Full confession…If I’m out shopping and there is a pretzel stand, I absolutely cannot resist. That buttery pretzel smell is just too tempting! I have yet to meet someone who is not a fan of a good, buttery soft pretzel. There are a lot of recipes out there, but this is the closest I’ve come to my favorite, Wetzels Pretzels. Homemade soft pretzels are a lot easier than you think.
*Be sure to watch my step by step video below to help take the guesswork out of the shaping process.
My tip: Boiling them in the baking soda bath makes these soft pretzels tender and gives it that pretzel flavor. It’s an extra step but so worth it.
This recipe is so easy and quick. Let’s talk about the pretzel dough. The brown sugar gives it just the right amount of sweetness. The melted butter in the dough makes it not only taste amazing but easy to handle and shape without sticking to your fingers. You’ll only need a small amount of flour for your surface when rolling and shaping the pretzels.
Prepare the dough by mixing all of the ingredients. A stand mixer makes this job quick, but you could easily do this by hand as well. Let the dough rest while you prepare your baking soda water bath. Boiling the pretzels in the baking soda water for just 20-30 seconds is a step you don’t want to skip. This is how you get that special pretzel flavor AND it makes the pretzels more tender and chewy…just the way you want them!
I’ve provided a step by step video to demonstrate shaping the pretzel and the baking soda water bath. It’s so much easier than you think.
Soft Pretzels
Full confession…If I’m out shopping and there is a pretzel stand, I absolutely cannot resist. That buttery pretzel smell is just too tempting! I have yet to meet someone who is not a fan of a good, buttery soft pretzel. There are a lot of recipes out there, but this is the closest I’ve come to my favorite, Wetzels Pretzels. Homemade soft pretzels are a lot easier than you think. I have a quick video below to make the shaping process simple for you.
My tip: Boiling them in the baking soda bath makes these soft pretzels tender and gives it that pretzel flavor. It’s an extra step but so worth it.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 pretzels 1x
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 cups (480g) warm water (about 105°F)
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 4 Tablespoons melted butter, plus 4 more Tablespoons for brushing on after baked
- 5–7 cups (600g – 840g) all purpose flour*
- *optional: pretzel salt
Baking soda bath:
- 5 cups (1200g) water
- 1/3 cup baking soda
Instructions
- Make the dough: In stand mixer, mix the water, yeast, brown sugar, fine salt, 4 Tablespoons melted butter and 5 cups of the flour. Mix for about 30 seconds, letting all the ingredients get incorporated and the dough pulls together into one big mass. Lightly pat dough with your finger. If it feels wet and is sticking to your fingers, add a little more flour, 1/4 cup at a time. Dough should be soft but not sticky and should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for 3-5 minutes in mixer. Cover and let rest about 30 minutes while oven is preheating.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Cut dough into 12 equal pieces. If you have a food scale, weigh each one to make sure you come out with all equal sized pretzels.
- Shape the pretzels: Roll each piece into about a 20 inch long rope. Working from the center and rolling outwards makes this job quick and easy. Bring the ends up, twist, fold over and press to get a pretzel shape. You could also just cut the rope into 2 inch pieces for pretzel bites.
- Place the pretzels on a lined baking sheet. Silicone mats work best for this. Parchment can also be used, but be sure to spray it with nonstick spray.
- Bring the baking soda bath to a low boil. Drop 1-2 pretzels in and boil for about 20 seconds. Remove and place back on baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle with pretzel salt. Repeat with the remaining pretzels.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes.
- After removing from oven, use the reserved 4 Tablespoons of melted butter and brush onto pretzels. This is optional, but will give you that authentic Wetzels Pretzels flavor!
- Serve warm and pair with your favorite dipping sauce!
Notes
*This recipe was updated 5/10/22. The original recipe called for bread flour, but I have since really come to love the results from using an all purpose flour. Using an all purpose flour will yield a much more fluffy, and soft pretzel – I’ve also noticed there isn’t as much of a baking soda flavor that can sometimes be more common when using bread flour. If you like a chewier pretzel, you can swap the all purpose flour with bread flour, and it will also be amazing!
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix and knead by hand.
- Don’t skip on the baking soda water bath. It’s how you get that soft pretzel flavor and chewy texture.
- For cinnamon sugar pretzels, combine 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 Tablespoon cinnamon. Brush the pretzel with butter after baking and coat with the cinnamon sugar topping. Pair this with my vanilla glaze recipe for dipping.
- For pretzel bites, roll divided dough out into 20 inch long rope and cut 2 inch pieces. Continue with steps 5-8.
- Try other variations like: sprinkling with freshly grated parmesan cheese before baking, sprinkle with garlic powder & Kraft parmesan cheese before baking, layer on some pepperoni before baking. These are all so yummy with a marinara or Alfredo dipping sauce.
Links that may help you with this recipe…
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