These Copycat Auntie Anne’s 1 Hour Vegan Soft Pretzels only needs 7 ingredients. Super easy to make and perfect for dipping!
If you’ve ever been to a mall and smelled the waft of Auntie Anne’s pretzels throughout, then you know how that memory can immediately make your mouth salivate. These copycat Auntie Anne’s 1 hour vegan soft pretzels will illicit all those same memories in the comfort of your own home.
Before you read any further, yes, it’s true that you can order Auntie Anne’s pretzels without butter and they are vegan. But with just a little time and a few ingredients, you can totally make these without ever leaving your house.
It’s also true that it’s not hard at all to make vegan soft pretzels. It’s one of those things that seem daunting, but it’s really not. Just 7 ingredients, a little time, and we’ve made the easiest vegan pretzel recipe that we have to date.
And honestly, don’t even worry about getting the absolute perfect shape. They will be delicious no matter what.
They are a great snack any time, but also, great for parties or tailgating too. Another great way to enjoy them is on movie nights!
We will also give you 3 versions to make:
- Salted
- Cinnamon Sugar
- Garlic Parmesan
You could also just drizzle icing over top, dip in some vegan nacho cheese, or just dip in some mustard. There are so many options.
The possibilities are endless once you realize how easy they are to make at home.
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1 Hour Vegan Soft Pretzels INGREDIENTS:
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make these vegan soft pretzels:
The ingredients that you need are:
- Flour – we are using all-purpose flour to make this simple and easily accessible to as many people as we can
- Instant Yeast – instant yeast makes this recipe go much faster and the rise as quick as we can
- Salt – you can’t have great pretzels without salt. I mean you could, but it wouldn’t be the same. Salt helps the flavor come out and it’s one of the iconic reasons
- Water – used to bring all our ingredients together for the dough, but also for the water bath needed to make the prefect pretzels
- Brown Sugar – we’re adding a little sugar into the recipe for the perfect Auntie Anne’s taste. You’ll love how close it gets it to the original recipe.
- Vegan Butter – we brush on vegan butter at the end for the shiny, richness, and to help the salt adhere to the recipe
- Baking Soda – when dipped into a baking soda bath, the pretzels become than chewy pretzel texture that you love
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
- Flour – you can also use bread flour for this recipe.
- Instant Yeast – you can also use active dry yeast, but it takes much longer to rise and won’t be ready in an hour
- Brown Sugar – coconut sugar or date sugar could also be used
We wouldn’t recommend any other swaps.
If you want to make the cinnamon sugar, you will also need cinnamon and vegan sugar.
If you want to make the garlic parmesan version you will also need garlic powder and a sprinkle version of vegan parmesan.
That’s it! Can you believe that’s all you need?
Frequently Asked Questions:
The answer is sort of. These pretzels are best consumed the same you you make them, however you can prep the dough ahead.
There are two options.
Once you make the dough and cover it to rise, you can place the bowl in the fridge up to 2 days before you plan to use it.
Also, you could use half the dough at a time. Once its come together, split in half. Allow one half to rise as instructed and freeze the other half.
We don’t recommend freezing this pretzel recipe once fully made; however, you can freeze half the dough as instructed above. Use the dough within 3 months.
Unfortunately, at the time, we cannot recommend using a gluten free flour with this recipe. Please know that we are working on a gluten free dough, but it’s just not quite there yet.
Use a soy free vegan butter like Flora or Earth Balance soy free for the butter.
We know we call this a 1 hour vegan soft pretzel and it’s true you can have amazing vegan soft pretzels in just an hour! However, if you extend the rise time by another hour, it will give you a soft, airier vegan pretzel.
If you want it to be even slower, you can use cold water and when you cover it you can place in the fridge and then make 24 hours later. This is just to help you if you want to prep ahead.
What could I dip these vegan soft pretzel bites in?
