Best Soft Pretzels

Best 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.

As an Amazon Associate, I may make a small commission, at no additional cost, if you purchase through product affiliate links in this post.

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 1/3 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 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

These great recipes:

Easy No Yeast Pizza Dough for One

This is quick and easy pizza dough that uses no yeast. It is slightly lighter and fluffier than normal pizza dough with great flavor.

Get the Recipe

Glazed Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

These Glazed Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits have warm tender scone like biscuits packed with cinnamon and raisins topped with a sweet powdered sugar glaze. This small batch recipe is easy to make and is ready in just 20 minutes.

Get the Recipe

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

This easy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread is loaded with semi-sweet chocolate chips, cinnamon, and shredded zucchini. It is a moist and tender zucchini bread recipe that is very simple to make. This recipe makes 1 loaf.

Get the Recipe

Easy Homemade White Bread

This Easy Homemade White Bread is a simple, made from scratch, classic homemade bread recipe that is soft and easy to slice for sandwiches or toast. This recipe uses all-purpose flour but can also be made with bread flour. It takes about 1 hour to rise, then bakes up fluffy and golden brown and makes just 1 loaf.

Get the Recipe

Continue to Content

Yield: 4 Pretzels

Best Soft Pretzels

Print

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

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Rise Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees - 115 degrees *See Notes)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 1/3 cups to 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 8 cups water (to boil)
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• Coarse sea salt (for topping)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F. This is for the dough rise cycle.
2. In the bowl of a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, dissolve the yeast with the sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees). *See Notes
3. Let the yeast mixture sit for about 5 – 10 minutes until it is activated and foamy.
4. Add in the melted butter, table salt, and 1/3 cup of the flour. Mix using the dough hook until combined.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Turn off the oven, place the bowl inside, and let it rise for about 1 hour.
9. Remove the bowl from the oven and set aside.
10. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
11. Bring 8 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil in a large sauce pan.
12. While that comes up to heat, punch down the dough and divide it into 4 equal portions.
13. Roll each one into a long log shape.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. Move the pretzels to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
18. Whisk the egg with the 1 teaspoon of cold water until well combined.
19. Brush the tops of the pretzels with the egg wash mixture and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
20. Bake the pretzels at 425 degrees F. for about 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown.
21. Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.
22. 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.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate I may make a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you make a purchase through product links in this post.

• 
  KitchenAid KSM150PSPN Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield - Persimmon
• 
  Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker's Half Sheet (2 Pack)
• 
  Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper (Premium, Non-Stick, 75 Square Foot Roll, 2 Count)

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 244Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 8023mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 7g

Nutrition information is a guideline only, is calculated automatically by third party software, and absolute accuracy is not guaranteed.

Did you like this recipe?

Please leave a comment on this post and pin this recipe on Pinterest.