Copycat Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Bites 🥨 for our Better Than Store-Bought series!! They’re soft and pillowy (with a crisp, salty exterior), have that same slightly sweet flavor, and lots of butter so they taste (and smell) even better than the mall OG! You can keep them classic or coat them in cinnamon sugar straight out of the oven. Search ‘crowded kitchen pretzel bites’ online, head to the link in our profile, or just go straight to: https://www.crowdedkitchen.com/auntie-annes-pretzel-bites/ For the pretzel dough: 1 ½ cups whole milk 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast, 1 packet ⅓ cup brown sugar packed 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon kosher salt For the baking soda bath: 3 cups water ½ cup baking soda For topping: pretzel salt for sprinkling ¼ cup butter melted Warm the milk in the microwave in 30-second intervals, until it's between 100-110˚F. Stir in the yeast and brown sugar, then let it sit for about 15 minutes, until foamy. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour and salt. Once the yeast has bloomed, whisk the melted butter into the milk mixture. With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the flour. Knead for 10-20 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. (We do about 10 minutes in the mixer and 10 minutes by hand.) Lightly oil a large bowl, add the dough and turn it to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour (or up to 1 ½ hours with active dry yeast). Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it on top of a second baking sheet. Doubling the pans keeps the bottoms from getting too brown. To a medium saucepan, add the water and baking soda. Warm over medium heat until simmering and the baking soda is mostly dissolved, then turn off the heat. Portion the dough into ~10 pieces. Keep the pieces you're not using covered with a towel. Roll each section into a long rope about ½-inch thick. It should be thinner than you want the finished pretzel bites, since they puff up in the baking soda bath and oven. Holding the rope over the pot, cut it into 1-inch pieces with kitchen shears, letting them drop right into the baking soda bath. Almost immediately after all of the pretzels are submerged, use a slotted spoon to remove the pretzels from the pot. Shake off the excess liquid and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with pretzel salt while they're still wet. Repeat until the first tray is full (about half the dough), then bake for 9-10 minutes, until deep golden brown. While the first tray bakes, roll, cut and dip the remaining dough for the second tray. As soon as the pretzel bites come out of the oven, brush them generously with melted butter. Enjoy warm! - @crowdedkitchen