Soft Pretzels

 Sprinkle them with sea salt. Dunk them in mustard. These are the best homemade soft pretzels have a short proof time and minimal ingredients so before you know it, you will be devouring these in no time.

Pumpkin beer. Cozy sweaters. Watching football on Sunday. All of them are so much better with a pretzel in one hand isn’t it?

Ok now I wish I could say that I have been to Germany and tasted the best pretzels ever. However, that is still on the bucket list. But when it comes to all things I crave in October. Pretzels is one of them.

 And store-bought pretzels have nothing on these homemade pretzels. The pretzel dough is easy to mix up in your mixer, and then boiled in baking soda solution which helps create that chewy crust you love in a good pretzel. After boiling, the pretzels will get baked and finished with a little coarse salt!

But just because I haven’t been to Germany, doesn’t mean that I can’t get my twist on. Pretzel twist that is. So let’s get to twisting…

Looking for the perfect party snack? Try this Ranch Chex Mix, made with ranch dressing mix, crunchy snacks, and parmesan cheese. It takes just 5 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to bake!

Why You Will Love These Pretzels

• Simple Ingredients – These pretzels are made with simple, real ingredients. Nothing fancy at all here. I love making my own homemade version of things that if you bought them at a store would be full of, well things I can’t pronounce!
• Make now, bake later – Pretzels can be a time consuming project. With any yeast dough, you always have the option that after they are shaped you can refrigerate them for their second rise and bake later.
• Freeze! – Who says you have eat them all now? If you want to bake them all and freeze some go for it.

Ingredients Needed

• Dark Beer – Or a light beer can be used, or just use warm water.
• Brown sugar – Or granulated sugar could also work.
• Yeast – I used active dry yeast but instant yeast also works. If using instant yeast, the rising times will be shorter.
• Flour – I used regular all-purpose flour
• Milk – I used and recommend whole milk.
• Salt –  I used regular table salt to make the dough. To top the pretzels I recommend a coarse sea salt, or a pretzel salt.
• Baking soda – This is not used in the actual dough, but is used in the boiling step. You will add baking soda to the boiling water to help create that chewy crust.
• Egg
• Butter

Make the soft pretzel dough

 In the bowl of a stand mixer with your dough hook attachment, proof the yeast with warm dark beer and brown sugar for about 10 minutes until it’s foamy.

Then add in your flour, salt, and warm milk. And knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic. You can test your dough with the windowpane test to see if you have kneaded the dough long enough. Simply pinch some of the dough and give it a stretch. If you have a beautiful window of dough then it’s good to go.

Then place the dough in a greased bowl. Be sure to give the dough a turn and let it rise until doubled in size  in a warm place for about one hour.

Then it’s time to make some pretzels! Go get that oven pre-heated and a few cookie sheets ready with parchment paper. Let’s get to shaping the pretzels…

Roll Out The Pretzel Portions

1. Divide the dough into equal pieces. Note: You will get 8 equal portions
2. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth round ball. Again I like to bring up the edges of the dough and pinch to form like a little purse, flip over, and then roll the dough around on the counter with a clawed hand until smooth.
3. Roll out each portion of dough. Keep the others covered while you are rolling out each portion. You will need to do this segments. Roll each one several inches then let it rest and work on another.
4. Continue to roll each one to a long thin rope, about 20-22 inches in length.

BAKING 101: The protein in the wheat flour is called gluten and it provides a stretchy network where the gasses from the yeast get trapped. If you try to roll out each portion all at once you will find it’s very difficult! The dough needs time to relax, to let the gluten relax, in order to allow the dough to be easily rolled out to such great lengths.

Shape The Soft Pretzels

1. Taper the ends of the rope. Bring the ends up to form a “U” shape.
2. Cross the ends over each other to form a “X”.
3. Twist the ends again.
4. Then bring the tapered ends down to the bottom of the pretzel to secure at the bottom of the “U” shape.

HEATHER’S BAKING TIP: If the ends of the pretzel are not securing to the pretzel, just brush the pretzel with a little water and press down slightly.

Proofing The Pretzels

1. Place the shaped pretzels onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
2. Cover the pretzels with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 10 minutes. While the pretzels are rising, prepare a large pot of water for the boiling step.

Boil the pretzels

1. Boil 8 cups water and 1/4 cup baking soda to a gentle boil in a large pot.
2. Place 2 pretzels in the boiling water top side down, and boil for 30 seconds then flip over and boil for another 30 seconds.
3. Remove each pretzel with a spider strainer and let the water drain off and then place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
4. Brush each pretzel with the egg wash.

Bake and coat the pretzels

1. Bake the pretzels for about 10 to 13 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven to cool.
2. Brush each pretzel with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt.

Pretzel Tips

When boiling the soft pretzels, boil only 1 to 3 pretzels at a time. Use a large slotted spoon to remove them so the excess water can drip off.

When working with yeast, make sure the liquid’s temperature you are proofing it in is between 105 and 110°F. You can read all about yeast here.

If your dough is fighting you and stretching back, give it a 10 minute rest. Then go back to rolling it out.

Wrap the ends underneath the bottom edge of the dough so they stay secure when boiling.

Recipe Variations

• Add bagel seasoning – You can sprinkle on everything bagel seasoning before baking for a fun flavorful twist!
• Cinnamon Sugar– Make my cinnamon sugar pretzels as a fun twist on these classic buttery soft pretzels!
• Change up the shape – Instead of the classic pretzel shape cut into soft pretzel bites using a sharp knife. Roll each piece of dough into 10 inch ropes and cut each rope into 8-10 pieces. After placing in the baking soda bath, bake in the 400^oF for 12-15 minutes.
• Make pretzel dogs – I love making this pretzel dough and then wrapping around a hot dog to create these pretzel dogs.

Storage Instructions

Your pretzels will be good at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. Just keep them covered so they don’t dry out.
You can also freeze them in a sealable plastic bag and should keep for up to 6 months.

Recipe FAQ’s

More Recipes To Try

Craving more bread? Try my homemade pretzel buns! Perfect sliders and dunking in soup!

Or if you need some yummy bread fast, try my buttermilk biscuits. They are quick to mix up and great slathered in my cinnamon honey butter.