Recipe | The BEST Soft Pretzel You'll Ever Eat!!

Dec 29

Written By Tessa

I attribute my deep love of good soft pretzels to the few years we lived in Germany when I was little. There was a little bakery in our village that made salzstangen, more like a salted breadstick/pretzel, and it was my favorite treat. I have memories of eating them on my walk home from school. Sometimes I would get to bring one to school for a snack and I looked forward to it all day. Of all the things I bake and cook for my children, soft pretzels are at the very tippy top of their list of favorites too. I began making them from scratch a couple years ago {blogged about them here} and since then I've tinkered a bit with the recipe I was using and now have what I believe to be the most perfect soft pretzel. They do take a couple hours, from start to finish, to prepare and result a pile of dirty dishes in the sink, but let me assure you THEY. ARE. WORTH. IT. It's a special treat. You'll oooo and ahhhh with every bite, I promise!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Homemade Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 cup warm water {the water temp should be 110-115 degrees in the bowl}
1 pkg dry yeast {make sure it hasn't expired!!}
2 TBS light brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
Toppings:
1/2 stick melted butter + 1 tsp sugar
cinnamon + sugar {optional}
kosher or pretzel salt for garnish

Sprinkle yeast and brown sugar over warm water in a mixing bowl. Combine gently and quickly with your fingertips and wait about 5 minutes. I watch closely to make sure yeast activates. It will start to bubble and foam up. You want to make sure it happens before proceeding. If your yeast doesn't properly activate, your dough will not rise sufficiently.

Add flour, salt, melted butter and knead with an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Start on low to combine ingredients and then move up to medium speed. Knead until dough pulls away AND is smooth in consistency. Don't over knead. I do find the dough pulls away from the bowl quickly, but I knead it a little bit longer to get it gorgeous and smooth. {Somewhere between 3-5 minutes} Then remove dough from the bowl, clean out the bowl and oil it with vegetable oil. Place the dough in the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Once dough has risen, turn it out onto an oiled board. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half, and then each half into 4 or 5 equal portions. One at a time roll into a skinny rope, make a big U and twist the center twice into a pretzel.

Place onto parchment lined baking sheets. I oil the parchment sheets too. Bring 10 cups water and baking soda to a boil in a large pot. Working with one pretzel at a time, drop into the water/baking soda bath for 30 seconds, the return to the baking sheet. Once you've done this for each pretzel, place them in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes.