Making Homemade Soft Pretzels
ByOkay, brace yourself.
The recipe I am about to share with you is INCREDIBLE!
Ask anyone who’s ever tried them.
People have even called me the “Pretzel Lady”. (I’m sure they’ve even called me the “Beautiful Pretzel Lady” and the “Unbelievably Intelligent and Witty Pretzel Lady” behind my back.)
I used to sell these at our local farmers market each week. On my best week, I sold over 100 of them in less than 17 minutes (yes, I timed it).
Okay, so here is the recipe and the step by step tutorial on how to make Laura’s Amazing Soft Pretzels:
Ingredients:
1 c. water
2 T. yeast
2 t. honey
2 1/2 cups milk
1 stick butter
1/2 cup honey
4 t. salt
8 cups whole wheat flour (more if necessary)
butter
salt
(You can make these with white flour and white sugar if you want to have a delicious mound of empty calories…but I have found that using these healthier ingredients does not make us like these pretzels any less!)
Okay, here are the directions for preparing the pretzels that are to die for:
In a large bowl, mix 1 cup very warm water, 2 T. yeast and 2 t. honey. Stir this together and kind of mush the yeast around. Let this sit for a few minutes while you do the next step.
Melt a stick of butter in a large saucepan.
Add 1/2 cup honey, 4 t. salt and 2 1/2 cups of milk. Heat this to 120 degrees.
Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir.
Stir in 8 cups of flour, 2 cups at a time. (add more if you need it)
Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.
Plop it into a bowl, cover it and let it rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.
And it should look like this:
Pull it out of the bowl and knead it a few times to get the air out. (Sorry, no picture of that process…my picture takers were out of the room.)
Pull a ball of dough, about the size of your fist off and get ready to make your very first pretzel! (such a proud moment)
Roll it into a long snake.
Then do this:
Then twist it again to look like this:
Then pick up the ends and pull them down to the bottom. (And please make no snide remarks about my blueish, boney hands. It is always a little cold in my house and my hands are never quite warm AND I inherited my Nana’s boney hands and I know my Nana would have never allowed her hands to be put on a blog while she lovingly told you how to shape a pretzel because she was ashamed of her boney hands, but I’m okay with it. I’m not embarassed at all. Not one bit.)
And then, it should look like this. And if it doesn’t, just undo it and try again. By the time you get to the end of shaping your big blob of dough into pretzels, you’ll have the hang of it and be able to talk on the phone, make a grocery list, check your email, tie someone’s shoe AND shape a pretzel, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
I forgot to take a picture of a pan full of unbaked pretzels. So, after you shape each pretzel, put them on a cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Melt a stick of butter in a saucepan.
Right when you take the pretzels out of the oven, slather them with butter. Lay it on thick. Don’t hold back.
Then sprinkle salt over them.
And, if at all possible, eat one right out of the oven. They are good two days later too, but OH MY GOODNESS, you HAVE to eat one right out of the oven!
With a glass of milk.
And if you really want to have fun, shape some into hearts for Valentines Day!
This recipe makes 20-24 pretzels.
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WOW! I just made these because I saw them in your post today. Holy cow, they are good! Mine look like fat puffy pretzels, but they taste incredible! Since it made so much dough, I still have plenty of dough left to practice, but Gideon and I are seriously enjoying them right now! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
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Laura Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 6:58 am
LOVE this!!!! Miss you guys!
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I made these for the first time last week, and before they were even gone, my kids were already asking me to make more. Thanks!
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These look so yummy! Do you ever make a cheese sauce or something to dip them in?
That is really good idea to sell them at a Farmer’s Market… I might have to do that this summer. :)
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I went to a pretzel rolling demo in Frankenmuth, MI (a German Village) and they said that there was meaning to the way they are folded. According to them, the “inventor” wanted to teach his kids how to pray, so the folding and twisting was to represent the arms being folded in prayer and the 3 holes to be the Holy Trinity. After doing a quick search, there is no documented evidence of this, but it seems Italian munks used it in the same way to reward kids who they taught.
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hi . do you really use 4t. salt? sounds like a lot. thanks
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Laura Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 7:08 am
Yes, it does sound like a lot, but that is the correct amount.
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How much did you sell them for at the market?
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
March 20th, 2012 at 11:28 am
$1 each!
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We tried this recipe and it was great!!! I ate most of it cause I’m a bread freak but
It was amazing!!! Thanks for this post! Gonna try the honey whole wheat bagels recipe next.
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Hi, we just tried these pretzels and they were fabulous. One question: how do you store them? We covered the leftovers in a plastic container, but in the morning they were mushy and the salt had been absorbed. Thanks!
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Laura Reply:
March 3rd, 2012 at 4:45 pm
I make sure they have completely cooled, then I store them in a ziplock freezer bag.
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Amy Reply:
March 26th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Hi! I have my first batch in the oven, as I type! Do they freeze
well or do you store them on the counter?
I hope you and your family are doing well!
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Laura Reply:
March 26th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Yes, these do freeze well, but I also store them on the counter if I know we’ll be eating them within a few days. We’re doing great – awesome to hear from you!
Hi Laura,
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes. In your recipes that call for milk do you use whole, 2%, 1% or skim? Does it make a difference to the pretzels?
