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.
I wish I had read the comments before I made these. I made a 1/2 batch, and with a ball the size of my fist (I was using my closed fist as a guide) I only got 6 pretzels. They are crazy large! They’re in the oven right now, but I think I’ll have to cook them a little extra to make sure they’re done. Next time I’ll divide the dough into 12.
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Michelle Reply:
May 1st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
I cooked them a little extra, and they are huge but they’re delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe!
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These were perfect! The kids and their friends got off the bus and devoured them quickly.
I had some leftover dough and made pretzel dogs. They were great too!
I’m not trying to promote my blog at all- I prefer not to, but I wanted to share a picture of what the pretzel dogs looked like.
http://recipes2love.blogspot.com/2010/05/pretzel-dogs.html
Thanks for this recipe and all your others!! You have been a huge part of our adventure to eat healthier!!
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These were so yummy! I topped some with butter and cinnamon sugar and they were absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for this recipe.
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Your pretzels are awesome and all your other recipes we have tried as well. Thank you! We made the pretzels and made a solution of warm water and baking soda and brushed it on before baking and sprinkeld them with poppy seed and sesame seed and they were awesome! Some I shaped as pretzels and some I did a braid. For the braids I didn’t use the baking soda/water solution, those I did with butter. Thanks again for sharing such awesome recipes. I’m excited to try your sourdough. Growing up in Germany that’s all we ever ate.
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Just made these with the kiddos this afternoon. They were yummy. We dipped them in a cinnamon/sugar mixture and they were soooooooo yummy. They think I’m the best mommy ever to make these! ;)
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How do you store these pretzels? I made some (and they were delicious, by the way), and then I stored them in plastic baggies. The salt dissolved after being in the baggie for awhile. I was wondering if anyone had a better way of storing them?
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Laura Reply:
May 19th, 2010 at 6:46 am
I usually store them in plastic baggies too. I’ve found that when we’re ready to eat those that have been stored, I reheat them in the oven for a while, then spread on a little more butter and salt. They taste pretty much like fresh ones when I do this!
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Can these be frozen?
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Laura Reply:
May 26th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Yes, these freeze very well! I reheat them in the oven and sometimes spread more melted butter and salt on the top!
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YUM!!! This is the first weekend of summer break for us and I am looking for healthy snack options I can make at home!! So excited to make this one and the bagels. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes!
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that looks great!
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These look so good! I’m very new to all this so if I do use white flour/white sugar instead of whole wheat flour…how much of the flour and sugar? And leave the other ingredients as the amount you have them, correct (except leave off the whole wheat flour of course)?
Also, does T mean tablespoon, t means teaspoon? Sorry, but I’m very new to all of this!
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Laura Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Same amount of white flour and white sugar. And yes, leave the other ingredients the same. Capital T means tablespoon and lower case t means teaspoon. No apology necessary!! Great questions. Hope these turn out well for you!
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HI,
Just wondering, how much do you sell your pretzels for?
Thanks,
Molly
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Laura Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I sold them for $1 each, but I was using white flour and white sugar instead of whole wheat and honey. I think I figured that my cost per each pretzel was 12 cents or so…but of course they did take a little time to make!
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What temperature do you bake these pretzels!!!
Thanks so much!!!
Molly
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Laura Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 1:59 pm
350 degrees! : )
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So instead of 8 cups of whole wheat flour, I would use 8 cups white flour and 8 cups of sugar?
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Chelsea M Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
no…its 8 cups flour and about 3/4 cup sugar.. bc one cup honey is equal to 1 1/4 cups sugar
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Could the unbaked pretzels be frozen and still bake well later? Can’t wait to try these. Thanks! (my first comment on here, came across your blog about a week ago)
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Laura Reply:
August 17th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
I THINK so but I’ve never tried it. I really SHOULD try it because what a great idea!!!
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I need to make 250 soft pretzels for a “project.” I like the idea of the whole wheat and the honey over the white sugar and white flour…..When you baked pretzels for your farmer’s market, how did you store them until you went to market? Separate packaging? airtight containers? Baggies? Or did you freeze them until the day of and then package them? Thanks.
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Laura Reply:
August 17th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I made them ALL the day before and the day of the market so I didn’t have to freeze them or anything. I wrapped some of them individually for single pretzel sales. I put five in a bag so I could sell them by the bag and I kept the rest in a big tupperware type container for packaging as needed.
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Genny Reply:
October 14th, 2010 at 8:21 am
I am going to make as wedding favors. I can do these a week ahead and put in tupperware air tight containers? Can these be dipped in chocolate?
