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Super Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels
By Alexandra Stafford
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Last Updated: 03/01/2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These buttery soft pretzels are super easy to make, require no boiling, and a quick one-hour rise. They are a huge crowd-pleaser! Soft, delicious, and truly irresistible straight out of the oven.!
I knew I would love Vicki the moment I met her, which was two summers ago during our annual trip to Lake George with Ben’s family. Vicki is my brother-in-law’s girlfriend, she is 100% Greek, and food is her love language.
Five minutes after her arrival, she knocked on our door, her hands loaded with goodies, coloring books and colored pencils for the children, and an enormous Tupperware filled with koulourakia, the twisted Greek Easter cookie, perfect for dunking in coffee or tea, for us.
As the week went on, Vicki would bestow us with more treats, including chicken cordon bleu, tacos served in flat-bottomed, stand-up shells, and, most memorably, these buttery soft pretzels. When I asked Vicki if it was OK if I shared the recipe here, she said, Of course, noting she got the recipe years ago by searching online for an Auntie Anne’s pretzel recipe.
Friends, I am so excited to share this recipe with you. These pretzels have been a massive hit with my family and, these past few weeks, with the neighborhood children passing through my kitchen, enjoying their last few days of freedom before the school year begins.
PS: Homemade Soft Pretzel Rolls
Super Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels, Step by Step
Gather your ingredients: flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and oil.
Whisk together the dry ingredients:
Add the water and oil.
Mix until a shaggy dough forms.
Knead briefly until…
… dough comes together and feels tacky to the touch, about 1 minute.
Alternatively, this can all be mixed in a stand mixer, which will take 2 to 3 minutes total. I actually prefer making these in the stand mixer now — it’s fast and less messy.
Transfer the dough to a bowl and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour.
The dough may not necessarily double in volume.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface.
Divide the dough into 12 portions, using flour as needed:
If you care about being precise, you can cut and weigh each one — 75 grams each is about right.
Roll each portion into a 12-inch log. You’re going to roll them out longer afterward, but I find that rolling them once, then letting them rest, allows the gluten to relax a bit and allows you to roll them out longer more easily the next time around.
After all 12 have been rolled out once, roll each one out to 22 to 24 inches long:
How to Shape Pretzels
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
I like to transfer the pretzels to a lightly oiled sheet pan as I shape.
Once shaped, dissolve 1/2 cup baking soda into 4 cups of hot water. You can use hot tap water or you can boil water.
Working with one pretzel at a time, dip each one into the water, then place on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
Sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 425ºF for 10 to 12 minutes.
Brush with melted butter immediately.
Transfer to a cooling rack immediately.
Serve warm. So good.
Super Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
These homemade fresh soft pretzels are buttery soft in texture, perfectly sweet and salty, and astonishingly simple to make: they require a quick kneading (by hand or in a mixer), a simple shaping, and no boiling. They are a massive hit with adults and children alike and truly irresistible straight out of the oven.
Adapted from my brother-in-law’s most wonderful girlfriend, Vicki Roberts.
Notes:
- Yeast: If you are using active dry yeast, sprinkle it over the warm water with 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let it stand for 15 minutes; then proceed with the recipe.
- Salt: I’ve been using fine sea salt in my bread recipes recently, but kosher salt is fine, too.
- Sugar: I tried several batches with lower amounts of sugar, and they just weren’t quite the same in texture, taste, and appearance.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 5 cups (640 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (8 grams) instant yeast, see notes above if using active-dry
- 1.5 teaspoons (9 grams) salt
- 1/2 cup (110 grams) sugar
- 1.5 cups (350 grams) warm water
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) neutral oil or olive oil
For finishing:
- 1/2 cup (115 g) baking soda
- 4 cups hot water
- Kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water and oil and stir with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms. Use your hands to knead the dough briefly in the bowl, then turn the dough out onto a work surface and continue kneading until the dough comes together and feels tacky to the touch, about a minute. Alternatively, you can do this all in your stand mixer, which will take roughly 3 minutes total. (The stand mixer is my preferred method.)
- Place the dough back in the mixing bowl, cover with a towel or bowl cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour. Longer is fine, too. Dough will not necessarily double in volume. This is fine.
- Heat oven to 425ºF.
- Turn dough out onto a work surface and portion into 12 pieces, using flour as needed if dough is sticky. Note: If you want identically sized pretzels, weigh your total dough, then divide by 12. (Each portion should roughly weigh 75 grams.) Also: Be careful about using too much flour here: it will make it difficult to roll out…just use a sprinkling to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Roll each portion into a 12-inch (roughly) log. You’ll roll each piece longer afterward, but the brief rest will allow the gluten to relax, making them easier to roll out longer later.
- Once all the portions have been rolled, continue to roll each portion to 22 to 24 inches long. Twist each piece into a pretzel shape. See video or photos for guidance. At this point, I like to transfer the shaped pretzels to a lightly oiled sheet pan.