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Laura Reply:
March 26th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
I use whole milk, but I think any kind will work in this recipe.
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HI Laura,
Approximately how many pretzels does this recipe make? Because I’m the only who is going to eat it and I might need to halve this recipe! Also, can I leave out the butter? I’m on search for the healthiest whole wheat pretzal!
Thanks (:
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Laura Reply:
March 29th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I don’t recommend leaving out the butter – I think that would change the recipe too much. However, I feel that butter is a very healthy ingredient – it is a “real fat” that our bodies recognize and can utilize. This recipe makes about 20-24 pretzels.
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I tried this recipe yesterday, and my dough did not rise. Any ideas why? The yeast undoubtedly activated, I didn’t heat the milk mixture past 120 degrees, and I kneaded the dough for 7 minutes. They only thing I can think of is that I kept adding more flour since the dough seemed interminably sticky during the kneading process. I don’t know much about bread-making, but would too much flour inhibit the rising process?
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Laura Reply:
April 18th, 2012 at 5:19 am
No, adding more flour would have been fine. I’m puzzled by why the yeast died on you, especially since your milk wasn’t over 120 degrees. :(
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Kris S. Reply:
September 4th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
You might try testing your thermometer. If it is off it will kill the yeast as you shouldn’t go above 120 deg.
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Mine were huge!!! Maybe I should portion them smaller next time? But they were so yummy!!!!! My family is so proud. I need more shaping practice, but they won’t mind eating my experiments.
Thanks!!
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On a whim I decided I MUST have some homemade pretzels ASAP. So I did a google search for whole wheat pretzels in hopes that I could find one that didn’t have any “junk” in it. That’s how I found you. I am in love with your pretzels. I melted into a puddle on the ground they are so good. You weren’t kidding. Thank you for that, now I am off to explore the rest of your recipes!
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Can you freeze the dough prior to cooking? I would love to make these for a birthday party and was hoping I could make the dough in advance and just bake them the morning of???
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Laura Reply:
June 14th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
I’ve not tried doing that for pretzels but I do think it should work.
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Hi! Just wondering what kind of flour is best for these? I have soft white wheat, hard white wheat, and hard red wheat. I just hard red wheat for my bread but your dough looks like a lighter color.
My kids will love having these!
Thanks!
Misty
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
October 18th, 2012 at 10:02 am
Any of them will work fine. Laura uses hard white wheat for hers.
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would like to make these ahead and freeze, what would you recommend for reheating? absolutely love your blog and all the recipes!
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Has anyone ever made these using a stand mixer or Bosch? My dough doesn’t seem to be rising, & I used my Bosch (needed for 5 minutes). I used a thermometer, too.
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Did I miss it or do you not need to do a baking soda bath BEFORE baking pretzels? And if using white sugar in place of honey is that an even measurement exchange… half cup of honey is half cup of white sugar? Thank you for sharing your recipe.
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Laura Reply:
December 31st, 2012 at 6:05 pm
I don’t do a baking soda bath on mine. You can use white sugar in equal exchange in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
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These look fantastic! I was wondering…did you use regular whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour for these?
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Laura Reply:
January 3rd, 2013 at 9:47 pm
I use white whole wheat. :)
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Amber Reply:
January 4th, 2013 at 8:14 am
I thought they’d looked white! :) Thanks…I will definitely be giving these a try!
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Hi! I am just wondering if t.=tsp and T.=tbsp?
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Laura Reply:
February 9th, 2013 at 11:30 pm
Yes!
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We made these today for a special treat. I halved the recipe and used freshly ground hard white wheat and they were perfect. Thank you for a great recipe.
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Hi. I’m new to bread/pretzel making. What do I do if I need to let the dough sit longer than 1 – 1 1/2 hours?
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Laura Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
If you’re asking what to do if you aren’t available after 1 or 1 1/2 hours, the dough may rise up out of the bowl, but it will still be okay. If you’re asking what to do if the dough hasn’t risen enough in 1 1/2 hours, it is okay to let it rise longer. :)
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In my search for the best storage solution I came across your recipe. I will probably trey it just because I am comparing different recipes. I find it odd that you don’t use the hot baking soda dip before baking. My better recipes have all used it.
My best recipe uses a food grade lye bath. Since I grew up eating pretzels in Germany, I can say that the lye bath has given them the best taste, texture and appearance.
One of my recipes actually requires that you freeze the shaped and risen pretzels before dipping in hot baking soda water, then spread with eggwash and sprinkle with pretzel salt. The best thing about this recipe is that you can prepare a bunch and bake only as many as you want.
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Love, Love, Love this. They are so yummy, I can’t wait to eat another one right now. Thank you for sharing.
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I have tried a number of homemade soft pretzel recipes and this one is the keeper. My whole family loved them and I like that it made 24 big pretzels. I’m freezing a bunch and look forward to the real treat of having a homemade pretzels a couple more times without all the work. Thank you!
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Not sure if anyone has ever commented on this idea, but today I made the pretzels into “pretzel bites” like someone else suggested. We were having spaghetti for lunch so I decided to toss the pretzels bites in parmesan cheese after I put butter and salt on them. Love these pretzels with and without parmesan!
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