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. This recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101 (which has become a New York Times Best Seller!).
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’ve also made them soft pretzel bites, soft pretzel knots (with various toppings), jalapeño cheddar pretzels, and soft pretzel rolls from this simple dough. There’s no wrong way to shape a pretzel, but let’s stick with the classic 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 bet each one is in your kitchen right now. Warm water, 1 packet of yeast, brown or regular granulated sugar, melted butter, salt, and flour.
Mix the yeast and sugar in the warm water, let it sit for a minute, then whisk in the butter and salt, then add the flour. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment a big bowl and wooden spoon. 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.
You don’t have to wait to let this dough rise for an extended period of time. Just 10 to 30 minutes does the trick. Don’t have a lot of time on your hands? This recipe is for you. If, however, you want to extend the rise time, you certainly could. Doughs that leave time for bulk fermentation (when the dough rises before shaping), typically have a more enhanced, developed flavor. In fact, some pretzel recipes require an overnight rise in the refrigerator. If you have the time for that, do it! However, I find a brief rise suitable for today’s pretzels, especially if I’m making them with younger bakers.
How to Shape Homemade Soft Pretzels
Now it’s time to shape.
Roll about 1/3 cup (75g) of dough into a long 20- to 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 coarse salt and bake in a hot oven. That’s it, you’re done.
Make-Ahead Tip
If you are making pretzels in advance, do not top them with coarse salt before baking. The salt draws the moisture out of the pretzels, and once you’ve placed the baked and cooled pretzels in an airtight container or bag, it doesn’t take long before you’ll notice water droplets forming inside and the pretzels become soggy and wrinkled. Yuck!
If you won’t be serving the pretzels the same day you bake them, omit the salt-topping step. Bake as directed, then allow to cool completely before placing them in an airtight container, and store at room temperature. When you are ready to serve them, place the pretzels on a baking sheet and brush them lightly with water, then sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake them in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 5–10 minutes, or until warmed through.
Same goes for freezing homemade soft pretzels: wait to top with salt until you’re ready to serve them. Cool the unsalted baked pretzels completely, then freeze in an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, brush frozen pretzels (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes or until warmed through.
And if you want to kick your soft pretzel status into major high gear, add some spicy nacho cheese sauce.
Print
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 for beginners, and the results are extra delicious! The dough is a family recipe and only needs to rest for 10 to 30 minutes before shaping. The quick baking soda boil gives the pretzels their traditional flavor, and I do not recommend skipping it. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (around 100°F/38°C)
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 3/4–4 cups (469–500g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- coarse salt, for topping
Baking Soda Bath (See Recipe Note)
- 1/2 cup (120g) baking soda
- 9 cups (2.13L) water
Instructions
- Whisk the yeast and sugar into warm water. Cover and allow to sit for 1 minute.
- Whisk in the melted butter and salt. Add 3 cups (375g) of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon (or dough hook attachment if using a stand mixer) until combined. Add 3/4 cup (94g) more flour until the dough is slightly tacky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it is still sticky, add up to 1/4 cup more (31g) flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, 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 3 to 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 3 to 5 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 to 30 minutes. (Meanwhile, I like to get the water + baking soda boiling as instructed in step 8.)
- 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 75g sections, which is about 1/3 cup of dough each.
- Roll the dough into a 20–22-inch rope. Form a circle with the dough by bringing the 2 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 longer 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. Repeat with remaining pretzels. If desired, cover the boiled, unbaked pretzels with lightly oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before baking (step 9).
- Sprinkle the tops of the pretzels with coarse salt. Bake for 12–15 minutes or until dark golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and, if desired, serve warm with spicy nacho cheese sauce.
