These Auntie Anne’s-style gluten free soft pretzels with sweet mustard dipping sauce will keep you from having “just one” gluteny pretzel at the mall!
I haven’t had an Auntie Anne’s pretzel in the mall in, like, 100 years. But Auntie Anne’s pretzels are like Cinnabon. You can’t help but get something of a contact high if you set foot in a mall that sells them.
That buttery, salty goodness just lives there permanently. Just ask the tired parents waiting in line at that pretzel counter on any given Saturday in America. You can’t escape it. Well, when you’re gluten free, clearly you must escape it.
Boiling the pretzels in a baking soda bath, like boiling bagels, is what gives them that chewy exterior. They wrinkle up, but don’t worry! They plump right up when you bake them.
Auntie Anne’s pretzels are thinner than I made mine, but I found that when I rolled them super super thin, they didn’t hold their shape very well during boiling. Who knows what kind of black magic those Auntie Anne’s people do with their super skinny pretzels.
How to save them for later
If you don’t plan to serve all of these gluten free soft pretzels right after baking, try salting only the ones you intend to serve. Then, moisten and salt the other ones right before serving.
They freeze quite well after baking and cooling. Just wrap them tightly in a freezer-safe wrap and freeze. Defrost at 50% power in the microwave and then warm in a toaster oven, then serve!
And by the way I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that I’ve got 8 brands of packaged gluten free pretzels for you to try. None are soft pretzels, they’re the crunchy kind, but thankfully there are lots to choose from on the market today.
How (and why) to boil soft pretzels
The most common difficulty in making any yeasted boiled bread like bagels or pretzels is making sure that the shaped, risen dough doesn’t fall apart during boiling. Bagels and pretzels are boiled for similar reasons but in different water-based solutions.
Boiling bagels and soft pretzels (or pretzel rolls) is what gives them that hard, chewy exterior. Bagels are traditionally boiled in a bath of water and barley malt syrup. Our gluten free substitute is a molasses bath, which does a good job of mimicking the color and flavor of the barley malt bath.
Pretzels are traditionally boiled in a highly diluted solution of lye (or sodium hydroxide, which is also used to make soap), which requires extreme caution and rubber gloves. I’m all for DIY, clearly, but let’s not be ridiculous. A baking soda bath does a reasonable approximation of ensuring a nice deep color on the outside of your pretzels after baking.
How to make sure your pretzels don’t fall apart during boiling
There are three ways to ensure that your soft pretzels don’t fall apart during boiling. The first is to ensure your baking soda bath is at a full, rolling boil before you add the shaped, risen pretzels. A slow boil will do little to seal the outside of the pretzel, and will just sort of cause it to wilt.
Second, do not overproof the dough. This is a rare case of yeast bread baking in which you should only allow the shaped, raw pretzels to rise until they seem merely swelled, and not even necessarily risen to 150% of their original size.
Overproofing is not a function of just time but is rather determined by amount of rising. If the environment in your kitchen is cold and dry, yeast dough will rise more slowly. If it’s warm and humid, more quickly.
Finally, if you boil the pretzels for too long, you risk their beginning to dissolve in the water. Err on the side of less boiling, rather than more. The dough is enriched enough and wet enough that the pretzels will still be tender inside.
Ingredients, substitutions, and equipment
Buttermilk powder: If you can’t find buttermilk powder, you can use nonfat dry milk powder in its place. It doesn’t add as much richness, but the recipe will still work. If you need to be dairy-free, you can try replacing the buttermilk powder with powdered coconut milk.
Dairy-free: If you need to make this recipe dairy-free, in addition to the buttermilk powder, you’ll have to replace the butter. In place of the butter in the dough and for brushing on the pretzels before baking, try using Earth Balance buttery sticks or virgin coconut oil.
Egg-free: There are two egg whites in the bread dough recipe. I haven’t tried replacing them, and I’m afraid I’m really not sure what, if anything, would work in their place.
Tapioca starch/flour: The addition of tapioca starch/flour to the bread dough helps make it stretchy and tender. In its place, you can try using arrowroot.
Coarse salt, for sprinkling: If you don’t plan to serve all of the pretzels immediately after baking, consider baking without the coarse salt entirely, or with a very light sprinkling of it. Salt on the top of bread draws moisture out of the bread and causes it to go stale more quickly.
The salt in the bread dough itself is essential for controlling the yeast production and, more importantly, for taste. Bread without any salt is bread for the trash bin. If you do eliminate the salt sprinkled on top of the pretzels during baking, simply brush them with more melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt before serving.
Cream of tartar: The cream of tartar can be replaced with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar.
Stand mixer: If you don’t have a stand mixer, you may be able to use a food processor to make the dough, especially if you have a plastic attachment, rather than the metal blade. All you do, essentially, is dump the ingredients, in the order listed in the recipe, into the bowl, and let the mixer process it fully.
