Soft, buttery and salty and baked to golden perfection these Homemade Soft Pretzels are a fun and tasty appetizer recipe that no one can resist!
So pretzels are my jam. Whenever I find a pretzel anywhere I go I just have to have one. There is something about the flavor and deliciousness about them that I cant resist.
But we love making things at home and we have been making pretzels for the longest time, lots of varieties of them in fact. But I really wanted a basic one to share with you guys!
These Homemade Soft Pretzels are not the quickest method, but they also aren’t the longest one either. They don’t have to sit for as long as a yeast bread usually would.
You can eat these as an appetizer, a snack, a lunch, you name it. I think that anytime is perfect for a Soft Pretzel. But I’m completely addicted so I may just be biased.
The butter and salt in these really make them, you cannot have a pretzel that is not brushed with butter and salt, that is unheard of! So stay away from those LOL!
Some of my favorite pretzels that we do have on our site include: Pepperoni Pizza Pretzels, Hot Ham and Cheese Stuffed Pretzels and Pretzel Bites!
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With easy ingredients these are simple to whip up when time allows.
- You can double this batch to serve more on hand.
- These go great with so many dipping sauces!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Warm beer or warm water
Active dry yeast
All-purpose flour
Granulated sugar
Kosher salt
Water
Baking soda
Unsalted butter
Pretzel salt
HOW TO MAKE SOFT PRETZELS, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 450ยฐF, even though we are resting the dough, go ahead and heat the oven so it is hot and ready when we go to bake. In the body of a stand mixer or in a large bowl add the warm beer or water, sprinkle the yeast on top, and stir it a few times with a spoon. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it starts to bubble and become foamy. If the mixture does not bubble or become foamy, your yeast is bad, and you need to try again with fresh yeast.
- Add the flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl. If using a stand mixer, using the hook attachment, stir the mixture on slow, once a dough starts to form, scrape down the sides and turn the speed on medium-high and start to knead the dough for 2 minutes. The dough will clean the sides of the bowl but the bottom may still stick which is okay. If the sides do not clean, add 1 tablespoon more of flour at a time until it does. Same if not using a stand mixer, stir the ingredients with a spoon until a dough starts to form. Knead the dough with your hands in the bowl for 5 minutes until a smooth dough forms, the dough may be a little sticky and thatโs okay.
- Lightly spray a medium-sized bowl with cooking spray and add the dough to the bowl and roll it around so itโs coated in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the water and baking soda until the baking soda has dissolved, if it all doesnโt dissolve that is okay, set aside. Cover two large sheet trays with parchment paper set aside.
- Place the dough on a clean work surface.
- Divide it into 6 sections. You may need to very very lightly flour your work surface if the dough starts to stick.
- Roll out one section at a time into a long rope about 30 inches long. Make a U shape with the bottom of the U facing you. Criss-cross the rope twice and fold it over itself to make a pretzel shape, secure the ends of the pretzels by pressing the ends into the bottom of the U shape so it sticks together. (Or see this tutorial)
- Very gently place the pretzel into the baking soda water, it will not completely keep its shape, donโt worry.
- Place the pretzel onto the lined baking sheet and maneuver the pretzel into whatever shape you want. Repeat with the remaining dough, place the pretzels about 2 inches apart on the sheet tray.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until dark golden brown. Immediately brush with the butter and then sprinkle with pretzel salt. Let cool slightly and serve with a dipping sauce of your choice.
WHAT OTHER FLAVOR PRETZELS CAN I MAKE?
If you want to jazz these up a bit and stray fro the basic you can absolutely do that. Some fun recipes that you can do that are popular are cinnamon sugar pretzels.
To make those bake according to directions, then mix cinnamon and sugar together in a large bowl, brush your pretzels with butter while still warm and dip in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Other ideas are to sprinkle with cheese while baking, add cheese and jalapeno slices. There are so many different things that you can do so test it out and see what you like best.
WHAT IS PRETZEL SALT?
Pretzel salt is a larger from of course sea salt that is used a lot to brine meat but obviously used for pretzels. It is more saltier than your average salt.
If you don’t have pretzel salt you can use just regular coarse sea salt for this recipe as well. The salt is really important to get that real pretzel feel.
HOW TO STORE:
These Soft Pretzels can be stored in an airtight container or ziptop bag at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
These can also be frozen! Place in a freezer bag or container and place in the freezer, they will last for up to 3 months. Let defrost at room temperature and reheat at the lowest setting in the oven.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- We like to use beer for this recipe, any kind can be used. It really gives that authentic pretzel taste, but warm water can be used as well.
- You can double this recipe if you want to serve more people or have some on hand for later.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or plain.
- Pretzel salt is best for these but you can also use coarse sea salt.
- You can make other types of pretzels from this dough, see some ideas above.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
If you are looking for that perfect appetizer that you will fall in love with and you will want to keep making then I suggest you try my Homemade Soft Pretzels!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these HOMEMADE SOFT PRETZELS or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Homemade Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
- 12 oz warm beer or warm water (100-110ยฐF)
- 1 packet active dry yeast 2 & 1/4 teaspoons
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbs granulated sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3 cups hot tap water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 4 Tbs unsalted butter very soft
- 1 Tbs pretzel salt or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ยฐF, even though we are resting the dough, go ahead and heat the oven so it is hot and ready when we go to bake. In the body of a stand mixer or in a large bowl add the warm beer or water, sprinkle the yeast on top, and stir it a few times with a spoon. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it starts to bubble and become foamy. If the mixture does not bubble or become foamy, your yeast is bad, and you need to try again with fresh yeast.
- Add the flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl. If using a stand mixer, using the hook attachment, stir the mixture on slow, once a dough starts to form, scrape down the sides and turn the speed on medium-high and start to knead the dough for 2 minutes. The dough will clean the sides of the bowl but the bottom may still stick which is okay. If the sides do not clean, add 1 tablespoon more of flour at a time until it does. Same if not using a stand mixer, stir the ingredients with a spoon until a dough starts to form. Knead the dough with your hands in the bowl for 5 minutes until a smooth dough forms, the dough may be a little sticky and thatโs okay.
- Lightly spray a medium-sized bowl with cooking spray and add the dough to the bowl and roll it around so itโs coated in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the water and baking soda until the baking soda has dissolved, if it all doesnโt dissolve that is okay, set aside. Cover two large sheet trays with parchment paper set aside.
- Place the dough on a clean work surface.
- Divide it into 6 sections. You may need to very very lightly flour your work surface if the dough starts to stick.
- Roll out one section at a time into a long rope about 30 inches long. Make a U shape with the bottom of the U facing you. Criss-cross the rope twice and fold it over itself to make a pretzel shape, secure the ends of the pretzels by pressing the ends into the bottom of the U shape so it sticks together.
- Very gently place the pretzel into the baking soda water, it will not completely keep its shape, donโt worry.
- Place the pretzel onto the lined baking sheet and maneuver the pretzel into whatever shape you want. Repeat with the remaining dough, place the pretzels about 2 inches apart on the sheet tray.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until dark golden brown. Immediately brush with the butter and then sprinkle with pretzel salt. Let cool slightly and serve with a dipping sauce of your choice.
Notes
- We like to use beer for this recipe, any kind can be used. It really gives that authentic pretzel taste, but warm water can be used as well.
- You can double this recipe if you want to serve more people or have some on hand for later.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or plain.
- Pretzel salt is best for these but you can also use coarse sea salt.
- You can make other types of pretzels from this dough, see some ideas above.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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