World’s Greatest Soft Pretzels
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These are the World’s Greatest Soft Pretzels, you know the ones I’m talking about! They’re huge, soft, buttery and salty, not to mention totally addictive. This is a family recipe we’ve been making for years and one that’s a favorite at our house.
My husband and I love our pretzels and we make them quite often. We love that special soft pretzel that you get at the mall, or at the ball game. You know the one I’m talking about, eh? Those huge pretzels that you just can’t stop eating, they’re salty, they’re buttery, they’re just amazing.
This recipe I’m sharing with you here is my family’s recipe that we’ve been making for years and years, so it’s tried, tested and true. Rest assured this recipe has been perfected over the years, so it’s literally foolproof. You’ll love it!
Why Make The World’s Greatest Soft Pretzels
- Easy to Make
- Soft and Delicious
- Tastes Incredible
- Simple Ingredients
Pretzels are not hard to make, so don’t get discouraged by the fact that you have to make a water bath with baking soda and dip them in there, that’s child’s play. The dough is super easy to make too, just use your mixer, let it do all the work. And the fun part, is rolling out the long ropes and I swear my ropes were 3 or 4 feet long, just because I wanted the largest pretzels.
Ingredient Notes
- Active Dry Yeast – I used active dry yeast in this recipe, but you can use instant yeast. The difference is that active dry yeast needs to be activated first, whereas instant yeast doesn’t.
- Flour – Regular white flour.
- Water – It’s super important to make sure your water is lukewarm. The best temperature of the water should be anywhere from 95 degrees to 105 degrees for this. You don’t really want anything warmer, as it will kill the yeast.
- Milk – Same as with water, we want to make sure the milk is lukewarm. The best temperature should be anywhere from 95 degrees to 105 degrees.
- Salt – Table salt in the dough and coarse salt for sprinkling over the top of the pretzels.
- Sugar – Sugar is important when making bread, it’s what makes it soft and tender by absorbing some of the water and slowing down the formation of gluten strands. Sugar is also what feeds the yeast.
- Baking Soda – Helps give the pretzels their chewy crust and that incredible pretzel flavor.
- Butter – Melted butter to brush over the top of the pretzels, for that great buttery taste.
How To Make Soft Pretzels
- Make the dough: In the bowl of your mixer, combine the warm water with the yeast and lightly stir. Let this mixture rest for about 10 minutes until the yeast dissolves. In another large bowl, mix the salt, sugar and flour together. When the yeast dissolves, add the flour mixture and the warm milk to the mixer bowl. Using the dough attachment, mix everything until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky, about 5 minutes.
- Let the dough rise until doubled in size: Let the dough rise until it doubles in size in a greased bowl, and covered with a damp towel or plastic wrap. It should take about an hour but it depends on your environment and your yeast.
- Form into pretzels: Punch down the dough and divide it into 9 equal pieces. Take each piece and roll it into a long rope, about 3 to 4 feet long and about 1 inch in diameter. Shape each rope into a pretzel shape and place them onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Allow the pretzels to rise again for another 15 minutes.
- Prep the oven: Preheat oven to 500 F.
- Boil the pretzels: In a large pot, make a bath with the baking soda and boiling water. Using a large spoon, lower each pretzel into the water and leave in for about 30 seconds to a minute. You don’t have to wait until they float. Return the pretzels to the baking sheet using a large spatula. Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle them generously with the sea salt.
- Bake: Transfer the baking sheet to the oven on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. When you take them out of the oven you can brush them again with butter and serve them hot and/or with mustard or your favorite dipping sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do we have to boil pretzels in baking soda water?
If you’re making bagels or pretzels, you always need to boil them for about a minute in baking soda water and the reason is because the baking soda bath basically gelatinizes the outside of the pretzel, preventing it from springing or rising during baking. Also, it’s what gives pretzels their signature chewy crust.
What is the basic ratio of liquid to flour when making soft pretzels?