If you have access to a stand mixer, though, it’s really the best way to make a smooth, integrated dough that is relatively easy to shape, boil, and bake.
HELLO! I’m Nicole! I make gluten-free food enjoyable & affordable. If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without. That’s a promise!
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Thank you for such a delicious recipe!
You’re so welcome, Cynthia!!
I’ve been hesitant to do any gluten free breads since my wifs learned she was allergic to wheat 7years ago. Decided to give thsse a try because she was pining for soft pretzels. While they aren’t even in the oven yet J already want to ask a question. What does “the almost whipped” dough look like? I thought I did it right but after chilling 2 hours this dough was too loose to roll. I worked more flour in there but I think it went to far the other way. I want to try again (because I fear this batch is lost) but any guidance would be appreciated! Is there a time of beating to shoot for?
Hi, Matt, I recommend you watch the video for more guidance on appearance. If you can’t see the video, you’ll need to turn off your ad blocker or it won’t be visible. If your dough was very loose, that sounds like an issue with ingredient substitutions (if you’re not using one of my recommended flour blends, for example, as some simply won’t work) or not measuring by weight. Volume measurements are inherently unreliable. Good luck!
I just have to say…I’m SO grateful to have found your recipes. Your yeast free pizza dough is now a family favourite and we have our vegan, gluten free pizza every Saturday for dinner. It’s so nice having pizza again! I’m not sure this is even possible or if you’ve already done this (if not, consider it a challenge? haha!!), I’d LOVE to see a gluten free, yeast and sugar free pretzel recipe! I’ve been missing pretzels! *cries* I’ve been diagnosed with this stomach issue called SIBO that makes it so I’m not allowed to have sugar (minus honey) or yeast and every pretzel recipe I find has yeast. If you’d ever consider tackling this, I’d be eternally grateful!
Aw, Dianna, that’s really tough. I actually do happen to have a number of yeast-free bread recipes here on the blog. I haven’t tried yeast-free pretzels, but I think you’d really find the Weight Watcher’s-style bread recipes I’ve published useful (just search “Weight Watcher” on the blog). And this yeast-free GF dinner roll recipe would be perfect for you, too. I didn’t realize that you can’t have sugar on a SIBO-friendly diet. The keto-friendly recipes (just use the search function again) should work for you, too. I hope that’s helpful! 😘
These were a huge hit with my family. We have never tried Annie’s, but I can’t imagine that they are as good as these!
That’s so awesome!
Hi! Can’t wait to try this recipe? Do you need to use xantham gum with the better batter flour? Just making sure I pick some up at the store I’d i need it. Thank you!
Nope, Becky! If you use Better Batter, you’ll omit the xanthan gum in the recipe. Enjoy!
What would you suggest as a substitute for Saco cultured buttermilk blend powder, dairy allergy in the family.
Thanks in advance,
Yelena.
Please see the ingredients and substitutions section in the post, Yelena!
Is there a sugar free substitute? Monk fruit? Thank you
There’s not much sugar in the recipe, and it adds richness, flavor, and feeds to yeast. I really recommend using it, Mari!
Is your soft pretzels in your new book?
Hi, Frieda, if you’re referring to the breakfast book, then no they’re not!
I’m going tomorrow to buy your new book.
I love all your recipes. I have one of your
Books and it’s a good one, Thank you for
your wonderful recipes. I feel free again.
It took me a year to get over the fear of boiling the pretzels once I had your recipe, but it was really really easy (the video from your bread course on nicolehunntraining helped tremendously). So worth it! My husband is a pretzel aficionado and is very grateful, and my children are developing a love of the simple, soft and chewy salty goodness. This is a little different than the one in your book, I look forward to trying it very soon!
Hi, Julie, yes, the one in the book isn’t as enriched as this, which is made to mimic the Auntie Anne’s pretzels (which have plenty of rich butter!). I’m so glad the training course helped! Now nothing can stop you. :)
this would make an awesome bagel for nice salmon and cream cheese sandwich
I also dearly miss these guys. Have been tempted SOOOO many times to just go get one. My kids will be thrilled to have them again!!! I <3 U!
Any idea how to adapt them to the Sweet Almond version? That one was my favorite.
I just want to say thank you!I have your new book which I love!and gluten free on a shoestring quick and easy.I love them and your blog recipes.They always come out awesome.My family LOVES your starbuck’s style oatmeal cookies among others.I can’t wait to try these pretzels!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Dawn! That means so much to me. I love those cookies, too. I have way too many baked goods in the house to make more of those any time soon, but I think about it all the time! :)
Oh my goodness! I miss Annie’s Cinnamon Sugar butter bombs so much! Now I can make them and taste them again. THANK YOU!