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), 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.
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.
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Easy 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.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for 3 minutes and shape 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.
Keywords: soft pretzels
I made six batches of this recipe for snacks for a Vacation Bible School, and they were a real hit! Everyone raved about them!, and they actually gave me a big round of applause for them at the closing service!!! So easy to make and they turn out just perfect every time I make them.
★★★★★
Sally never lets me down! Followed the directions exactly (except substituting vegan butter), and they came out perfect.
so yummy my family finished them so quick, not hard at all to make either
★★★★★
So easy to make!
Chewy on the inside and golden brown on the outside.
My husband said they taste just like the pretzels at the ballpark!
★★★★★
I was so surprised how easy these were! It really felt like magic!
★★★★★
I have enjoyed making this recipe several times with my grandkids. It is good practice in counting and measuring and lots of fun making snakes and shapes. Had your team experimented with bread flour and found that the AP flour worked better?
★★★★★
Hi Mike, so glad you and your grandkids enjoy this one! 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! These pretzels turned out smaller than I thought but they ended up being the perfect size for us. I my 6 year old even enjoyed making them!
★★★★★
Great recipe! I’ve made pretzels many times but never this recipe. I appreciate that they’re ready to eat in no time! Thank you!
★★★★★
Delicious and easy! I made them following the instructions and they came out perfect. Thank you for another great recipe Sally!
★★★★★
I can’t believe how cnn professional these looked and how great they tasted.
★★★★★
Could I use Barley Malt Syrup instead of the brown/white sugar in this recipe? If I can, would it be a 1-1 substitution?
Hi Casey! Absolutely, that’s a great 1:1 substitution.
★★★★★
I love my old cookbooks, but I rarely use them because it’s so much easier to come to you! Another perfect recipe. Thank you!
★★★★★
I’ve made this recipe twice, once without a mixer and once with. I find my dough was a lot more chewy and dense when not using a mixer so I definitely recommend using one. Also I suggest that if you are doing this by yourself don’t leave the pretzels too long before putting in the oven as they go rock solid and don’t bake well.
First time ever making soft pretzels, and it was super easy. I did not have white flour, so I used whole wheat, and they still turned out fabulous!
★★★★★
Great recipe, made by hand, no mixer. Made 12 pretzels, one batch with salt, one with sesame and salt. Next time will go easy on the salt on top. Brushed with an egg yolk and 1tbsp of water before sprinkling with salt/ sesame seeds. Brushed with butter when they came out of the oven. So good.
★★★★★
As with 99% of baking recipes on the internet, if you don’t own expensive machines you will be kneading for at least 15 minutes, not the three suggested here. Unless you want to make bread soup when you drop them in the soda bath,
These were perfect and the directions were so easy to follow! Perfect way to spoil our Father on Father’s Day. I exchanged the water with a stout beer and it was a hit
I just made these for gifts for Father’s Day! I doubled the batch and they came out perfect. A super easy recipe to follow and I was so proud of myself after. Thank you for always posting the best recipes.
Made in food processor, needed much more flour. Next time I think I will drop it to 1 cup water. Delicious and my first time using yeast and I didn’t fail
★★★★
I cannot wait to make this for my busband! Do you use bread flour or all purpose flou for the preztels? Also, do you use instant or active dry yeas for the pretzels? Thank you.
Hi Laura! Do you see the recipe and ingredients in the gray recipe card above? We use all purpose flour and instant or active dry yeast – both work here!
First time making pretzels! Super easy and tastes delicious.
★★★★★
These were delicious! Super easy recipe. My husband took one bite and said “these taste just like Auntie Anne’s, but BETTER!” (and we LOVE auntie Anne’s). You will not be disappointed in this recipe!
★★★★★
OMG! I’ve been gluten free for nine years and have missed these the most. After visiting Italy and being able to eat pasta, bread and pastries I got some 00 organic Italian flour from Amazon. I made two batches of these amazing pretzels. The shape of the first batch was not pretty but the second batch was close to perfect. Delicious! Thank you so much Sally sharing this recipe.
My family loved these! My sister said they were better than Auntie Anne’s. We made a batch of buttered & salted pretzels and a batch of cinnamon-sugared ones. I can’t decide which I like more, so I recommend making both! Thank you to the author for this recipe.
★★★★★
Can i use this same dough but increase the sugar for homemade oven-baked doughnuts?
Hi Doug, the doughnuts would be quite dense. You could try using milk instead of water and adding an egg for a richer, lighter texture too. And increase the sugar. This would require some testing, so let me know if you try it out!
This recipe was great especially for a bread beginner. This was my first time using yeast and making pretzels, they came out really good
★★★★★
My husband wanted a large Bavarian pretzel as we recently got home from Germany so I halved the recipe and made one large pretzel. I have to say this was better than the Bavarian pretzels we ate. Absolutely delicious. Will be making again! Super easy and super delicious. Far exceeded expectations.
★★★★★
So glad to hear that, Chelsea!
Can the pretzels be shaped before freezing and boiling?
Hi Doug, Yes! If you want to freeze the shaped, unbaked pretzels, we do find it’s best to do the baking soda bath right before baking– even drop them into the bath while frozen. That being said, we have frozen these shaped pretzels AFTER the bath too. It doesn’t make a huge difference either way.
Can these be made gluten free?
Hi Candace, we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flours, but some readers have reported success using 1:1 flour substitutes. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
I’m going to make these this week for a Memorial Day picnic, and a beer cheese dip to serve with them. Sally, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your site. Your recipes are always delicious, and you give such helpful directions. You are my go to site for anything baked!