Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to baked goods. I’m not talking about those cakes that look like suitcases and cheeseburgers or whatever; I’m talking about bagels, pretzels, and other breads that people try to “hack” by making something that looks like a bagel or pretzel, but does not taste or feel like a bagel or pretzel. These two-ingredient imposter bagels come to mind, and now I’m adding this Auntie Anne’s TikTok “hack” to the list.
This viral video is especially frustrating, because its creator was on the right track. She starts by chopping up store-bought cinnamon roll dough into bite-sized pieces, then dunks them in a room-temperature solution of baking soda and water for 15 seconds, before brushing them with butter and air frying them. “She should have boiled them in the baking soda water,” I murmured to myself the first time I watched the video, but I decided to try the hack her way before making any adjustments, because it’s the polite thing to do, and it always helps to have a baseline.
I followed the instructions exactly, and while the sweet treats that came out of my air fryer tasted good (like cinnamon rolls), they did not taste like pretzels. They were not at all chewy, and they didn’t have that slightly bitter, alkaline flavor you usually find in a pretzel. They darkened pretty well, but dough brushed with butter tends to do that.
You gotta develop that gluten
Before we get to the baking soda, let’s talk texture. Pretzels—even the soft ones—are chewier and tougher than pillowy cinnamon rolls. How do you make dough chewy? You encourage gluten formation. How do you do that? You knead the dough. There, we already have one way to make this hack a little better: Cut the cinnamon rolls into pieces as shown in the video, but knead them a few times before rolling them into balls. They’ll be chewy, which is what a pretzel should be.
You have to boil the baking soda solution
I don’t know where the creator of this hack got the idea that a quick dunk in a room-temperature alkaline solution would be enough to transform cinnamon roll dough into a pretzel. It’s not, at least not with that amount of baking soda, or that amount of time.
For a pretzel with a chewy crust, you should boil the dough in the solution, ideally for 30 seconds. (Lye—rather than baking soda—is traditional, but you should not attempt to work with lye in your home kitchen.) Boiling makes the baking soda more effective, helping it to penetrate and gelatinize the outer layer of the dough, to form a chewy crust that browns like a dream. Without this step, your pretzel bites will be fluffy, with a slightly chewy crust, and that’s not what I look for in a pretzel. This will also give your pretzel that vaguely salty, delightful bitter bite. Without that bite, all you have is pretzel-shaped bread.
How to make cinnamon-sugar pretzel bites that actually taste like pretzels
Luckily, the adjustments needed here are easy to make. Knead the dough, boil the dough, and—one more thing—brush it with an egg wash instead of butter, to make sure it comes out nice and shiny. Save the butter for the end; brush it on to the baked bites just before tossing them with the cinnamon-sugar.
Better Auntie Anne’s Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites
Ingredients:
- 1 tube store-bought cinnamon rolls
- 1 quart of water
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Remove the rolls from their packaging and cut each roll into four pieces. Set the icing from the tube aside. Knead each piece four or five times, folding the dough in on itself, then roll into a ball. Set aside on a plate.
Add the water and baking soda to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Working in batches of four, boil the dough balls for 30 seconds, then transfer them to a wire rack set over a plate. (They will be soft and slippery. Such is the nature of alkaline solutions.)
Once all the balls have been boiled, set your air fryer to 330℉, beat your egg, and brush each ball with the egg wash. Bake the bites in your air fryer for 8 minutes, flipping once, until dark brown and shiny. Combine the cinnamon and sugar in small bowl. Brush the bites with melted butter, then add them to a paper bag with the cinnamon-sugar and shake to coat. Heat the icing in the microwave for 10 seconds and serve on the side for dipping.
