INQUISITR.COM / Health & Lifestyle

Celebrate National Pretzel Day With Free Pretzels

By Charisse Van Horn
Published on: 16:04 PST, Apr 25, 2016

Today is National Pretzel Day, and there is no better way to celebrate America’s beloved doughy treat than with free pretzels. Many might not realize that National Pretzel Day is an official holiday, enacted on April 26, 2001, when Joseph “Joe” Pitts spoke before the House of Representatives and shared a bit about the history of pretzels, their importance economically in America, and explained that many already recognized the date as National Pretzel Day. You can see Joe Pitts speaking about National Pretzel Day before the House of Representatives at C-Span. Make certain the video is set to 4:29 to see Joe Pitts discuss National Pretzel Day. Joe Pitts spoke the following to the House.

“Unanimous consent to address the House for one minute. Mr. Speaker, though many people don’t know it, today has been designated by the industry as National Pretzel Day. This is a multimillion-dollar industry, and I have a number of large pretzel producers in my district, including Auntie Anne’s which you see in the shopping malls, Herr’s, Anderson, Sturgis, Hammond and others. Everybody, it seems eats pretzels today; but few of us know the history of the pretzel and that they are one of the world’s oldest snack foods.”

“Pretzels go back as far as 610 A.D., when young students in North Italian monasteries received them as rewards for correctly reciting their prayers.”

“A monk designed the pretzel to resemble the way students cross their arms across their chest in prayer, and that is also where the pretzel gets its name. Pretzel comes from “pretiola” the Latin word for “little reward.”

“Pretzels have come a long way in the last 1,400 years and they are now a multimillion-dollar industry int eh U.S., and they are very popular. I am very proud to say that many of America’s most popular pretzels come from Lancaster and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania. I yield back the Speaker Pro.”

You can watch a video that discusses the history of pretzels and how Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzels went from making soft pretzels to hard, sourdough pretzels.

Those who want to celebrate National Pretzel Day with free pretzels are in luck as several retailers are participating in the event. Pretzelmaker is offering a free pretzel to those who share a message of kindness on their social media networks with the hashtag #WarmThoughts. Just show the message on your phone in store and receive a free pretzel. You can visit the site to ensure your local Pretzelmaker is participating. Additionally, you’ll find a National Pretzel Day timeline at the site.

Also celebrating National Pretzel Day and giving out free pretzels on April 26 is the Philly Pretzel Factory. There is no purchase necessary and as this is a more localized deal, it isn’t widely available. Check on the site for participating locations.

To celebrate National Pretzel Day, Cumberland Farms will offer customers a free Chill Zone beverage (fountain or frozen) with a purchase of any hot pretzel (plain, salted, cinnamon sugar or pizza-filled – just to name a few), which can be purchased for just $2.39.

Carl’s Jr is offering a free, printable coupon for a buy one, get one free deal on Auntie Anne’s pretzel breakfast sandwich. Just buy one at regular price and get one free. Likewise, Hardee’s has teamed up with Auntie Anne’s and is also offering the same coupon deal for a buy one get one free, pretzel breakfast sandwich featuring Auntie Anne’s pretzels.

Those who have the Auntie Anne’s app downloaded on their phone before April 26 can get a free pretzel on National Pretzel Day without purchase. They are also running sweepstakes where you can get free pretzels for a year. The nice thing about Auntie Anne’s free pretzel deal is that you can get the free cinnamon sugar or original pretzel anywhere between April 26 and May 1.

Wetzel’s has changed the name of their free deal from National Pretzel Day to National Wetzel Day. They are giving away free pretzels while supplies last. You can find more information about their free pretzel deal at the official website.

So, what are you to do if you don’t have time to visit a store giving away free pretzels? Can you still participate in National Pretzel Day? Of course, you can! Local grocery stores carry soft pretzels in their frozen goods aisle, and you can heat these up in a microwave. There is nothing that says you have to choose soft pretzels as opposed to hard pretzels either. Buy a bag of your favorite hard, sourdough pretzels and enjoy.

If you want to get creative and really enjoy the spirit of the day, why not bake your own pretzels from scratch? You can do this with the kids as a fun project or simply bake some for your own treat. Here are some videos, tutorials, and recipes showing how to bake soft pretzels.

Bake Your Own Soft German-Style Pretzel (Laugenbrezeln Recipe) written recipe for above video.

How will you celebrate National Pretzel Day?

[Photo by TunedIn by Westend61/Shutterstock]

Share this article: Celebrate National Pretzel Day With Free Pretzels
More from Inquisitr