I am FIRMLY convinced that we are overthinking soft pretzels. I think people are so easily intimidated by yeast. All you need is a bit of precision and patience to get the most amazing, affordable and delicious at-home soft pretzels on the planet. This is a mini version of the shopping mall favorite that will have your house smelling like Auntie Anne’s, but in a veganizable, whole-foods-focused way!
Table of contents
How do I use active dry yeast?
Let’s start with the yeast. This recipe uses active dry yeast, which is the most commonly found yeast in grocery stores in the U.S. I’m not sure if this is the case in other countries, but it’s usually active dry yeast or instant yeast that line our stock shelves! This recipe is scaled to use about 2 and 1/4 tsp, or one packet of active dry yeast.
But I know a lot of times yeast sits around in our cupboards, so the best way to test your yeast is in this pre-mix, where you take 2 tbsp of your flour mixture, add it to the warm water and then add the yeast. After five minutes you’ll see noticeable foam, which I’ve shown in the pictures above.
Crumbling the butter and kneading the dough
Next up is the mixing in of the cold butter (or vegan butter!) which you can do with your hands. Crumbling this it is necessary to get that richness you taste in pretzel dough, similar to a brioche or any other enriched dough. The butter can start in chunks, but you’ll need to work with your fingers until no piece of butter is bigger than the size of a lentil.
The kneading of this dough takes a bit of time. You can use a stand mixer, but with the dough being relatively low in moisture, I personally think it’s best to knead by hand. Give it a good work for 8-10 minutes on a floured surface, or until you can poke it with a finger and the dough springs back into place. That’s when you know it’s time to rest.
After the dough has risen for an hour and doubled in size, it’s time to do the cutting and shaping. I use a bench scraper to cut. I’ve found it’s the easiest tool to keep a straight line.
Shaping the pretzels
Cut into 12 strips in a way that the strips are the shorter version, not longer.
Roll the strips until they are tube-like, then make a U shape.
Cross the top of the U, about 2/3 of the way up.
Fold the dough down until the tips of the dough are touching opposite sides of the bottom of the U.
After the shaping, the next step is to boil your pretzels for 1 minute in pot of water and baking soda. Many bakers will say you NEED malt syrup, but I’ve only ever noticed a slight change in flavor without it, and we’re all about keeping things simple here! There’s no need to buy an ingredient you’ll only use once.
After that, just top the pretzels with butter and salt and bake for 12 minutes. Lots of steps, but when you put it all together, it comes to about two hours of work, tops! Plus, this is a great activity when you’re craving something fun to do on the weekend!
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Easy At-Home Pretzels
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups whole wheat flour 538 grams plus extra for dusting
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 cup warm water aim for 100°F
- 2 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast about one packet
- 4 tablespoons cold butter or cold vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 2 tablespoons pretzel salt or coarse ground salt
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour and salt. Then take 2 tablespoons of the flour mix and put it in your warm water, then add the yeast. Stir to combine and let it sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- In another bowl, add the rest of the flour mixture, then add the cubed butter. Mix this with your hands until it’s combined and crumbly.
- Pour in the yeast mixture and mix into a rough dough.
- Knead this dough on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes. Once it is smooth, place the dough it in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise for an hour.
- Once it has doubled in size, turn your dough out onto a floured surface and roll it into a long rectangle, then cut that rectangle into 12 even strips lengthwise.
- Roll the strips until they are round, then form each strip into a large U. Cross the ends over about two-thirds the way up for the bottom of the U. Bring the tips of the dough to the bottom of the U and press into the dough to seal. Flip over and you’ll have a pretzel shape! Let those sit while your oven preheats.
- Preheat your oven to 450°F and bring a large pot of water to boil.
- Add your baking soda to the boiling water, then add one or two pretzels to the water at a time. Let them boil for 1 minute.
- Once all your pretzels are boiled, brush them with butter, top with salt and bake for 12 minutes at 450°F.
- Serve and enjoy!
do you think i would be able to sub oat flour for wheat flour? and is it a 1:1 ratio or do i have to change the measurements?
Hi! I think for this one you’d need to sub a 1:1 gf flour, and even then the kneading process might be tricky since gluten is necessary to build up the chew! If you’re gluten sensitive a 1:1 blend is your best bet though.