You Don't Have To Make Pretzels From Scratch If You Have Canned Biscuits

Can you even venture into a carnival or mall these days without the wafting smell of soft pretzels taking over? Large pretzel chains like Auntie Anne's and Wetzel's Pretzels serve up hot, fresh, soft pretzels in savory and sweet flavors. However, if you find yourself craving pretzels — but don't want to shell out money or leave your house — you can make them at home. 

While plenty of soft pretzel recipes involve making them from scratch, canned biscuit dough opens up the ultimate shortcut. Since pretzel dough is essentially a yeasted dough, it makes sense that biscuit dough makes a great substitute.

The key to ensuring a pretzel-like consistency — chewy exterior with a pillowy interior — is soaking the dough in baking soda. Pretzels need to be boiled in baking soda to ensure a crunchy texture and a dark brown, crackly crust. The biscuit dough is rolled out and can be cut into individual pretzel bites or formed into a full-sized pretzel shape. After being shaped, the pretzels get a short bath in the baking soda soak, brushed with butter or egg wash, and baked. The final result is a golden brown pretzel, ready to be devoured.

One TikTok creator posted a video showing their take on homemade pretzel bites made with biscuit dough, which was brushed with butter and sprinkled with salt before baking. After baking, the bites were served with Taco Bell's mild queso dip from the can. This is a simple — but classic — take. If you're wondering whether the biscuit pretzels taste as good as actual pretzels, one commenter claimed, "My family says they do. My kids said they're better than Sonic pretzels lol."

When it comes time to try for yourself, you should decide which canned biscuits to use first. In our ranking of canned biscuits, Mason Dixie biscuits came out on top but are a bit pricey. That said, you can use whatever biscuit dough you want — and even flavor the dough before baking. Once the pretzels finish baking, there are two other big questions to answer: What do you use as a dipping sauce, and what should you sprinkle on top?

For savory pretzels, go the classic route with salt or a mix of garlic salt and herbs and cheese for dunking: nacho cheese, beer cheese, or any other cheese sauce. For sweet pretzels, try coating the pretzels with butter and cinnamon sugar immediately after baking. Dipping sauces can range from hot fudge or chocolate sauce to a sweet glaze like you get at Auntie Anne's. However, pretzel toppings know no bounds, so feel free to get creative.