Auntie Anne's Copycat Pretzel Recipe

These pretzels were soooo good and relatively easy to make (seriously). I don't tend to eat gluten, but I definitely caved and indulged in one of these deliciously buttery treats.

Here's what you'll need:
2 cups milk
1 1/2 Tbsp (2 packets) active dry yeast
6 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp salted butter, melted
4 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt

1/3 cup baking soda
3 cups warm water
Coarse salt
8 Tbsp salted butter, melted in a shallow dish 
In a large bowl, warm up the milk in the microwave for one and a half minutes. You should be able to comfortably keep your finger in it; make sure it's not too hot or it will kill the yeast and your dough will not rise. Stir the yeast into the milk and let sit for 5 minutes.

Stir in the melted butter and sugar, then add the flour (1 cup at a time works best) and salt, stirring after each addition.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes (you can do this by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook; I did it by hand).

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with greased saran wrap or tin foil. Let rise in a moist, warm place for one hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Punch down the dough and divide into 12 lumps. Roll them all out as thin as you can.

Combine the warm water and baking soda in a wide bowl. Form the dough into pretzel shapes, then dip each pretzel into the baking soda water.

Place pretzels onto a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake pretzels for 7-11 minutes or until browned (the bake VERY fast so keep an eye on them). Once the pretzels are finished, dip each in melted butter and place back onto the baking sheet until cooled (or eat them ;)).

Enjoy with a nice cheese sauce or dip. We really liked dipping these pretzels in the jalapeño greek yogurt dip from Costco.