Easy Homemade Pretzels

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 10 MINUTES

RESTING TIME: 1 HOUR

SERVINGS: 6 PIECES

This easy homemade pretzel recipe uses a combination of all-purpose and bread flour to give that soft and chewy bread texture. These pretzels are best eaten immediately after baking. Dip them in your favorite cheese sauce or simply slather with melted butter.

Ingredients

122 grams (½ cup) full-fat or whole milk
5 grams (1 ¼ ) tsp instant yeast
18 grams (1½ tablespoons) brown sugar
14 grams (1 tablespoon) melted butter
½ teaspoon fine salt
90 grams (¾ cup) all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
90 grams (¾ cup) bread flour
neutral-tasting oil ex. canola, vegetable oil
37 grams (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) baking soda
300 grams (1 ¼ cup) hot boiling water
1 piece egg any size
1½ teaspoon pretzel salt or coarse sea salt
42 grams (3 tablespoons) melted butter for brushing the tops of pretzel after baking

Instructions

Prep. Measure all the ingredients. Warm the milk in the microwave or saucepan until it’s about 43 C (110 F).
Make the dough. In a mixing bowl, place the milk, instant yeast, brown sugar, melted butter, and salt. Mix briefly with a wooden spoon, just to combine the ingredients. Add in the flours and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. If the dough is too sticky, add more all-purpose flour in small increments until it is not sticky. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes. Shape it into a ball.
Let the dough rise. Transfer the dough to a bowl drizzled with oil (to prevent the dough from sticking). Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place, about 1 hour or until dough doubles in size.
Shape the Pretzels. When the dough has risen, you can start preheating your oven to 450 F/ 232 C. Punch the dough back down and divide into 6 sections (about 55 grams of dough each). Roll each section into a long skinny rope, about 20 inches long and ½ inch thick. Fold it into a pretzel. (See Note 1)
Pretzel-ifying. Make the baking soda solution by combining hot water with baking soda. Ensure that baking soda has dissolved by mixing it with a whisk. Drop each whole pretzel into the baking soda solution for about 30 seconds, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each pretzel with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Notes

(1) Turn this into pretzel bites! Skip the shaping into pretzels. After rolling the dough into 1/2 inch thick, cut it into 1 ½ inch size to get pretzel bites. Baking time will be reduced since they are smaller.