When making pretzels there actually is a basic pretzel dough ratio of liquids to flour. Pretty much any pretzel recipe you’ll look at, you’ll notice that the basic ration of liquid to flour is that for every cup of liquid you’ll need 3-ish cups of flour.
What other flavor variations are there?
Seriously, the sky’s the limit. Besides the basic butter and salt, I like mine with Parmesan cheese over the top, or cinnamon sugar. With either options, you still should brush the top of the pretzels with melted butter first.
Tips
- You can easily double or half this recipe buy simply doubling or halving all of the ingredients. You can do this right in the recipe card. Simply hover or click on the number of servings in the recipe card. When the slider comes up, just move it to the number of pretzels you want to make and the ingredient amounts will automatically be updated as needed.
- You can use this recipe to make either pretzel bites or pretzel breadsticks.
- Don’t skip the step for boiling the pretzels in the baking soda water. This is what gives the pretzels that signature chewy crust and their incredible pretzel flavor.
Storing Soft Pretzels
Pretzels are one of those baked goods that have a short shelf life and are best eaten right way. You can wrap them tightly in plastic wrap but what I normally do is let them cool completely then wrap them in a clean dish cloth or paper towels then store them in an airtight container. Make sure they are cooled completely otherwise the container will fill with humidity causing the pretzels to get soggy.
Another thing to consider, is not adding salt to the pretzels because salt makes the pretzels soggy. Pretzels can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or freeze them for up to 1 month.
More Delicious Recipes To Try
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Soft Pretzels
Video
Ingredients
- 1½ cups water (lukewarm)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4½ to 5 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup milk (lukewarm)
- 5 tablespoon baking soda
- butter (for brushing)
- sea salt (for sprinkling)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Make the dough: In the bowl of your mixer, combine the warm water with the yeast and lightly stir. Let this mixture rest for about 10 minutes until the yeast dissolves. In another large bowl, mix the salt, sugar and flour together. When the yeast dissolves, add the flour mixture and the warm milk to the mixer bowl. Using the dough attachment, mix everything until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky, about 5 minutes.
- Let the dough rise until doubled in size: Let the dough rise until it doubles in size in a greased bowl, and covered with a damp towel or plastic wrap. It should take about an hour but it depends on your environment and your yeast.
- Form into pretzels: Punch down the dough and divide it into 9 equal pieces. Take each piece and roll it into a long rope, about 3 to 4 feet long and about 1 inch in diameter. Shape each rope into a pretzel shape and place them onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Allow the pretzels to rise again for another 15 minutes.
- Prep the oven: Preheat oven to 500°F.
- Boil the pretzels: In a large pot, make a bath with the baking soda and boiling water. Using a large spoon, lower each pretzel into the water and leave in for about 30 seconds to a minute. You don't have to wait until they float. Return the pretzels to the baking sheet using a large spatula. Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle them generously with the sea salt.
- Bake: Transfer the baking sheet to the oven on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. When you take them out of the oven you can brush them again with butter and serve them hot and/or with mustard or your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- These pretzels are pretty big so you can only fit 2 or 3 pretzels per baking sheet comfortably.
- You can easily double or half this recipe but simply doubling or halving all of the ingredients. You can do this right in the recipe card. Simply hover or click on the number of servings in the recipe card. When the slider comes up, just move it to the number of pretzels you want to make and the ingredient amounts will automatically be updated as needed.
- You can use this recipe to make either pretzel bites or pretzel breadsticks.
- Don’t skip the step for boiling the pretzels in the baking soda water. This is what gives the pretzels that signature chewy crust and their incredible pretzel flavor.
- Pretzels are one of those baked goods that have a short shelf life and are best eaten right way. You can wrap them tightly in plastic but what I normally do is let them cool completely then wrap them in a clean dish cloth then store them in an airtight container. Make sure they are cooled completely otherwise the container will fill with humidity causing the pretzels to get soggy.
- Another thing to consider, is not adding salt to the pretzels because salt makes the pretzels soggy. Pretzels can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or freeze them for up to 1 month.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
