How To Make Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels

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Chewy soft buttery pretzels hot out of your oven, sounds good, doesn’t it? Learn How To Make Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels like you get at the mall or ballpark. This pretzel recipe is easy to make with basic ingredients and they are deliciously buttery and salty.

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This is the truth, I am missing baseball this year and I am even sadder to miss going to San Francisco to watch the Giants play ball. After all, Pablo is back!

I am also missing one of my favorite ballpark foods a hot salty pretzel with butter.  Since we can’t be at the stadium to buy my snacks I decided to make my own homemade buttery pretzels.

This pretzel recipe uses simple ingredients you have in your pantry, so you don’t need anything fancy.

Ingredients

• Flour
• Yeast
• Butter
• Honey
• Salt
• Baking Soda
• Water
• Water
• Egg
• Pretzel Salt

Making pretzels is really easy there are just a few important steps like letting the dough rise and cooking the pretzels in baking soda water. The best part about making pretzels is shaping the dough.

How to make pretzels

It’s easy with this simple dough and it’s best to use a stand mixer with a dough hook

Step 1. Add the yeast to a mixing bowl with warm water, whisk and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it is frothy.

Step 2. Add the flour, kosher salt, melted butter, and honey to the bowl and mix on low speed using the dough hook until the dry ingredients are mixed in. Scrape the sides of the bowl then turn the mixer to medium and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic.

If you don’t have a stand mixer use a large bowl and mix the ingredients into the yeast with a wooden spoon and then knead the dough for about 5 minutes incorporating enough flour to make a smooth and elastic dough.

Step 3. Place the dough into a large well-oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Step 4. After an hour, punch down the dough, then recover with the plastic wrap and let rise for a half-hour.

Step 5. Make an egg wash by beating 1 egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Set aside.

Step 6. Preheat the oven to 450°F and prepare a 12″ skillet with 6 cups of water and the baking soda for cooking the pretzels, bring to a rolling boil. Line 2 half-sheet baking pans with parchment paper and lightly oil or us a Silpat.

Step 7. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured work surface.  Divide the dough into 12-14 2 ounce pieces of dough and roll each piece into a 20″ long rope, about 1/2″ thick then form into a pretzel shape. Place the pretzels on the parchment-lined baking sheets or Silpat lined baking sheets.

Step 8. Place the pretzels in the boiling water with the baking soda for 30 seconds, you can fit about two to three at a time in the water, then remove the pretzels with a slotted spatula or flat strainer, and place on the baking sheet.

Step 9. Brush each pretzel with the egg wash then sprinkle with pretzel salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

Step 10. Remove the pretzels from the oven and brush with butter.

Make sure to pin for later

Pretzel tips and tricks

• What gives pretzels their flavor – Pretzel dough itself has very little flavor, so what makes the pretzel flavor stand out is first, it’s dipped in an (alkaline) baking soda bath, and a brush of butter and a sprinkling of salt, or other toppings like cinnamon-sugar, sesame seeds or poppy seeds.
• Why do you boil pretzels – The scientific name is the Maillard reaction. The easy way to explain this is that dipping the dough in an alkaline solution made with baking soda stops the dough from rising as it bakes and the alkaline creates a browned outside crust and chewy pretzel
• How to get the salt to stick to the pretzels – before baking the pretzels brush each one with an egg wash and then sprinkle the salt on top.  Trust me the salt will stick!
• Can you freeze pretzels – Yes, you can, hallelujah! Just bake the pretzels as shown, (except DO NOT brush with the egg wash or add salt) and wrap the cooled pretzels in foil then place in a ziplock bag and freeze.
  • To reheat, let thaw for about 10 minutes then place the foil-wrapped pretzel on a baking sheet, and reheat at 400 degrees F. for about 5 – 8 minutes.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt if desired and enjoy!
  • Note: if you prebake the pretzels with salt then freeze and then rebake, the pretzels will become soggy from the salt. So, add the salt after you reheat the pretzels,
• How to store homemade pretzels – Pretzels are best eaten the same day they are made for the best flavor and the perfect chewiness, however, sometimes eating a whole batch of pretzels is not always possible so….you can freeze the leftover pretzels like shown above, or place the pretzels in a paper bag for a day or two.
• How to reheat pretzels – Try this for the best taste, wrap the pretzel in foil and reheat at 400 degrees F for about 5 minutes.

