Name: Homemade Soft Pretzels
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 122g (½ cup) full-fat or whole milk; 5g (1 ¼ ) tsp instant yeast; 18g (1½ tablespoons) brown sugar; 14g (1 tablespoon) melted butter; ½ teaspoon fine salt; 94g (¾ cup) all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting); 94g (¾ cup) bread flour; neutral-tasting oil (ex. canola, vegetable oil); 54g (3 tablespoons) baking soda; 300g (1 ¼ cup) hot boiling water; 1 piece egg (any size); 1½ teaspoon pretzel salt or coarse sea salt; 42 g (3 tablespoons) melted butter (for brushing the tops of pretzel after baking)

Craving that soft, salty goodness of fresh pretzels? Learn how to make these golden-brown, soft pretzels at home with just a few simple ingredients. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, this easy homemade pretzel recipe is foolproof and delicious!

Close-up of a freshly baked soft pretzels with a golden-brown crust, sprinkled with coarse salt, held by a hand against a light background.

Who knew pretzels are easy to make? This homemade soft pretzels recipe only needs basic ingredients and no stand mixer or hand mixer required.

My family always buy at Auntie Anne’s and I thought their dough recipe must be really unique because it tastes so good! So instead of driving to the mall whenever we crave for some pretzels, I’ve tried making my own.

Let me tell you that aside from saving money, they taste equally (if not more) delicious compared to the store-bought ones!

This homemade pretzel recipe is soft and chewy at the same time – the result of combining all-purpose and bread flour. You also don’t need to buy a separate pretzel salt. I have those sea salt with grinders from Costco and I just grind some using the coarse setting. Also, this is a basic pretzel recipe so imagine what else we can make from this – glazin’ raisin pretzel is my next goal!

These soft pretzels are best eaten immediately after baking. Dip them in your favorite cheese sauce or simply slather with melted butter.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Shop efficiently (treat this as your grocery list) and gather your ingredients at home without running circles in your kitchen. (i.e. One trip to the fridge to get all your dairy needs.) You can still find the full printable recipe at the end of this post.

REFRIGERATED:

egg. We’ll use the egg for brushing the pretzel tops to promote browning. We only need a small amount, so any size of egg you have will do.

milk. 122g (½ cup) of whole milk

butter. There’s two amounts of butter for this recipe: First is 1 tablespoon or 14g of melted, unsalted butter for making the pretzel dough. The second amount is 42g (about 3 tablespoons) of melted, unsalted butter for brushing the tops of pretzels right after baking.

PANTRY:

all-purpose flour. 94g (¾ cup) of all purpose flour – also called plain flour. I urge you to weigh your flour, but if you’re still using cups, measure flour using the spoon and level method.

bread flour. 94g (¾ cup) of bread flour. I urge you to weigh your flour, but if you’re still using cups, measure flour using the spoon and level method.

baking soda. 54g (3 tablespoons) for the baking soda bath.

salt. There’s two amounts of salt for this recipe: ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt to be mixed in the pretzel dough. Then another 1½ teaspoon of coarse sea salt or pretzel salt for topping.

yeast. You need 5g (1¼ teaspoon) of instant yeast. Substitute with active dry yeast.

brown sugar. 18g (1½ tablespoons) of light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar is okay as substitute.

oil. Any neutral tasting oil like canola, vegetable, avocado oil. We need 1 to 2 tablespoons but amount varies depending on how big your bowl is.

water. 300g (1¼ cup) of freshly boiled hot water

mise en place ingredients for the homemade soft pretzels

Recommended Tools For This Recipe

digital food scale (this is a must…and check-out the cute colors!)
pastry brush
half sheet pan – I own and use these pans – love the embossed grid pattern.

How To Shape a Pretzel

Shaping pretzels may look tricky at first, but with a little practice, it’s easy to get that signature pretzel twist. Follow these steps to achieve the perfect shape:

1. Form an inverted U-Shape
Once your dough has risen, divide it into 3 equal pieces. Take one piece of dough and roll it into a long rope, about 20-24 inches in length. The dough rope should be even in thickness throughout. Take the dough rope and lay it horizontally on your work surface. Grab both ends and bring them upward to form a wide, INVERTED “U” shape.

2. Cross the Ends
Cross the two ends of the dough rope over each other, about two to three inches from the top of the “U”.

3. Twist the Ends
Twist them once to form a simple knot.

4. Fold and Press
After twisting the ends, fold them up towards the top of the “U”, and press them gently onto the dough where it touches. This will create the traditional pretzel shape. Make sure to pinch the ends lightly so they stay in place during baking.

If the shape isn’t perfect, don’t worry! The pretzels will puff up and bake beautifully in the oven.

step-by-step photo on how to shape a pretzel

Shaping pretzels can be a fun and creative part of the process. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll get into a rhythm and can experiment with different shapes and sizes. You could even make mini pretzels or pretzel bites for a fun twist!

Let’s Make Soft Pretzels Step-By-Step

STEP 1. Mise en place: Measure all the ingredients. Warm the milk in the microwave or saucepan until it’s about 43 C (110 F).

STEP 2. Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine warm milk, brown sugar and yeast. Mix together and set aside for 4 minutes or until it begins to bubble.

Add the melted butter, salt, all-purpose flour, and bread flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. If the dough is too sticky, add more all-purpose flour in small increments (about 1 tbsp each) until it is not sticky. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes. Shape it to a ball.

PRO TIP: Do the windowpane test. A great way to know if your dough is kneaded enough is to do the windowpane test. Here’s how you do it. Remove a small piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and gently stretch it to create a thin membrane-like pane or windowpane, it should be thin enough to see light through it. If the dough breaks it means the gluten hasn’t developed properly and you need to knead it for a little longer.

STEP 3. Let the dough rise: Return the dough to a bowl drizzled with oil (to prevent the dough from sticking). Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place, about 1 hour or until dough doubles in size.

STEP 4. When the dough has doubled in size, you can start preheating your oven to 450 F/ 232 C. Punch the dough back down and divide into 6 sections (about 55 grams of dough each).

STEP 5. Roll each section into a long skinny rope, about 20 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Note: These pretzels are on the chubby side. If you want to make them thinner, roll the dough thinner.

STEP 6. Shape each skinny rope of dough it into a pretzel. Refer to “How to Shape a Pretzel” section in this post for detailed tutorial.

Alternatively, cut the skinny rope dough into small pieces to get pretzel bites.

STEP 7. BAKING SODA BATH. Make the baking soda solution by combining hot (JUST BOILED) water with baking soda in a shallow container. Ensure that baking soda has dissolved by mixing it with a whisk. Drop each whole pretzel into the baking soda solution for about 30 seconds, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

STEP 8. Beat an egg in a small bowl. Brush each pretzel with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.

STEP 9. BAKE at 450 degrees for 9-10 minutes, until deeply golden brown.

Remove from the oven and serve warm with cheese sauce, mustard, or simply slather with melted butter.

Expert Tips For Making These Soft Pretzels

This recipe calls for instant yeast so we don’t really need to “activate” it. But doing the step of waiting for it to “bubble” helps ensure that your yeast is still active!

Instead of shaping these into traditional pretzel shapes, you can cut them into small pieces to make soft pretzel bites!

These soft pretzels are best eaten immediately after baking, but you can reheat the in a hot oven for a few minutes or microwave them in 10-second increments.

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Babs

June 8, 2018 at 10:19 am

I am allergic to eggs. If I didn’t add the egg wash I know they won’t have the same shine, but would they taste the same? Is it possible to use milk instead of an egg on top. I have done this in other recipes successfully. Can’t wait to try.