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Hi! I found this recipe some time ago and decided to try it for my husband´s b-day party. They were awesome and very loved!! I made half a batch with cinnamon and sugar and they looked and tasted great! There´s a pic here of how beautiful they turned out (http://goodrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/). Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!!!
Aline
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what can i do to make them ahead and have the dough ready for a school lesson (the dough-making will be a “free-time” lesson)?
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Laura Reply:
August 9th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
I guess you can get the dough mixed and ready to rise, then put it in the fridge to slow it down. I’ve never done this before so I’m not really sure what would work best!
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This recipe looks great and I would definitely love to make these for my family along with some of your whole wheat crackers, etc. I’m enjoying browsing through your site. I’m always looking for healthier recipes to make for my family, but I do have a question. I always try to stay VERY light with fats in recipes (butters/oils) so, is there a way to cut down on the butter in this recipe without it ruining it? Do you think I could substitute with something else or at least cut it in half somehow?
Thanks so much.
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Laura Reply:
August 17th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Hmmm…I’ve never tried cutting down on the fat on this recipe. I think if you used half the butter it would still turn out okay…just maybe not quite as soft and maybe not as nice of flavor. They’d still be yummy though I think.
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My husband was asking if it was possible for me to make some pretzels and I immediately thought of your blog. Looks like we’ll be having pretzels for snacks soon. :)
Oh, and about your “bony hands,” I think they are beautiful. Partly because mine are the same way, but mostly because they are a mom’s hands; a mom who serves her family with them. Thanks for sharing the many ways you bless your family. It helps me bless mine too! :)
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Great recipe! Thanks a lot for sharing this to us. I would definitely give this one out a try as I have been wanting to make a home made pretzel. Great pics too. It would go really well with a hot cup of coffee made from my automatic espresso athome Kudos!
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I’m making these tomorrow! On another note, my hands are the same way-veins and bones poking out. You should be proud of them. I am of mine. The way I figure, if my hands are “skinny” the rest of me, by default, must be, too!
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My 15yr old son and I, just made these and they are great! He’s not crazy about whole wheat flour
(even though I always bake healthy), but, he loved these. I’m going to making these for my home school group.
Great recipe!
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I’m going to make these today for my kids. I’m trying to find new homemade snacks that aren’t always cookies. These will be perfect.
In high school I worked for a “pretzel place”…(memories). I wander how long until I can get back to shaping them as quick as I use to :)
Thank you for your site!!! I always check here when I don’t know how to do something (which is ALL the time).
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I made some of these today with 100% whole wheat flour. They are ok, but not what I would call good. I think next time I will try them with half unbleached white and half whole wheat. These are too grainy.
Hopefully, the next ones will be much better.
Linda
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Christi Reply:
January 15th, 2011 at 9:49 am
It can also depend on the whole wheat flour you are using. I’ve found that”stone-ground” is too coarse. Whole wheat pastry flour works well. I bought a Nutrimill recently and it makes wonderful, fine flour.
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How many days ahead can these be made if they are stored in an airtight container?
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Laura Reply:
October 29th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
These will stay good for 4-5 days on the counter if airtight. They also freeze well and will be fine for several weeks in a freezer!
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I made these yesterday exactly the way you showed. They only difference was white flour instead of whole wheat flour. When it was all said and done the pretzels turned out really heavy…almost doughy on the insides…yet cooked thoroughly. It was so strange. My family said they liked them which was nice after I spent hours on them. But I was a little disappointed. Any idea why they turned out this way?
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Laura Reply:
October 29th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
The first time I made these, they turned out the exact same way!! Tasted okay, but they were pretty doughy. :( I think the trouble when mine were doughy is that I got the milk too hot and it killed the yeast, so they didn’t rise enough, then they were just doughy inside. Not sure if that is what happened with yours, but I’m guessing it’s a yeast issue.
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Sa'ada Reply:
November 23rd, 2010 at 12:16 am
i had a yeast issue also but my water was not hot enough in the
first step. so i figured that i would overheat the milk/butter/honey
a bit to compensate for the lukewarm water. it wasn’t until after i
added the milk/butter/honey that i realized that if the yeast wasn’t
good i’d just wasted a bunch of expensive ingredients. well, the yeast
didn’t froth but i continued with the recipe.
when the first batch came out doughy i kneaded some baking soda and
baking powder into the rest of the dough. they rose a bit in the oven
and tasted fine but i’m off to try again because laura’s look so delicious.
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That’s what I was thinking…it must have been the yeast. I figure either the yeast got too hot or it wasn’t fresh enough. Thank you for your reply.
