This is one of the easiest ways to prepare homemade soft pretzels and the results are extra delicious. The soft pretzel dough only needs to rest for 10 minutes before shaping. The quick baking soda boil gives the pretzels their traditional flavor. Make sure you watch the video for how to shape pretzels!
Homemade soft pretzels are nothing new around here because this recipe has been a reader favorite for years. The dough requires just 6 ingredients and there’s hardly any rise time, so not only are these easy, they’re pretty quick too. In fact, I remember feeling pleasantly surprised at the ease and speed the first time I made them—it took us only 30 minutes to make 1 batch! Over the years, I’ve added a smidge of melted butter to the dough for improved flavor. Furthermore, we’ve introduced the baking soda bath. While it sounds strange, this step is what gives pretzels that iconic flavor, chewy texture, helps deepen their golden color in the oven, and locks in the super soft interior. If you get the water boiling ahead of time, it really only adds 5 minutes to the entire process. We do it every time now. It’s worth it!
We’ve also made them soft pretzel bites, soft pretzel knots (with various toppings), jalapeño cheddar pretzels, and soft pretzel rolls from this simple dough. We’ve also jazzed them up as crab pretzels. There’s no wrong way to shape a pretzel, but let’s stick with tradition today. I promise you’ll no longer feel intimidated working with yeast, shaping pretzels, or the baking soda bath. Even if you have zero skill in the kitchen, you can make these homemade soft pretzels.
STEP BY STEP PHOTOS
Let’s chat about the dough. You need the simplest, most basic ingredients possible and I guarantee each one is in your kitchen right now. Warm water, 1 packet yeast, melted butter, brown or regular granulated sugar, salt, and flour.
Let the yeast foam in the warm water for a few minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, a hand mixer, or—like you’ll notice in the video below the recipe—no mixer at all. Work with what you have in the kitchen. And if you need extra help with kneading, see my full How to Knead Dough video tutorial.
Guess what? You don’t have to wait to let this dough rise. YES! Well, we’ll let it rest for 10 minutes while you get the baking soda + water boiling on the stove but that’s it. Don’t have any patience? This is the recipe for you. By the way, did you know that some pretzel recipes call for rising overnight? They’re remarkable pretzels but I’m satisfied with this ultra quick dough!
How to Shape Homemade Soft Pretzels
Now it’s time to shape.
Roll 1/3 cup of dough into a long 20-22 inch rope.
Twist the ends and bring the ends down. That’s a pretzel!
Now drop the pretzels into the boiling water + baking soda. Let them boil for 20-30 seconds each, then place onto a baking sheet. This pretzel dough makes 12 regular size soft pretzels, so I use 2 baking sheets. 6 on each.
Sprinkle with salt and bake in a hot oven. That’s it, you’re done.
And if you want to kick your soft pretzel status into major high gear, add some spicy nacho cheese sauce.
PrintEasy Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 pretzels
- Category: Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is one of the easiest ways to prepare homemade soft pretzels and the results are extra delicious! The dough is a family recipe and only needs to rest for 10 minutes before shaping. The quick baking soda boil gives the pretzels their traditional flavor. Make sure you watch the video for how to shape pretzels!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (lukewarm– no need to take temperature but around 100°F (38°C) is great)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and slightly cool
- 3 and 3/4-4 cups (469-500g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- coarse salt or coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Baking Soda Bath (See Recipe Note)
- 1/2 cup (120g) baking soda
- 9 cups (2.13L) water
Instructions
- Whisk the yeast into warm water. Allow to sit for 1 minute. Whisk in salt, brown sugar, and melted butter. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon (or dough hook attached to stand mixer) until dough is thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If it is still sticky, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup more, as needed. Poke the dough with your finger—if it bounces back, it is ready to knead.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Shape the kneaded dough into a ball. Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. (Meanwhile, I like to get the water + baking soda boiling as instructed in step 6.)
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Silicone baking mats are highly recommended over parchment paper. If using parchment paper, lightly spray with nonstick spray or grease with butter. Set aside.
- With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 1/3 cup sections (about 75g each).
- Roll the dough into a 20-22 inch rope. Form a circle with the dough by bringing the two ends together at the top of the circle. Twist the ends together. Bring the twisted ends back down towards yourself and press them down to form a pretzel shape.
- Bring baking soda and 9 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Drop 1-2 pretzels into the boiling water for 20-30 seconds. Any more than that and your pretzels will have a metallic taste. Using a slotted spatula, lift the pretzel out of the water and allow as much of the excess water to drip off. Place pretzel onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. Repeat with remaining pretzels. If desired, you can cover and refrigerate the boiled/unbaked pretzels for up to 24 hours before baking in step 7.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm with spicy nacho cheese sauce.
