Pretzels are sure having their moment, aren’t they? I’m seeing them pop up on menus in various forms and fashions to fill what I think are two roles: nostalgic comfort food and easy snack sales. But they require some refreshing from the crunchy sticks and looped knots I grew up with. I remember one pretzel moment from more than 55 years ago. My siblings and I sat around the kitchen table nibbling on pretzels and bologna sandwiches when my mother asked us a deep question. “What are you kids living for?” I was probably all of 10 years old. I panicked, having never given life’s purpose a single thought. Fortunately, she came up with her personal answer to that question, and I eagerly claimed it as my obvious purpose. Crunch. That, my friends, is nostalgia!
In the snacking department, you can surely look to the grab-and-go fresh food section of c-stores for ideas. Kwik Trip offers soft Garlic Parmesan Pretzel Sticks. Sheetz sells soft Pretzel Nuggets with Honey Mustard. Here’s a creative one. Gas patrons at Cumberland Farms c-stores can run in and grab soft shell Pizza Stuffed Pretzels.
Of course, anyone who frequents Auntie Anne’s wouldn’t think that is so unique. The pretzel chain that operates in such snack-magnets as malls, airports, military bases and universities most recently added Pepperoni Pretzel Nuggets to the lineup, which is bite-size pizza with pretzel dough—each topped with a pepperoni slice and a three-cheese blend.
For its part, Subway got smart, and rather than reinvent the pretzel for its new Sidekicks menu, it partnered with Auntie Anne’s and includes the pretzel chain’s Footlong Pretzels on its snack menu.
But snacking isn’t the only opportunity to cash in on pretzel popularity. Chick-fil-A is testing a Pretzel Cheddar Club Sandwich for a limited time at a few restaurants in Raleigh, North Carolina. Meanwhile, Culvers has brought back its Pretzel Haus Pub Burger through August, which is a beef patty, pickled onions, bacon, cheddar cheese and cheese sauce on a pretzel bun. Occasionally, Little Caesars brings in its Pretzel Crust Pizza LTO.
If this puts you in the mood to find ways to incorporate positive nostalgia into an LTO, then you can let your corporate test kitchen pretzel imagination run wild.
For breakfast it can be as simple as chopping pretzels into pieces and concocting a Pretzel and Cheese Omelet. It adds crunch, a great name and a nice flavor contrast. You could easily do Pretzel Pancakes by chopping up soft pretzels into small bits and folding them into pancake batter for an interesting texture and a salty kick. What kind of sauce or syrup would go with that? For those using pretzel buns for burgers or sandwiches, how about cross utilizing those buns and making Pretzel French Toast. Soak pretzel buns in an egg and milk mixture, then fry and serve with maple syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar for a sweet and salty breakfast LTO.
For the dessert menu, I’ve long advocated for chocolate anything. If you could only have one item on the dessert menu, let it be chocolate. I’m talking Chocolate Pretzel Lava Cake. Work up a pretzel-infused crust for that thing. Of course, finish it with a salted caramel drizzle.
Could you picture doing a Chocolate Pretzel Mousse Tower in which each layer (between crispy pretzel wafers) features a different type of chocolate—dark, milk and white?
You can play to pretzel comfort and nostalgia across the menu. Make that your purpose for a limited time.
Jody