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Don’t forget the dough hook for your mixer.  This one fits my 5 quart Kitchenaid mixer. Make sure to check the model number that fits yours.

Print Pin

5 from 11 votes

Soft Buttery Homemade Pretzels

Learn how to make soft and buttery Homemade Pretzels that are knotted in the middle and topped with pretzel salt. With just a few ingredients you can make these golden brown, soft and chewy pretzels that are perfect for game days or an everyday snack.

Course Appetizer, Snacks

Cuisine Breads

Keyword Homemade Pretzels, How to make pretzels, Pretzels

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

rise time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 232kcal

Author Jere' Cassidy

Equipment

• Rimmed Baking Sheet
• Mesh Strainer
• Kitchenaid Dough Hook
• Pastry Brush
• Kitchenaid Mixer

Ingredients

• 2¼ tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 cup Water, 110°F
• 3 cups Bread flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 6 cups water this is for boiling the pretzels
• 3 tbsp. Baking soda this goes in with the water for boiling the pretzels
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp. Pretzel salt
• 4 tbsp. Butter, melted for brushing on top

Instructions

• For this recipe, a stand mixer with a dough hook is best to use. In the mixing bowl add the yeast and warm water, mix slightly and let sit until foamy.
• Add the flour, salt, honey, and melted butter to the bowl and knead on low speed until combined then, knead on medium speed until a smooth dough, elastic ball of dough forms. This takes about 5-6 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and place it in a well-oiled large bowl. (You can clean the one you just used and oil it.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
• Punch down the dough, cover again with the plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 450°F and prepare a 12" skillet for cooking the pretzels with 6 cups of water and the baking soda, bring to a rolling boil. Line 2 baking half-sheet pans with lightly oiled parchment paper, or use a Silpat.
• Make an egg wash by beating the egg with a teaspoon of water, set aside.
• Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide it into 12-14 pieces weighing 2 ounces. You can also make the pretzels any size you like.
• Roll each piece of dough into a 20" x ½" wide rope and then make a u-shape with the rope then cross the ropes near the bottom, and fold back onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Press the end to seal. You may need to brush the ends of the dough with water to help make the dough stick. Place the pretzels on the baking sheets until all the pretzels are shaped.
• Place each pretzel in the boiling water with the baking soda for 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spatula or large flat strainer and set back on the baking sheets. I put two pretzels in the water at a time
• Brush each pretzel with the egg wash and sprinkle with the pretzel salt.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the pretzels are nice and brown.
• Remove from the oven and generously brush with melted butter then transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

You can freeze pretzels – Bake and cool the pretzels. (Except DO NOT Brush with the egg wash or add salt) Wrap the cooled pretzels in foil then place in a ziplock bag and freeze.

• To reheat, let thaw for about 10 minutes place the foil-wrapped pretzel on a baking sheet, and reheat at 400 degrees F. oven for about 5 – 8 minutes.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt if desired and enjoy!
• Note: if you prebake the pretzels with salt then freeze and then rebake, the pretzels will become soggy from the salt. So, add the salt after you reheat the pretzels.

Nutrition

Serving: 12g | Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Fat: 7.8g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 754mg

Baked and Buttery

Just in case you are hungry for more

Another ballpark inspired treat are these Peanut Butter Cupcakes topped with caramel corn.

This is a two dessert in one recipe for Lemon Pie that has a tender layer of lemon cake on top.

This Baked Ricotta Cheese is the easiest appetizer to make and is delicious with lemon and herbs.

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About Jere’

From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California,  my passion for food is never-ending.  Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory recipes with all my baking friends.

Have any questions or just want to chat about the recipe? Contact me here, and I’ll be happy to help!