamon, ranch dressing mix, and/or cheese sprinkles before baking, and they were great - gone in one night. The dough was hard to knead at first because it was supersticky. After that, it was a little difficult to roll it out as thin as the recipe asked, so I just made thicker, smaller pretzels. This was my second time making pretzels - I used the "Buttery Soft Pretzels" recipe the first time, and this was way better!

Fabulous. Made some salty made others sweet with butter then sprinkled cinnamon and sugar mix. Froze individually wrapped. Reheated 30 seconds in microwave. Very easy dough to work with. Used instant yeast which made the process even faster and easier.

Wow everything was easy about this recipe. I did not have bread flour so I used 4 cups of AP flour. My pretzels turned out excellent!

DEFINITELY A KEEPER. MY HUSBAND LOVES THESE. WE MAKE THEM AND THEN DIP THEM IN CARAMEL. YUMMMMM!!

These were good. I used fresh ground flour (so 100% whole wheat) and honey instead of sugar. We enjoyed them.

After reading ALL the reviewes going back to 2009, I decided to take the suggestion of others and boil these pretzels in water and baking soda for 30 seconds before baking. I have to say, I am very sorry I did. When I had formed them into pretzels, and allowed them to rise, they puffed up nicely. Should have just given them an egg wash and sprinkled with them with kosher salt, and baked them. After having boiled them, salted them and baked them, they came out chewey and flat, not fluffy as I had expected. Will make this recipe again, this time omit the boiling part and see how they come out. How disappointing!!!

Beware.... Don't think that waxed paper will substitute for parchment paper!! If you don't have it, just grease the pan instead. My first batch was ruined because of using waxed paper. Not to mention it smoked up my whole kitchen. Other than that the recipe is GREAT

I'm still trying out my breadmaker, so I used it on the dough setting to mix and rise the dough. I brought the water down to about 1 1/4 cups and added minced garlic and Italian seasoning to the dough. I also brushed the finished pretzels with olive oil and sprinkled them with parmesan cheese and basil. They were great dipped in pasta sauce and my friend told me I have to make them again for her. I completely missed the part in the recipe about dipping the pretzels in baking soda and water, though. I will try that next time when I don't feel like pizza pretzels.

I have tried many pretzel recipes, and this one ranks near the bottom. We prefer the slightly sweeter and more dense pretzels at our mall. This recipe tastes like a mini-roll with salt. It would probably be best with cinnamon sugar on it, and would be best dropped in boiling water for some added chewiness. All five in my family agree this recipe is not a keeper.

This recipe is awesome. We made them with chopped up jalepenos in the dough and dipped the finished product in spicy nacho cheese and they were better than Auntie Anne's! My husband also found out that this dough makes a fabulous hand-tossed pizza dough recipe as well.

Wow! These really are awesome! I did use parchment and had no trouble with them sticking. Since it was just myself and my husband at home when I tried this recipe I layered the leftover pretzels (already shaped but not dipped in soda/water) with parchement paper in a tupperware and put them in the freezer. Anytime we feel like a pretzel we just take one out, while it is defrosting on the counter I mix up the soda/water bath, then pick up where I left off in the recipe. They are just as good this way! Thanks alot Jeannie for this enjoyable recipe. :)

It's the BEST!!!

I made the dough in my bread maker..very easy! These pretzels had a great flavor, but kept sticking to the parchment paper..I think it was the baking soda & water mixture that made that happen. Still very tasty and definitely worth making!!

These pretzels are pretty tasty when they first come out of the oven. They do taste just like the big pretzels you get at the mall. The first batch was gone within five minutes ! The kosher salt gives it the extra kick. However, once the pretzels cooled they were rubbery and soft. So if you plan on eating these right away, I would recommend them. If not, maybe half the recipe because you'll end up throwing them away otherwise.

Oh, these are SO good! I used my bread machine for the hard part. ;-) Then I used the editor's note and rolled them out to half the length the first time and then re-rolled to the rest of the length -- made it a LOT easier! The only thing I would do differently is lower the temp on my oven. 450 was too high and my pretzels were quite brown after only 7 minutes. Next time I'll probably try 400. But overall a GREAT recipe -- one that we will make many times!

Tasted great! My changes: 4 cups all-purpose flour was fine. I baked them at 400 instead of 450 to avoid over-baking. Turned out perfectly this way. Next time I would dip the entire pretzel in melted butter since you're going for the "mall" taste anyway, why not? Cinnamon sugar was outstanding. I'm working on a maple crumb, too, with a maple powdered sugar glaze and brown sugar crumbled on top. Who needs Auntie Anne's now? :)

Four Stars Mrs Yee!! Normally I like to make my yeast dough by hand, but I did this in a KitchenAid with a dough hook... Worked like a charm! The tips on letting the dough rest worked well too. Watching an "annies" employee helps making the pretzel shapes quickly and the dipping was a breeze. I have to say the KEY to good yeast dough is GOOD YEAST!!!! Proof your yeast! If anyone is having problems with rising your yeast is not good and flour plays an important part too. When using bread flour be sure to buy a good high gluten flour. Nuff said! Hoggy

Great recipe. I've done this one a few times with my kids and they love it. Just a tip, instead of dipping in baking soda and water, I let them sit for 20 or 30 seconds in some boiling baking soda water like you would making bagels. The baking soda is what makes them brown like pretzels, so if they aren't brown enough for your liking try adding some more baking soda to the solution. They come out with just a little chewiness that we like. Froze a bunch of cooked pretzels and they reheated like a dream. Thanks for a great snack!

What a fun and EASY recipe! This turned out perfectly. I made the dough in my bread machine and then easily rolled out my pretzels. My family raved over the taste. I was a superhero for the evening. This will definitely be a staple in my household.

This recipe is good but I got a Taste of Home bread machine one that is easier, which is probably why I like it more. Still, these are good.

YUMMMMMM! I thought these came out with a nice pretzely taste, but they didn't come out as good as the ones in the picture. They definately tasted good with a nice soft fluffy texture. Next time I will work on my shaping. The flour was way too much so I omitted 1 cup. I used half bread flour and half all purpose flour. Since I have high blood pressure, I didn't use any salt. They were still tasty without it. I may use this recipe to make bagels or rolls next time. Thank you so much!!

I couldn't get them as thin as the recipe said to but they still turned out great. We topped most of them with parmesan cheese.

All malls are not the same. Chewy is the key word here. If that's your pretzel preference, you'll like these. If you like the lighter mall pretzels, these will surely disappoint.

It tastes very good as just written.

These are fantastic. Instead of using the baking soda solution I used 2 tbsp salt and boiling water. I made cinnamon-sugar pretzels and regular salted pretzels, and both were delicious.

These are fantastic! I have made them many times using only all purpose flour because I had no bread flour. This time I replaced 2 tsp of the all purpose flour with 2 tsp wheat gluten and I found the dough much easier to work with. That, and letting it rest after the initial roll-out as suggested by the Editor's note were key. Thanks for a great recipe!