5 from 2 votes
Homemade Soft Pretzels
Once you make your own easy homemade soft pretzels, there's no turning back ~ you'll look for any excuse to bake up these warm, salty, crusty-on-the-outside, soft-and-chewy-inside treats.
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Resting
1 d
Total Time
1 d 30 mins
Servings:
12
-17 large pretzels
Calories:
198 kcal
Course:
Bread
Cuisine:
American
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups bread flour 1 lb 4 oz. /567 g, unbleached
- 1 3/4 tsp salt or 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/2 cups water about 95 degrees F or 35 degrees C, lukewarm
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil or melted unsalted butter
- 8 tsp baking soda for dipping
- 2 cups water about 100 degrees F or 38 degrees C, warm
- pretzel salt or coarse sea salt, for garnish
Instructions
Do ahead
- Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a mixing bowl, if doing this by hand. Whisk the yeast into the warm water in a small bowl and set aside for about a minute.Pour the yeast mixture and the oil into the dry ingredients. Mix the dough for about 2 minutes, either by hand or in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Switch to the dough hook and continue mixing for about 2 minutes. The dough will become slightly smoother.
- Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Then continue to mix on medium low speed for 3 minutes. If the dough is very tacky, add a little more flour. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead by hand for a minute. Transfer the dough to a clean oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night or for up to 4 days.
Cup of Yum
To bake
- To make the dipping solution, combine the baking soda with warm water in a bowl. Whisk in the optional egg white; this will make the surface of the pretzels a little browner.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F or 204 degrees C. Right after taking the dough out of the refrigerator, roll 2-ounce (56.5 g) pieces into 17 inches long ropes for smaller pretzels and 3-ounce (85 g) for larger pretzels. If the roll shrinks back, let it rest while you start the next one, and come back to it later. (I had trouble with this step, and had to let them rest repeatedly.)
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Form the dough into pretzels (see above) and dip them into the baking soda/water solution. Place them on the pan and sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.
- Bake for about 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake another 8 to 10 minutes. Let the pretzels cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Weighing the flour helps to get the right consistency in the dough. My first batch was too dry, and very difficult to work with. The next time I weighed the flour and it came out much better.
- Also, it’s important to use bread flour. I made one batch using 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 regular flour, and the pretzels didn’t have a nice chewy texture. The gluten in the bread flour makes it a little difficult to roll out the dough, but it’s critical to the final result.
- And finally, brushing the dough with a beaten egg yolk before sprinkling on the salt helps to get a nice brown sheen, you can see that in the pretzel bites, and in the loaf, below. Peter doesn’t call for it, which is why I didn’t get hip to it until late in my second batch of pretzels, but I found it makes all the difference.
- *Recipe from Peter Reinhart
Nutrition Information
Serving
1pretzel
Calories
198kcal
(10%)
Carbohydrates
36g
(12%)
Protein
6g
(12%)
Fat
3g
(5%)
Saturated Fat
0.5g
(3%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
2g
(12%)
Monounsaturated Fat
1g
(5%)
Trans Fat
0.01g
(1%)
Sodium
1074mg
(45%)
Potassium
58mg
(1%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
2g
(4%)
Vitamin A
1IU
(0%)
Vitamin C
0.003mg
(0%)
Calcium
11mg
(1%)
Iron
0.5mg
(3%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 12 -17 large pretzels
Amount Per Serving
Calories 198
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1pretzel | |
| Calories | 198kcal | 10% |
| Carbohydrates | 36g | 12% |
| Protein | 6g | 12% |
| Fat | 3g | 5% |
| Saturated Fat | 0.5g | 3% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Trans Fat | 0.01g | 1% |
| Sodium | 1074mg | 45% |
| Potassium | 58mg | 1% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 2g | 4% |
| Vitamin A | 1IU | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 0.003mg | 0% |
| Calcium | 11mg | 1% |
| Iron | 0.5mg | 3% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.