Winter is coming and if you’re on the hunt for the ultimate homemade pretzel recipe to warm your house and your heart, look no further! These soft pretzels are everything you’ve been dreaming of—chewy on the outside, soft on the inside, and topped with just the right amount of salty goodness. Keep reading to learn how you make homemade soft pretzels from scratch, tips on working with pretzel dough, and even advice on how to store homemade soft pretzels. Plus, my pretzels recipe is easy to make, even if you are a beginner, and the pretzel dough requires only 6 ingredients. Soft pretzel knots are exactly like traditional pretzels, the dough is just tied in a different way and it gives more space for stuffing, which is always a good idea!
How Do You Make Homemade Soft Pretzels, Ingredients:
- Strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- Unsalted Butter
- Fast-action yeast
- Caster Sugar
- Lukewarm water
- Salt
- Baking soda (the baking soda bath gives the pretzels their traditional flavor)
Tasty Homemade Soft Pretzels: The Best Soft Pretzel Recipe
Course: BakingCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy5
minutes30
minutes1
hour12
Discover the ultimate guide to making tasty homemade soft pretzels with this easy recipe! Whether you’re searching for the best soft pretzel recipes or curious about “how to store homemade soft pretzels,” this recipe has you covered.
Ingredients
500g Strong bread flour
50g Unsalted Butter (melted)
7g Fast-action yeast
25g Caster Sugar
A pinch Salt
300ml Lukewarm water
2 tablespoons Baking soda (for 1,5/2 Liters of water)
Coarse salt for sprinkling
1 Egg
Few drops of White vinegar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180°-200°.
- Make the dough. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl with the yeast and sugar, and mix until well combined. Add the butter and the water and mix with the dough hook until well combined.
Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed until the dough is smooth and stretchy. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until it perfectly pulls away from the side of the bowl. The dough should be smooth and elastic. - Rise Time: Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap or a clean towel, until it double in size. This will take about 1h, but it depends on the room temperature.
- Reset. Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and divide it into 12 balls of 75g each (it doesn’t have to be perfect). Roll out each ball to a rope (about 25cm) and tie it into a knot. Now you have two ends that you should tuck underneath. Let pretzel knots rest for about 15 minutes. You can cover them with cling film greased with butter.
- Boil the Pretzels. Now the most important part: soda bath! this is the part that gives the pretzel their color and traditional flavor. Bring water to a boil (see ingredients) and add baking soda to it. Wait for the water to boil again and add 3 pretzels at the time. Boil each side of the pretzel for about 15 seconds – turn them upside down with the help of a slotted spatula. Then move the pretzel to a baking dish lined with parchment paper. This allows water to drip away. Continue with all the pretzels.
- Top and Bake the pretzels. After transferring the pretzel to another baking sheet lined with parchment paper, whisk the egg with 3 drops of vinegar and brush the egg wash onto the surface of each pretzel (I’m doing this because traditionally pretzels are boiled in water with lye, which gives a mahogany color, while baking soda doesn’t give such a strong color to the pretzels, so they’d need a little help in my opinion). Don’t forget to sprinkle the boiled pretzels with coarse sea salt (or your favorite topping). . Bake 6 pretzel at the time for about 15 minutes. Let them cool a bit before eating.
How to Store Homemade Soft Pretzels
Soft pretzels are best enjoyed fresh, but if you’ve got leftovers (how?!), let them cool completely and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. To reheat, pop them in the oven at 150°C for about 5 minutes, or microwave for 20 seconds.
For longer storage, freeze your pretzels. Place them in a freezer bag, and they’ll keep for up to 3 months. Reheat directly from frozen in the oven for 8–10 minutes.
Tips on Working with Pretzel Dough
- Let It Rest: Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
- Don’t Skip the Kneading: Kneading develops gluten, which gives pretzel dough its elasticity. Knead until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky.
- Dust Lightly: Use just enough flour on your surface to keep the dough from sticking. Too much flour can make the pretzels tough.
- Stretch, Don’t Pull: When shaping pretzels, roll the dough gently into ropes. Pulling too hard can cause it to tear.
- Prep for Boiling: After shaping, let the pretzels rest briefly before boiling. This helps them hold their shape in the alkaline bath.
- Mind the Baking Soda Bath: Make sure the water is simmering, not boiling violently, when you dip the pretzels. A 30-second bath is enough for that classic chewy crust.
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- Butternut Squash Ravioli with Amaretti and Parmesan
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- Chocolate Crostata with Cherries Jam
