Soft Pretzels

pretzels on cutting board just out of the oven

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: soft pretzel

Servings:

Calories: 226kcal

Ingredients

2 1/4 tsp yeast active dry
1 cup water warm
1 Tbsp sugar granulated
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour all-purpose
2 cups water
4 Tbsp baking soda
3 Tbsp butter unsalted, melted
2 Tbsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475 F.
Prepare baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper or Silpat liner and set aside.
In large mixing bowl of stand mixer, combing lukewarm water (not hot, this may kill the yeast), sugar, and yeast. Stir with mixer attachment. Wait until water becomes frothy.
Add in salt and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Mix to combine.
Add flour, one cup at a time, and mix with dough hook. Once all flour is incorporated, continue stirring until dough is not sticky. If the dough is still sticky after a few minutes, add a 1/4 cup of flour at a time and stir. If the dough is too dry, add water a few tablespoons at a time.
Once the dough is firm, yet soft, to the touch and bounces back, it's time to knead the dough. Keep dough in mixer with dough hook attachment and stir for 5 minutes until the dough is completely smooth and somewhat elastic.
Remove dough from bowl and shape into round form. Place back in bowl and cover with a tea towel and set in warm place to rise for 15 minutes.
While dough is rising, place a medium-large sauce pan on oven with 2 cups of water. Add in baking soda and heat over medium temperature until the baking soda is dissolved. Do not let boil.
Once baking soda bath is ready, turn heat off and let rest until lukewarm.
After the 15 minute time has elapsed for the dough rising, take dough ball out and put on floured surface. Flatten the dough to form a flat circle.
Using a bench scraper, pizza cutter, or knife, cut dough into 8 pie shapes.
Roll each pie piece into a long, thin rope about 24 inches long (think, two rulers long). How the ends of the rop up and twist them, bringing the ends toward you and placing down to form a pretzel shape. Pinch the ends on the top of the pretzel. Place pretzels on baking sheet and move to stove.
Using a flat spatula, pick up each pretzel, one at a time, and place in the lukewarm baking soda bath. Depending on the size of your pan, you may fit two or more at a time in the bath. Let pretzel sit in water bath for 2 minutes. Remove pretzel with spatula, let water drip, and place back on baking sheet. Readjust pretzel shape if needed. Repeat until all 8 pretzels are done.
Sprinkle pretzels with coarse sea salt. Be generous as a lot of salt falls off the pretzels after they are baked.
Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove pretzels from oven and brush with melted butter.
Serve warm.

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