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I would like to make these and was wondering if you need to grease the cookie sheet prior to putting the pretzels on it and how many does the recipe make based on the whole wheat method?
Thank you for all you post :)
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Laura Reply:
November 7th, 2010 at 6:14 am
I usually do not grease my cookie sheet, but I use a baking stone…so I suppose a metal pan might need to be buttered just a little. Actually…come to think of it, when I have used a metal pan in the past, I didn’t grease those either. So nope…I think you’re good to go without it!
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I just made these and they are awesome.
I was a little worried at first because my initial dough was quite sticky and wet (didn’t hold it’s shape). Some of the liquid was absorbed by the flour during the rise however and it set up OK.
I divided into 12 pretzels and they are huge. I will probably divide into 18 next time. I also have to work on my shaping skills- I had problems getting the dough snakes to be even before knotting them.
I didn’t have 8 cups of any one flour in my pantry so I used 2c all purpose, 2c bread flour, 2 cups barley flour and 2c white whole wheat- all King Arthur brand. I added 1 Tbl of vital wheat gluten to balance all the whole grain flour.
They are fluffy, slightly sweet and very very yummy. They are bread-y. I might go with half high gluten flour next time to see if I can get them to be chewier.
Easily could add a little vanilla and cinnamon into the mix and raw sugar on top with the butter for sweet pretzels.
Thanks very much for the recipe!
I’ll be trying out your crackers next.
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I made these Friday night and took them to a work Christmas party on Saturday. I almost cried because my dough didn’t rise AT ALL. (I suppose I killed the yeast, but my thermometer read 120 degrees.) I added some baking powder in an attempt to make them come out okay. Well, they were actually really good! My husband loved them, and so did the fellow partiers. Thanks! :)
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I’ve got a 5lb bag of whole wheat flour thats been sitting in my pantry intimidating me since i first discovered your site THIS SUMMER…and now its almost feb…I did try a graham cracker recipe and the cheese one too but other than that bread wise i’ve been a chicken. I’ve got to get over this fear and use this flour…hopefully its not bad already.
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Chelsea M Reply:
January 24th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
ok here goes nothing…i’m actually really excited to try making these!
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What kind of milk do you use? percentage ? skim, whole, 2% etc….
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Seana Reply:
January 24th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
and salted or unsalted sticks of butter?
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Laura Reply:
January 25th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
I use whole milk, and either kind of butter is fine. I think I usually use unsalted. :)
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amy Reply:
February 1st, 2011 at 5:40 pm
I used almond milk and they were GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, I have a question, too! We like hard pretzels for the crunch, and the kids like the little pretzel sticks… Do you think I could make some tiny pretzel sticks with this recipe and bake them until they’re crunchy?
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Laura Reply:
January 27th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
I’m not sure this recipe would work to make a crunchy pretzel. I’ll have to play with that idea a little bit!
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Leigh Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 7:54 am
Laura – I tried it – and while I thought it would be a flop, the kids LOVE them!
I used your pretzel recipe and Alton Brown’s technique here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-hard-pretzels-recipe/index.html
It was very time consuming and turned up some very ugly pretzels – I didn’t even offer them to the kids. But my 5 yo son saw them on the counter and wanted one of the
“big funny sticks” – and he asks for them all the time! Now if I could just get my 3 yo to stop asking for goldfish….
I’d love to see your take on hard pretzels – I’d like to see if I can get these smaller, too…
Thanks so much!
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Bobbi Reply:
February 20th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
I do know that baking any type of bread with a dish of water in the oven with it, gives it a nice, crunchy outside!!
Soooo incredibly good!!!!! My daughter and I made them today – her comment: “This recipe is going to be in our family for a long time!!!!!” :) Thanks!!!!
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those look supper yummy & better for you! thanks for sharing!
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I have tried to make these twice and all I end up with is a big lump of dough that doesn’t rise. I did the warm water, it was steaming. I made sure the milk was 120 but still ended up with a big lump. Hate to throw it away but I don’t know how to fix it. Help. I really want to make these. I am using the regular whole wheat flour from the grocery store.
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Chelsea M Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
how old is your yeast you are using? Also you might want to stor it inthe fridge until you are ready to use it, thats what I do with mine. A good tip for heating the milk is just add the solid butter and milk and honey and salt together in the pan over med heat til the butter is mostly melted. Its the right temp at that point. Also with the water run your tap on hot til its almost too warm to touch it. I did these things and my dough turned out great. I hope this helps some!
