Homemade Soft Pretzels
These Homemade Soft Pretzels are even better than the kind you get at the mall. They come fresh out of the oven soft, doughy, and delicious! Season them however you like!
If you love pretzels, try my Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Trifle and my Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites.
This Soft Pretzel Recipe Is One Of My Favorites
Soft pretzels are one of my favorite things in the world. My addiction is so bad, that one of the first years that Jorge and I were dating, he bought me a box mix of Auntie Annie’s Pretzels. I was thrilled…until I realized that I still had to mix and cook them myself…and that was during the time when a box of the blue crack Kraft Mac & Cheese was almost too complicated.
These days I know I can conquer just about anything in the kitchen except homemade ginger ale. And so when I was at the mall last month, shoe shopping of course, I smelled the Auntie Annie’s Pretzels and avoided them like the plague. Which is REALLY hard to do at my mall because there are not one, but TWO Auntie Annie’s stands….those asshats. They are so smart to put in two stands on opposite ends of the mall. It makes it incredibly hard to say no! But I did, because I knew I was going to come home and try to make my own.
You Can Flavor These Homemade Pretzels However You Like
I’m not sure who, but someone recommend the Alton Brown recipe for Soft Pretzels to me. I am so glad they did, because these pretzels were awesome! They do make quite a mess, but it is all worth it when they come fresh out of the oven soft, doughy, and delicious! I sprinkled mine with a little cayenne and garlic powder, but I have posted the recipe below how it was written. But feel free to sprinkle any of your favorite seasonings!
Homemade Soft Pretzels
These Homemade Soft Pretzels are even better than the kind you get at the mall. They come fresh out of the oven soft, doughy and delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
- 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
- Vegetable oil, for pan
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Pretzel salt
Instructions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Source: Alton Brown
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 359Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 5729mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 9g
yep, you sold me. my husband will likely propose to me again when i make these…which is fine since a girl can always use more diamonds 😉
Those pretzel stands are ridiculous. Ours is right by the bookstore and you can smell them as you browse books. Ugh.
Your pretzels look awesome. I’m not good at shaping but I want to give this recipe a try now!
My family is from Philadelphia so I can’t wait to try this recipe and test it on them. See if I can compare to the real-deal!
I’m making these today! And I’m super excited about it! 😉
Ooooh carby deliciousness! We love. We have got to try making our own pretzels…these look so completely amazing!
Had to laugh at the Kraft Dinner=blue crack!
Your pretzels look yummy!
Great job with these pretzels, and there’s nothing wrong with a little carb-o-licious every now and then 🙂 As you said, it’s all about moderation! Have you got a good honey mustard dipping recipe for them??
Yum! These look fantastic.
These look so tasty!
Those look divine! When I made them (once, and only once, because I ate 2/3 of the batch myself), I made some homemade honey mustard to dip them in. OMG. Good stuff.
look so delicious,..
Yup, I could eat 3 or 4 right now! Give me a cold pint along side and maybe I could down 5 or 6!!!
I’ve attempted to make pretzels before and it was a huge disaster….but I may take anotehr stab at it, your picture looks awesome!
I love making soft pretzels! They are a lot more manageable to make than I originally thought, but anything good does take a little effort. Yours look great! If you ever want to get even more creative, I have a recipe for pretzel dough filled with ham and cheddar that I think you’d love! Anyway, thanks for sharing these!
Thanks for testing out this recipe!
Beautiful pretzels, Jessica!
Im am from Germany. Did you know that there are different styles of Bretzeln/Bretzen. The lower part always need to be thick, so you can cut it with a knife and add butter or sausages to it. In some parts the upper part is also thick and in other parts the upper part needs to be very thin also almost hard. If you go the Oktoberfest you migth get a very big Bretze.