Pretzels have come a long way since their days as a foil for beer, and we have the proof: Twisted Doh, a new shop in Plano making gourmet pretzels, for breakfast, lunch and treats.

They make gourmet soft pretzels, breakfast pretzel wraps, pretzel sandwiches and candied pretzel rods. They also serve pretzels by the dozen, plus dipping sauces and dipped and baked pretzel-inspired treats.

For breakfast, they do a pretzel filled with sausage, brushed with maple syrup and dusted with powdered sugar. There's a Monte Cristo with ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, egg and raspberry preserves tucked inside pretzel and sprinkled with powdered sugar. A pulled pork pretzel encloses a filling of pork, egg and cheddar cheese.

The sandwiches have all the portability of a burrito, but with house-made pretzel bread instead of a tortilla.

Twisted Doh is the brainchild of father and daughter Anthony Johnson and Vannessa Green, a culinary school graduate who worked in restaurants but wanted to strike out on her own.

"Back in February, we started talking about doing a gourmet doughnut shop," Johnson says. "But there's already a few doughnut shops out there, and we wanted to cater towards savory and sweet flavors. Pretzels let you do both."

He's quick to point out that their pretzels are not your typical carnival or mall stand variety. "Pretzels as a gourmet item are so far in the back of people's minds, but we make the dough in-house and do different ingredients you might not expect," he says.

Their lineup of pretzel flavors includes sea salt, Italian and jalapeño-cheese, as well as an high-end sweet selections such as Joyful Almond, meant to evoke an Almond Joy candy bar, with a pretzel dipped in chocolate, then sprinkled with almonds and coconut. 

Twisted Doh is located in a former Starbucks off 75 and Park Boulevard, where they make use of the drive-through window for pretzels and coffee to go. But there are also a few tables so you can sit down and have a pretzel and coffee.

"There was a void of pretzels out there," Johnson says. "We felt like this was something new."