Soft Pretzels

Soft Pretzels are warm and golden with a chewy salty crust. Serve them plain or dip them into your favorite mustard or cheese sauce.

The ingredients are typical pantry staples making it convenient to whip up a batch of pretzel dough anytime you are in the mood. Once you taste these pretzels, that mood will be often!

This recipe makes a small batch of 4 soft pretzels or cut the dough into pretzels bites.

These pretzels also go really great with this Blue Cheese Beer Dip.

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How to make Easy Soft Pretzels

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F. This is for the dough rise cycle.

In the bowl of a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, dissolve the yeast with the sugar and warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees). The water is the right temperature when it feels only slightly warm to your finger. If it feels hot it will kill the yeast and if it’s too cold it won’t activate the yeast. Click for a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.

Let the yeast mixture sit for about 5 – 10 minutes until it is activated and foamy.

Add in the melted butter, table salt, and ⅓ cup of the flour. Mix using the dough hook until combined.

Add in the remaining 1 cup of flour and continue to mix until it forms a sticky ball of dough. Add in small amounts of additional flour if it needs it.

Leave it in the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer to do the kneading by letting it run for a few extra minutes. You can also put the dough on a floured surface and knead it by hand for about 5 minutes.

Place it back into the bowl, if you kneaded by hand, and add a small amount of oil to the bowl. Turn the dough to coat all sides and cover the bowl with a damp towel.

Turn off the oven, place the bowl inside, and let it rise for about 1 hour.

Remove the bowl from the oven and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring 8 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan.

While that comes up to heat, punch down the dough and divide it into 4 equal portions. Roll each one into a long log shape.

Form the pretzel dough into twisted pretzel shapes, roll them long and thin for pretzel rods, or cut them into 1-inch pieces for pretzel bites.

Drop each pretzel into the boiling water. Let them boil for 30 seconds on the first side then gently flip them over for another 30 seconds.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer them one at a time to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain. They will still be pretty raw and very sticky to the touch.

Move the pretzels to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Whisk the egg with 1 teaspoon of cold water until well combined.

Brush the tops of the pretzels with the egg wash mixture and sprinkle with the coarse salt. 

Bake the pretzels at 425 degrees F for about 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve warm with your favorite mustard or cheese sauce. Enjoy!

You may also enjoy

• Strawberry Pretzel Salad
• Bread Machine Pizza Dough
• No Yeast Pizza Dough
• Soft White Bread

Soft Pretzels

Zona House

Soft Pretzels are warm and golden with a chewy salty crust. Serve them plain or dip them into your favorite mustard or cheese sauce.

4.58 from 19 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Rise Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Bread and Dough

Cuisine American

Servings 4 Pretzels

Calories 202 kcal

Equipment

• KitchenAid 5 Quart Stand Mixer
• Baker's Half Sheet Pan
• Parchment Paper

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Ingredients

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ ¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
• ▢ ½ cup warm water (110 degrees - 115 degrees *See Notes)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons sugar
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon butter
• ▢ ½ teaspoon table salt
• ▢ 1 ⅓ cups to 1 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 8 cups water (to boil)
• ▢ ½ cup baking soda
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cold water
• ▢ Coarse sea salt (for topping)

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Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F. This is for the dough rise cycle.
• In the bowl of a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, dissolve the yeast with the sugar in ½ cup of warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees). *See Notes
• Let the yeast mixture sit for about 5 – 10 minutes until it is activated and foamy.
• Add in the melted butter, table salt, and ⅓ cup of the flour. Mix using the dough hook until combined.
• Add in the remaining 1 cup of flour and continue to mix until it forms a sticky ball of dough. Add in small amounts of additional flour if it needs it.
• Leave it in the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer to do the kneading by letting it run for a few extra minutes. You can also put the dough on a floured surface and knead it by hand for about 5 minutes.
• Place it back into the bowl, if you kneaded by hand, and add a small amount of oil to the bowl. Turn the dough to coat all sides and cover the bowl with a damp towel.
• Turn off the oven, place the bowl inside, and let it rise for about 1 hour.
• Remove the bowl from the oven and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Bring 8 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil in a large sauce pan.
• While that comes up to heat, punch down the dough and divide it into 4 equal portions.
• Roll each one into a long log shape.
• Form the pretzel dough into twisted pretzel shapes, roll them long and thin for pretzel rods, or cut them into 1 inch pieces for pretzel bites.
• Drop each pretzel into the boiling water. Let them boil for 30 seconds on the first side then gently flip them over for another 30 seconds.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer them one at a time to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. They will still be pretty raw and very sticky to the touch.
• Move the pretzels to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Whisk the egg with the 1 teaspoon of cold water until well combined.
• Brush the tops of the pretzels with the egg wash mixture and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
• Bake the pretzels at 425 degrees F. for about 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown.
• Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.
• Serve warm with your favorite mustard or cheese sauce. Enjoy!

Notes

• For the warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees) - The water is the right temperature when it feels only slightly warm to your finger. If it feels hot it will kill the yeast and if it’s too cold it won’t activate the yeast.
• To make this vegan use vegan butter.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 202kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 6gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 4459mgPotassium: 66mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 147IUVitamin C: 0.003mgCalcium: 29mgIron: 2mg

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Hi and welcome. I’m Zona and I have a passion for recipes. I share recipes, tips, tricks, and resources to help you cook for two. Eat, drink, and enjoy!

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