- Cover and store leftover pretzels at room temperature for up to 3 days. They lose a little softness over time. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds, or bake at 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked and cooled pretzels freeze well for up to 3 months. To reheat, bake frozen pretzels at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes or until warmed through or microwave frozen pretzels until warm. The prepared pretzel dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to one day or frozen in an airtight container for 2-3 months. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerated dough can be shaped into pretzels while still cold, but allow some extra time, about 1 hour, for the pretzels to puff up before the baking soda bath and baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl | Wooden Spoon | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pizza Cutter
- Baking Soda Bath (Step 6): The baking soda bath is strongly recommended because it helps create that chewy texture and distinctive pretzel flavor. If skipping, brush the shaped and unbaked pretzels with a mixture of 1 beaten egg + 1 Tablespoon of dairy or nondairy milk. This is known as an egg wash. Sprinkle the brushed pretzels with salt. The egg wash will help the salt stick. If you don’t have an egg, simply brush with 2 Tablespoons of dairy or nondairy milk.
- Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels: Skip the coarse salt topping (and skip the egg wash, see note above, if you aren’t doing the baking soda bath step). Bake as directed in step 7. Meanwhile, melt 4 Tablespoons (60g) of unsalted or salted butter (your choice). Brush the baked and warm pretzels with melted butter then dip the tops into a mix of cinnamon and sugar. I usually use 3/4 cup (150g) of granulated sugar and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Cinnamon sugar pretzels are best served that day because due to the melted butter topping, they become soggy after a few hours.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
LOVE Your Recipes Can You Please Send Me The Pretzel Recipes In Metric Weight As My Students Are Taught To Measure All Ingredients By Weight Not By Volume.
Thank You So Much It Would Be Awesome If You Could Have That Option On All Your Recipes As We Found It To Be More Accurate And Consistent Than By Volume
Again Thanks For Your Help And Looking Forward To Your Reply.
Matt
P.S. My Students Are Residents In A Local Homeless Shelter Where We Teach Them How To Cook And Bake.
And We Find This Improves Their Overall Moral And Self Worth
God Bless
best recipe ever we made these and they tasted AWSOME!!!!
Such an easy and wonderful recipe. Thank you, Sally. Delcious!
We loved this recipe. My first time making pretzels and planning on making more this week since they were eaten so fast! I enjoyed them salted and they loved dipping them in melted Nutella. My cooker runs really hot so even after trying to lower the temp to suit I will slightly lower again with a minute or two extra… or cover with foil!
So today I finally grew a pair and delved into making these pretzels that has been in my ‘to do’ list for quite some time.
I found the overall process rather easy, although, the dough was a mission to roll out into the long lengths. I found the dough very elasticity and rebounded as I drew it out in the requested 20-22″ lengths. It’s not like rolling gnocchi!
At any rate, I successfully produced my first ever batch of pretzels. I’m sure that this will be a request by family and friends going forward, along with my cream puffs, butter tarts and other delicious treats.
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe with us!! Cheers from Sudbury Ontario.
I also found the making of the lengths to be the hardest part of the recipe. What I’ve learned to do, after trial and error, is roll them all out about 15 inches (like playdough snakes) then start back at the first one again. They lose their elasticity in the time it takes me to get them all to the shorter length then it’s easier to get the length needed.
I was wondering if you can use a hand mixer instead of a stand mixture for the dough
Hi Ella, the dough can tend to get stuck in the beaters of a hand mixer, so we’d recommend using a wooden spoon instead.
Loved making pretzels for the first time. Your recipe was so easy to follow. I had a problem that is not the fault of the recipe. The pretzels stuck to the parchment paper and had to be cut off. Could my oven be too hot? Perhaps my oven temp is off and I need an oven thermometer to get an an accurate reading.
Thank you so much for trying these soft pretzels. For next time– spraying parchment with nonstick spray should work, but we can’t recommend silicone baking mats enough. We use them for everything!
THE DOUGH WAS ABSOLUTLEY AMAZING. IT WAS SO FLUFFY AND FUN TO WORK WITH. unfortunately, the pretzels tasted a bit bland and had a hint of yeast in the flavor. The pretzels also were cooked thoroughly yet were still not that brown. nonetheless, good recipe.
Will bread flour work in a pinch instead of all purpose?
Hi Amy, You can definitely use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour in this pretzel recipe. Same amount with no other changes to the recipe. Bread flour yields even chewier pretzels.