There are so many options for dipping vegan soft pretzels bites depending on your own preferences. Some of our favorite options are:
- Vegan Nacho Cheese
- Vegan Buttercream Frosting (only make half and thin it with more milk to make more of a glaze than a frosting)
- Vegan Cashew Queso
You could also dip in regular or dijon mustard, salsa, hummus, and more.
Pin these 1 hour Vegan Soft Pretzels for later:
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1 Hour Vegan Soft Pretzels (Copycat Auntie Anne’s)
Ingredients
- 4 – 4 ½ cups flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 package instant yeast (1 package = 2 ¼ tsp)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups warm water + more for boiling (warm water = under 110 degrees F)
- 6 tablespoon baking soda
- ½ cup vegan butter, melted
For Salted Vegan Pretzels
- salt flakes (or coarse salt)
For Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Pretzels
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For Garlic Parmesan Vegan Pretzels
- 6 tablespoon vegan parmesan Cheese
- 2 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together 4 cups flour, brown sugar, yeast, and salt. Add in 1 ½ cups water.
- If using a stand mixer, use a dough hook and allow the mixture to come together.If using a bowl, use a spatula and fold until mostly combined. *Sprinkle a little more flour if needed to not be sticky and form a ball.
- Once ball is formed, grease the same bowl mixed in and place the dough ball back into the bowl.
- Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 30-40 minutes in a warm, draft free place until doubled.
- While dough rest, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a large baking tray, set aside. Lay out a towel or a few paper towels for drying station. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Carefully pour into a heat proof bowl and add baking soda, stir together. Let water come to a safe, but warm temperature to put your hands into (under 112 degrees F).
- Once dough is ready, grease a work surface and turn out dough.
- Use a pizza cutter or knife and cut off a 8 inch x 1 ½ inch piece of dough. Pull piece off and roll it from the middle out to the ends into a 36-Inch long rope (about ½ inch wide).
- To form pretzels, make a U-shape with the rope. Pull each end down to the middle and overlap them twice and then push down ends into the bottom of the pretzel to attach. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Do not let the pretzels touch each other on baking sheet.
- Holding the pretzel where you pushed the ends into, pick it up and dip the pretzels into the water mixture for 5-10 seconds. Pull out and slightly dry off on towel. Place on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the baking sheet halfway to ensure even cooking.
- While baking, mix together any topping ingredients in a bowl large enough to dip if adding.
- When you remove the pretzels, immediately brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt or dip in topping mixture.
- Best served warm and eaten the same day you make. Makes 12.
Dorothy
Oh wow, this is a fantastic copycat recipe! So soft.
The only thing I couldn’t do is stretch them out and get them to look like yours! I think I have to be more patient next time stretching them out.
Such a yum and easy recipe, thank you!
LarishaBernard
So glad you enjoyed them. If you are having issues with them springing back and not rolling longer, just let it rest for 10-15 minutes and it should work better!
MzBenita
Damnit, you two are slowly turning hubby & I into vegans! FIRST the beer cheese NOW THIS! 😋 I’ve been making these recipes and sneakily feeding them to my meat eating friends & family. Because of the Beer cheese sauce I got busted when a friend begged me for the recipe. I played it cool and sent the link to your blog & YouTube video.
LarishaBernard
Love to hear that!
Cameron Head
Absolutely fantastic! Is just like Auntie Annes. I made a vegan pretzel dog with some of it too. I dipped my pretzels in your beer cheese and it was sooo good. I will definitely be making this again.
LarishaBernard
Love that you enjoyed it and other recipes of our too!
Kelsey
So easy to make and they turned out amazing!! Will be making them again!
Larisha Bernard
so glad you enjoyed!
Nafiisah Renshaw
These pretzels are very good! I went the “freeze the dough then thaw and proof it later” route due to time constraints, yet they still came out soft and tasty. Thank you! My toddler can’t have any dairy but has been asking for pretzels since she saw her aunt eating one. I’m excited for my baby to taste these herself ☺️
Larisha Bernard
I love that your toddler gets to have some!