Easy At-Home Pretzels

I am FIRMLY convinced that we are overthinking soft pretzels. And bread, in general. I think people are so easily intimidated by yeast, when really all you need is a bit of precision and patience to get the most amazing, affordable and delicious carbs on the planet. Case in point: these soft pretzels. 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!

Now let’s start first with the yeast. We are using active dry yeast in this recipe, which is the most commonly found yeast in grocery stores in the US. 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 & 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 5 minutes you’ll see noticeable foam, which I’ve showed in the pictures here.

Next up is the mixing in of the butter (or vegan butter!) which you can do with your hands. Crumbling this in 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 in with your fingers until no piece is bigger than the size of a lentil.

The kneading of this dough takes a bit of time. You can do it in 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, since I’ve found it’s the easiest tool to keep a straight line.

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+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! No need to buy an ingredient you’ll only use once, and then hide in the back of your pantry for a decade.

After that, you just top with butter and salt and bake for 12 minutes. Lots of steps, but when you put it all together, maybe about 2 hours of work tops! Plus a great activity when you’re craving something fun to do on the weekend!

Easy Soft Pretzels

Soft pretzels seem fussy but they are insanely easy to make if you have the time for a few steps! Here's my semi-involved, but not really, take on the classic!

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Prep Time:30 minutes mins

Cook Time:12 minutes mins

Rising Time:1 hour hr

Course: Side Dish, Snack

Keyword: baking, bread, pretzels

Servings: 12 pretzels

Ingredients

• 4 ½ cups whole wheat flour 538g plus extra for dusting
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup warm water aim for 100F
• 2 ¼ tsp of active dry yeast about one packet
• 4 tbsp cold butter vegan butter works here too
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• ¼ cup baking soda
• 2 tbsp pretzel salt or coarse ground salt

Instructions

• Whisk together the flour and salt. Then take 2 tbsp 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 450F 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 450F.