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Hi,
My daughter can’t unfortunately, have milk. Butter is fine with her little body. But could anyone tell me if they have made these with only water? Or like one commenter, used Almond Milk and that is the way to go. Any comments on coconut milk instead of regular milk?
Thank and thanks for the detailed recipe.
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Jozana Reply:
February 10th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Both of my kids have dairy allergies and I have made this
recipe many times with rice milk. I would assume coconut milk would
also work– might give them a coconut flavor???
Good luck!
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I just made these and they were delicious! My family’s still trying to get adjusted to ww flour, but I heard no complaints on this one! One question though: how many pretzels should this make? After reading the comments, I used dough slightly smaller than my fist and got 16 pretzels out of this recipe. The only problem? They were HUGE! And they only slightly resembled a pretzel and looked more like a knot, if that makes sense. I’ll definitely be making them again, but was wondering what I should do differently…
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Laura Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I usually get about 24 pretzels out of this recipe.
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How would you go about soaking this recipe?
Also, how would you go about soaking your honey wheat bread recipe?
I am really thankful for your website! My family is just beginning this journey of milling our own wheat and we have also bought shares in 2 CSA farms. We are excited!!
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Laura Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 4:21 pm
I really don’t know, on both recipes. I haven’t attempted to soak either of them. I do soak grains when I can, but I don’t feel bad when I can’t either. I just sort of compromise and feel good that we’re eating whole grains that are so good for us.
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Really awesome recipe, Laura! We just made these into pretzel hearts (made 32 of ‘em) and slathered with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar. YUM! Thanks Laura!
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if i wanted to soak the four for this recipe would i just use cultured butter milk with the flour and let it sit over night?
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Laura Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Yes, you could try that. I’ve not tried soaking this recipe before.
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hello michelle, how many pretzels do i get if i use this ingredients?
thank you, and your recipe is really mouthwatering! =)
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Laura Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
You should get between 20-24 pretzels with this recipe.
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I tried this recipe – but instead of putting salt, add cinnamon and sugar! SOOO Goooooooood
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I made these today and all I can say is WOW!! I made these to go along with your chicken noodle soup. The kids loved them, my husband loved them and I loved them! Thanks so much for such a yummy recipe!
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My first pan of pretzels just came out of the oven! They are so delicious! The only thing is, my first pan I didnt roll it out thin enough and when it baked it came out more as a “roll” than a pretzel. My second pan is in the oven now, and I rolled it out much thinner, but same thing. It rose so much that there are no pretzel “holes” So I will have to roll these puppies out super thin for them to look like pretzels. I can see this recipe being good for a bun too. They are so soft and good!!
I did do 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat flour though because I am too scared to do all whole wheat because I have red wheat and I am a little afraid to do 100% whole red wheat. And also because I have about 12lbs left of white flour that I want to use up before switching to 100% WW.
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Made half a batch and they were delicious. THey didn’t get very golden and I was wondering if I could to an egg wash on the outside of them to help get them golden and then slather it with butter when they were done??
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Laura Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
Yes, an egg wash should do it. They may have just needed a couple more minutes in the oven to make them golden!
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Laura,
You have sent me on quite a quest!
I tried your receipe and was disappointed because it was more like a pretzel shaped (delicious) dinner roll than an actual pretzel. Having lived in Germany, this got me craving a real soft pretzel. So I found some other recipes, but, while they were delicious, they were really unhealthy. So, I decided to try going back to yours with some modifications.
After forming the pretzel, I froze it. They I boiled some water, baking soda and brown sugar and boiled the frozen pretzel in it for about 1 minute. Then I refroze the preztel, salted it and baked it at 350 until almost done and then at 400 for the last minute and it has that pretzel taste! It still tastes “healthier” than the other recipes, but I use store bought flour. Hopefully someday I can save up enough to get a nutrimill!
I love your site! Thanks for all you do!
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Read through the comments but didn’t see the answer to my question here =)
I have soft white whole wheat and hard red whole wheat….which one should I use for this? I’m afraid the hard red wheat may be more heavy….
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Laura Reply:
April 14th, 2011 at 1:33 am
You won’t be able to use the soft white wheat because that type of flour only works for NON-yeast recipes. This recipe has yeast in it, so you’ll need to use the hard red. The hard red may make it too heavy, like you said. I prefer to use HARD WHITE if you have that available to you!
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This is something I’ve had on my mental ‘to do’ list for awhile! But I couldn’t seem to find a simple recipe. This one looks easy enough! I HAVE to try these this week now that I’ve seen all those pics.
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So I’m thinking about sourdough pretzels…cause we have to soak or sourdough our grains due to family allergies. Hmm. I might have to play with that one.
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