Homemade Soft Pretzels
Servings: 8 medium pretzels or about 50 pretzel bites
Calories: 208cal
Homemade Soft Pretzels are buttery, chewy, and golden with classic mall-style flavor from the baking soda bath. Make them as full pretzels or pretzel bites, then serve warm with caramel sauce, mustard, cheese sauce, or your favorite dip!
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups warm water
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoon instant yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 liters of water for boiling
- ½ cup baking soda
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Combine warm water, brown sugar and yeast in a glass measuring cup. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes until frothy (this ensures the yeast is active).
- Whisk in the ½ teaspoon salt and 1 cup of flour. In a stand mixer with a dough hook or by hand, gradually add in the remaining flour, just enough so that a tacky but not sticky dough forms. If you add all of the flour and it's still sticky, work in just a tiny bit more flour.
- Drizzle some oil into the bowl and turn the dough ball to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a thick towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled.
- Preheat the oven to 425℉.
- Punch dough down and divide into 8 pieces to make medium-sized pretzels, or tear off and roll small pieces into balls for pretzel bites. Roll dough pieces into a long rope and twist to form a pretzel shape (see photos for assistance).
- In a large pot, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Boil pretzels and pretzel bites for 15-30 seconds and remove with a slotted spoon onto paper towel.
- Place onto greased baking sheets and bake for 10-16 minutes until golden brown (spray with a bit of oil spray if not browning on top).
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Serve warm with caramel sauce, mustard or other sauces, or enjoy plain!
Notes
*Bread machine instructions:
Add water, flour, sugar and yeast to bread machine in order listed. Turn on the dough cycle. Check dough after 5 minutes to see if an additional tbsp of water or flour is needed for dough to come together.
When dough cycle is finished, remove from bread machine. Divide into 8 pieces to make medium-sized pretzels, or tear off and roll small pieces into balls for pretzel bites. Continue with the recipe.
Ingredients and substitutions:
- Brown sugar: you can swap for granulated sugar or honey if preferred.
- Yeast: you can swap for active dry yeast, the dough will just take longer to rise.
- Flour: you can swap half of the flour for whole wheat flour for higher fiber.
Nutrition
Calories: 208cal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 2154mg | Potassium: 78mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 44IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 2mg