Sure you could just eat those little crunchy numbers that come in a bag. Or maybe heaven for you is big, shiny, chewy, salt-flecked Bavarian twists fresh from the oven. Whichever way you embrace this twisted star, (the Food team refuse to choose because we like both) we've got good news.
Here are our fave ideas for using little crunchy pretzels, or baking your own big twists (or if you'd rather skip the twist, SBS Food's baking guru, Anneka Manning has a great pretzel roll recipe).
Let's start with the small stuff.
'Cause we all need a bit of crunchy-salty goodness in our lives! The whole thing takes about 40 minutes to make and good news if you need to be wheat-free: blogger Gabriel Cabrera of Artful Desperado, who shared this recipe with us, makes his with gluten-free pretzels.
2. Crackle
Before Australia got excited about making crack, Christina Tosi came up with this recipe for another buttery, brittle way to use up stuff that's sitting in the pantry. She describes this as a "choose-your-own-adventure" because you can swap out the pretzels for other fave snacks, cereal, crackers, chips, snack mix, granola or nuts and seeds. And while she says it will keep for up to a month in an airtight container, she also says "try not to gobble it all up immediately". Don't say we didn't warn you.
Source: Christina Tosi
Of course, snack pretzels had to get in on the monster shake movement. The name says it all. And why stop there? We've also got a pretzel salted caramel and fudge brownie choc sludge shaking it up over here as well.
Peanut butter pretzel carnage Source: Chris Middleton
You can't see them - but they are there. Crushed pretzels are the secret ingredient in the tart bases in this recipe from Bakeproof columnist, Anneka Manning.
Source: Alan Benson
Now let's move on to the big, chewy salty goodness of a Bavarian-style twist.
Here's a rock-salt sprinkled pretzel; a fave from the Feast Magazine archive where the dough gets a lift from mustard, paprika and cayenne pepper; Luke Nguyen's Alsace version; and two twists on the classic that er, don't involve any twisting.
These salty, golden loops are easier to make than you might think.
6. Barbecue-spiced soft pretzels with ranch dressing
Himalayan rock salt and caraway seed pretzels Source: Petrina Tinslay
This Feast Magazine recipe creates big, soft pretzels, with mustard powder, cayenne pepper and paprika adding flavour to the dough. These make great picnic rolls.
Source: Feast magazine / Chris Chen
Try a French version with this recipe from Luke Nguyen, from a visit to Alsace in Luke Nguyen's France. "Being very close to Germany gave the food a very strong German accent: dishes served with lots of sausages, pork knuckle and sauerkraut. The bretzel was another great example of this crossover - it's basically an Alsatian version of the German pretzel." Luke says.
Source: Luke Nguyen's France
"While not as well known as the traditional pretzel, these soft pretzel rolls with their salty exteriors and soft, milk bread interiors are just as addictive," says SBS Food's Bakeproof columnist, Anneka Manning.
Source: Alan Benson
Bratwurst hotdogs sandwiched in chewy pretzel-style rolls with cheat's sauerkraut.
Source: SBS Food