Thank you! Can’t wait to make them.
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
Hi Chris, see recipe notes for make ahead instructions.
I currently only have margarine available. Will that work in place of the butter? (I prefer butter, but my local store has apparently had a run on it)
Hi Melanie, margarine has a different composition than butter and we don’t recommend swapping the two. Best to wait until you have access to butter to make these pretzels!
Making these for the first time and can’t wait to taste them! Question: if I want to make the cinnamon/sugar pretzels, do I skip the baking soda bath? (Notes say to skip the butter but I wasn’t fully clear if I also skip the baking soda bath). Please advise. Thank you!
Hi Yossi, you will still want to do the baking soda bath if making a cinnamon/sugar version. Hope you love them!
Thank you!!
Hi! Looking to make these to go with a cheese soup for Christmas. I would love to make them ahead of time and freeze them as described in the recipe, then heat them on Christmas. Does it taste as good and fresh using this method? Or am I going to lose the softness when freezing? Thanks in advance!
Hi Jackie, they really do freeze quite well. Let us know if you give it a try and we hope they’re a hit!
This recipe was amazing! I unfortunately over boiled a couple but they still taste great! I did half of them sweet (melted butter, stirred in brown sugar and cinnamon then brushed on top) and half salted, so good…..
Thank you so much for your quick reply. I am ordering silicone mats today as even after spraying the parchment paper my pretzels stuck.
Making this recipe tomorrow. Would you be able to swap flour for almond flour at the same ratioS?
Hi Laura, I don’t recommend that. This isn’t a great recipe to make that swap.
Delicious and easy recipe! Any ideas for what flour would be best to use to make these gluten free? Would love to give out as home-baked gifts this holiday and have several gluten-free friends that would benefit. Thank you!
Hi HP, so glad these are a favorite for you! We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you decide to give it a try! And here are all our naturally gluten free recipes if you’re interested: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/category/special-diet/gluten-free/
I would love to know how these would turn out GF. Making for family white elephant gift!
What’s the best way to store these if making 12-24 hours ahead of time? Like for a work potluck?
Hi Katherine, you can store them in an air tight container at room temperature. They may lose a bit of softness during that time (they’re best enjoyed right away!) but you can reheat them in the microwave for a few seconds.
Highly recommend this recipe. My 10yr old daughter and I made them for the first time and it was super simple! They turned out delicious! We left some unsalted and ended up brushing butter on them when they came out of the oven and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. So good!
I’m a 38 year old guy with absolutely no baking experience. I followed the recipe and now can whip these out from start to finish in under an hour. So easy! Whole family loves them! I’ve made pretzels, pretzel sticks, balls, buns. All so good! These will forever be my pot luck contribution
Can I serve this at Room temp? Will it be too thick?
Hi Charyssa, Are you asking about the cheese sauce? It will thicken up at room temperature so if it becomes too thick for dipping you can re-heat it.
Very easy and quick! They turned out great. Crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside❤️
Just took them out of the oven and tasted them. Beeeeeeeeyouuuuuuteeeful!!! What an excellent recipe, easy to follow, requires only basic ingredients you’ll have if you do a fair amount of baking (or even if you don’t). The taste is classic pretzel taste. That golden salty “nuttiness” combined with a somewhat crunchy exterior and a soft, chewy interior. Now I need to make some queso dip for them!
Love this recipe husband ate 3 right out of the oven I put everything bagel on half and sesame seeds on the other half
OMG, these were so easy to make, quick and absolutely DELICIOUS. Hubby and kids devoured them hot out of the oven. Will make these again, and again, and again and again 🙂 THANK YOU, brilliant recipe 🙂
Love this recipe. A lot of my family has celiac so i just replaced flour with namaste gf flour and they turned out great. Thank you
What temperature do I bake the pretzels at?
Hi Rayhan, 400°F (204°C). Enjoy!
Delicious! Soft, fluffy, came out so well. Now I’d love to try a yeastier chewier version!!
This is the first time I have made soft pretzels and they were PERFECT! The recipe was easy to follow and didn’t take long from start to finish. They are delicious and better than I expected. I will be making these often! Thank you!
Delicious and easy! Great recipe!
This is the easiest and most wonderful recipe to have in your recipe book for life!!!! QUICK QUESTION….is there a substitute for using butter? For example could I use olive oil ? Will it not bake correctly? Just wondering. You are the best thx
Hi Willy, we’re so glad you hear you love this recipe! We haven’t tested it, but you could try try melted coconut oil or other oil instead. The flavor will be different!