- Cover and store leftover pretzels at room temperature for up to 3 days. See Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions in recipe Notes below for more storage info. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds, or bake at 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: If planning to freeze fully baked pretzels, do not top them with coarse salt before baking. Cool completely, then freeze in an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, brush frozen pretzels (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake 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 at room temperature before continuing with the baking soda bath and baking. You can also freeze the boiled, unbaked pretzels and here’s how: after boiling the pretzels in step 8, place them on a lightly greased parchment paper- or silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet. Freeze the pretzels for about 1 hour, then transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag (squeeze out as much air as possible from the bag before sealing) and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, brush frozen pretzels (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake at 400°F (204°C) for 15–20 minutes or until dark golden brown.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl | Wooden Spoon | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pizza Cutter | Large Pot (such as a Dutch oven)
- Baking Soda Bath (Step 8): 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 9. Meanwhile, melt 4 Tablespoons (56g) of unsalted or salted butter. 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 taste best the day they’re made because the melted butter topping causes them to become soggy after a few hours.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I just got my Kitchen Aide mixer today and this is the first thing I tried. So yummy! You’ve given me confidence! Can’t wait to try more variations on these.
Hi Sally! Dumb question: If I use a silicone baking mat, should I also spray it with nonstick spray? Thanks!
Hi Caitlin, No need to spray a silicone mat. Enjoy!
I loved this recipe! I do recommend the baking soda portion!! I didn’t add the egg wash since I’m not a fan of egg and it still came out amazing! Definitely recommend
So great! I was pleasantly surprised. They taste like the real thing!
Delicious! I thought my dough was a little sticky. As it sat and I worked one pretzel at a time it became the perfect pliable dough. My 6 year old granddaughter helped measure out ingredients and rolled out a pretzel. Great time, and she gave it 2 thumbs up! Recipe that everyone approved!!!
Kids and I made them this afternoon. Followed the recipe perfectly except that we could not roll them out to 20″ due to the limited working area we have. Still, they came out great tasting if a bit funny looking. 🙂 Going to try the pretzel bites version next as a way to still have the yum factor without the worry over length. A pro tip that may be obvious to others is to shape all your pretzels *before* starting the water bath step. We were able to bang them out in a production line, but the haste definitely contributed to the ugly factor.
Delicious!
Great recipe! Just need more practice shaping them into pretzels and will use a bigger pot for the baking soda wash. Mine boiled over!
These look amazing. I’m gonna give this a try. Do you have a recommendation for the cheese dipping sauce?
Hi Jan, I recommend our spicy nacho cheese sauce or beer cheese dip. Happy baking!
Hi! Excelent pretzels the taste is really good! But one problem i had was that they turned out really pale even though i followed the recipe, i did the baking soda bath so i skipped the egg wash as it says up there. Then I put the second half in the oven for longer and i had brushed it with butter to see if it added a little bit more color but they just came out yellow and didnt come out as soft as the first ones:( any tips to get that golden brown color and soft texture?
Hi! I have a couple questions, I understand if you don’t have an answer…. BUT… I want to wrap some bratwurst in a pretzel dough. Would I be able to grill the brats, wrap in the pretzel and then do the baking soda bath?
Also, if that is easy enough to do, what would be the best method for reheating with pretzel wrapped bratwurst? I can taste the yummy just thinking about it, so it might be something we’d like to take (or rather drop off) at a friends house on game day, but it would need to be warmed with little effort on their part.
Thank you so very much! I can’t wait to try this!
Hi Lara! Thank you so much for asking and I’m happy to help as much as I can. I’ve never used this dough to wrap around bratwurst or any meat, but I would wrap it around the brats then do the baking soda bath step. For reheating, a few minutes in a 350 degrees F oven would do the trick!
I LOVE this recipe! I have made it twice now, with the same delicious result! They’re so good that I don’t want to share! They are super quick to make, an hour tops. Nice crust on the outside and perfectly soft on the inside. I will be adding this to my recipe book and you should too!
Made these for the first time last week they turned out great. Easy as well!
Quick question, is there any harm in making the dough ball in the morning and then let it sit for a few hours if I were to run errands and come back later in the day to portion it out? Or is it best to always just let it sit around the 10 minute mark and boil/bake right away?
