Homemade Soft Pretzels

Is there anything better than a soft, warm, salty pretzel? Mmm my mouth is already watering.

Several months ago I was craving a yummy "mall pretzel" but I knew, with all of my crazy allergies, there was no way I'd even attempt eating one. So that just left me with one other option, try to make them myself.

Through lots of trial and error, I finally have the perfect pretzel recipe! They are the perfect amount of soft and chewy, salty and sweet. They are the perfect snack when your craving something carb-y and salty. I also mix up a little powdered sugar frosting and dip them into when I need the trifecta of sweet, salty, and carb-y ;)

There are a few steps to the process, but overall they are not that difficult to make. I actually do it pretty often with not a lot of time to prepare. The hardest part for me is dropping them into the water and trying not to burn myself and make a mess lol.

There's going to be a lot of pictures, but I just want to try and show you step by step how to do it. If I was smart enough I would make an instructional video, but I'm not so this will have to do.

Here's what you'll need...

Dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 1/4 cup warm water. Let it sit until creamy and bubbly.

Mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the butter and yeast mixture.

Mix together until it forms a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. *I use my KitchenAid for all of the mixing, and I let it knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes on medium speed.

Lightly butter a large bowl, shape the dough into a ball and place the dough in the bowl. I made some lemon poppyseed ones too.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease 2 baking sheets. *I use Silpat mats. Bring about a gallon of water to boil, add in baking soda and turn heat down to a simmer.

When risen, turn dough out onto the counter and divide into 14 equal pieces. (For this tutorial I split the dough and made about 2/3 original and 1/3 lemon poppy seed, that's why my dough is split into 8 sections here)

Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape.

Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda water solution for a few seconds until they float to the surface. Remove with a large slottted spoon.

Place pretzels on a paper towel to absorb a little moisture, and then place on baking sheets. You can reshape them if needed.

Sprinkle with a little kosher salt.

Bake in until lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from pan and place on cooling racks.

Serve warm & enjoy!!

Ingredients: 

• 4 teaspoons instant dry yeast 
• 1 teaspoon white sugar 
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 5 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/8 cup baking soda 
• 1 gallon boiling water 
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, for topping

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 1/4 cup warm water. Let it sit until creamy and bubbly, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 5 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center, and add the butter and yeast mixture. 
3. Mix together until it forms a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water. *You don't want the dough sticky, and you also don't want it too dry. You need to be able to handle it and make it into a ball after it's kneaded.
4. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. *I use my KitchenAid for all of the mixing, and I let it knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes on medium speed. 
5. Lightly butter a large bowl, shape the dough into a ball and place the dough in the bowl. 
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
7. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease 2 baking sheets. *I use Silpat mats.
8. In a large pot, bring 8 cups of water to boil, add in baking soda and turn heat down to a simmer. 
9. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. 
10. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. *I also make pretzel bites and I just cut the rope into 1-inch pieces, the rest of the process is the same.
11. Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda water solution for a few seconds until they float to the surface. Remove with a large slotted spoon, place pretzels on a paper towel to absorb a little moisture, and then place on baking sheets. You can reshape them if needed. 
12. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt.
13. Bake in until lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Just start watching them after 10 mins.
14. Remove from pan and place on cooling racks.
15. Serve warm and enjoy!  

Other variations that I absolutely love are orange poppy seed, lemon poppyseed, and cinnamon sugar. For the poppyseed flavors, I just mix in about 1.5 tablespoons of poppyseeds and the zest of 1 large lemon or orange to the dough the last 1 minute of kneading.

Here is some lemon poppy seed pretzels. I eat them for breakfast, mmm.

For the cinnamon sugar, I just sprinkle that on in place of the salt before baking. I'm sure some savory ones with herbs, garlic, and cheese would be delicious too!

I also make pretzel bites and I just cut the rope into 1-inch pieces, the rest of the process is the same.

***You can reheat the pretzels in the oven and they are great! 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes.
Store loosly covered for up to 3 days.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have a sweet and beautiful day.