Thanks!
Matt
Hi Matt, The prepared pretzel dough can be refrigerated for up to one day. Refrigerated dough can be shaped into pretzels while still cold, but allow some extra time for the pretzels to puff up before the baking soda bath and baking.
Forgot 5 Stars Plus. Tommy
Crazy Good Recipe. This is the fourth time in 6 weeks I made them.. Freeze great. Thanks. No more frozen box pretzels.
Simple. Tasty. Perfect.
My daughter was really craving soft pretzels but she has asthma so going out is really restricted. I found this recipe and made it for her. She loved it! Thank you so much. I did brush a bit of butter on it before I sprinkled it with salt. They were delicious. Thank you!
This recipe is absolutely delicious!!! Thank you so much!! Question- any suggestions on how to make the crust just a little crispier (does that sound weird for a soft pretzel)? Thanks again for this wonderful recipe!
Loved these! Made them with my 12-year old son, and we had tons of fun! they’re absolutely perfect!
This was the first attempt at making pretzels, that said the dough was a little difficult to work with was a lot sticky even after adding more flour then called for. because the dough was sticky it was difficult to lift from working surface to pot of water and many came out very misshapen, and looking more like a crumpled snake then a pretzel. Even after my best attempt to ruin them they still came out tasting very good, my wife loved them in spite of all my gripping while making them!
Thank you for this fabulous recipe. I did half salt half cinnamon sugar and they are delicious. I’m left with several questions, which may be related:
My dough was very wet and sticky so I used extra flour. I had to add more after resting and a bit more as I shaped the pretzels. Each time it sat for a few minutes it got sticky again.
I shaped 6 pretzels before putting each into the bicarbonate bath. By the time I was done shaping the 6th, it was really hard to pick up the first one I’d formed. Any advice for this step? The bath helps restore a better shape but I had to dump them in because they were tough to manipulate.
Finally, should the outsides have been crunchy? They are delicious but uniformly soft.
I’ve tried a handful of your other recipes and am a big fan! Thank you.
Hi Lori! Thank you so much for trying this soft pretzel recipe. Is your kitchen particularly warm? Or was this a humid day? I only ask because you mention the dough became sticky the longer it sat at room temperature. Regardless, a little extra flour always helps. The dough can be a little soft, but use enough flour so you can shape the pretzels. And finally, the pretzels may have been over-baked if they taste particularly crunchy. That’s an easy fix for next time if you try the recipe again!
Hello! Dying to try this recipe but I don’t have parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Can I use a bake sheet lined with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray?
Hi Yvette, a lightly greased baking sheet or greased sheet of foil on top of a baking sheet works in a pinch.
Came out exactly as you said. My family loved them!!
So good and easy, too. I m made half a batch and mixed by hand without any trouble. I didn’t change a thing. Everything Bagel is a good topping, too.
Sally, I have made this recipe multiple times and love it. I recently made them to bring to a party and they were gone within minutes!!! I love your recipes!
I was so intimidated by this recipe but wow is it good. I followed it exactly as written including the baking soda bath and they came out awesome. Mine didn’t look at pretty but still so good
Very, very, very delicious! Would make them again maybe sweet ones! Only tiny issue is there is a little bit of a yeasty taste.
Dangerously easy and delicious! Made these this morning and only one remains. I’ve already been asked to make these again this coming holiday weekend. Thank you!
made these today and they came out absolutely incredible! My family were all blown away, genuinely saying that they are the best they’ve ever had.
The recipe was great as written and the pretzels turned out fine yesterday. My only problem was storage. When I checked my ziplock bag this morning, the salt on the pretzels had dissolved and I had droplets of water inside the bag. It is warm and a little humid here and I’m sure that is what caused this, but be cautious about storing your uneaten pretzels.
Amazing! After experimenting a bit I found out if you use half milk half water solution, they turn out extra smooth!!! Cheers