- When all of the pretzels are shaped, dissolve the 1/2 cup of baking soda in 4 cups of hot water. You can use hot tap water here or boil 4 cups of water — I’ve been using my electric kettle. Stir to dissolve the baking soda.
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Working with one pretzel at a time, drop it into the water. Use a spider to remove it and transfer it to a parchment-lined sheet pan. (Note: I like to drop the pretzel in top-side down, then I use the spider to remove it and flip it onto the sheet pan top-side up. I find dipping it top-side down ensures the top of the pretzel gets sufficiently coated in the baking-soda solution, which promotes more even browning.) Repeat until all pretzels have been dipped.
- Sprinkle pretzels with salt. Transfer pan — I like to bake one pan at a time — to the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.
- Remove pan from the oven and immediately brush the hot pretzels with the melted butter. Transfer pretzels to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining pan of pretzels.
- Let cool briefly. Serve warm. Pretzels reheat nicely — I love them halved, toasted, and spread with butter.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
221 Comments on “Super Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels”
This pretzel recipe is THE BEST. I make these for my kids’ youth group and they are gone immediately. The kids actually cheer, “The pretzels are here!”. They are an absolute hit. Thank you!
Awwww I love this! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this, Sarah. I love how happy this recipe makes people, kids especially 🙂
In the process of attempting to make right now. I do not have a stand mixer, so kneading by hand. Took dough out when it appeared “shaggy” in the bowl, but even after repeated kneading, it seems so dry. Not as “shaggy” as before, but nothing like the video/pic. What am I doing wrong? Would love some tips. Wondering if I just have too much flour?
Hi! Did you use a scale to measure? What type of flour are you using? Do you live in a dry environment?
My neighbor suggested sifting the flour. I am using measuring cups. All purpose flour from local grocery store. Live in Houston, Texas. House on the cold side, but not like it is in northern states. Really appreciate your quick response. Trying it again today.
OK, sounds good. It’s possible you’re just being a little too generous with the flour. Use scant cups next time around.
The pretzels are delicious, super soft and pillowy and have the great classic pretzel taste. The only comment I would make is they are quite sweet, is it possible to reduce the sugar?
Hi! I tried reducing the sugar, and I found I had a hard time getting them the same beautiful golden hue. You can try cutting it back, but just keep in mind the sugar contributes to the browning/color of the pretzels.
I’m having an issue with the rolling and I was hoping you might advise. Now, given, I’m not the best person at doing this anyway, but I can usually manage. But I can’t get the rolls as long as they should be. I end up with (delicious!) rolls instead, but rolls, not pretzels. Could it be because I’m resting the dough overnight? If so, how would you remedy this problem? Or is it just, practice, practice, practice?
I’d also like to decrease the salt content inside the dough. I understand this will also make them less like pretzels, but do you think they could be as much as halved?
Thank you, as always!
Hi Debby! Apologies for the delay here. My first thought is to let them rest: as soon as the dough resists, set the roll aside, then move on to another, and repeat. Then get back to the first one — hopefully 10 minutes or so will have passed — and try again. The brief rest might allow the gluten to relax and in turn allow you to roll each roll longer.
Questions: are you using a scale to measure? And what type of flour are you using?
You can definitely decrease the salt to your liking! Halved would be fine.
Thank you for getting back to me: I definitely don’t expect an instantaneous response! You’re very generous with your time and knowledge.
I do use a scale, yes, though I’ve begun having doubts as to its accuracy, it’s true. I use King Arthur all purpose flour.
I will definitely have to try resting more. I am not great with rolling and shaping, but I usually manage, to a greater or lesser degree, when I make challah. Maybe a combination of issues, then?
Entirely unrelated, I made your madeline recipe a few weeks ago (never made before) and they turned out beautifully. So thank you for another great recipe!
My pleasure, Debby! Great to hear, re scale. You could test out the accuracy of your scale by setting a pound of butter on it and seeing what it registers. If it is not accurate, you could call the company/google to see how you might be able to calibrate it. You may potentially have an easier time if you use bread flour, which absorbs slightly more liquid than ap flour. I do think the longer resting time will help, too 🙂
I personally think these are a bit too sweet, but overall this is a very good recipe! I LOVE that I don’t have to boil the baking soda solution. I rolled these into a few logs and after the soda wash I chopped them into bites. Topped with salt and everything seasoning 🙂 paired them with a jalapeno cheese dip and I think the savory helps balance the sweetness well.
Great to hear! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. I think you could probably cut back the sugar a little bit… I tried cutting it back but found they didn’t brown as well. The sugar lends a moistness, too. Your jalapeno cheese dip sounds lovely!
I love this recipe so much. One of our favorite bakeries Simple Eatery in Buena Vista Colorado sells pretzel bread loaves you can eat in a single serving – and they’re big. Do you think this dough could be braised and baked as a loaf?
I love this idea so much. I’m thinking you could make the dough, let it rise, etc., then after the first rise shape it into a loaf and get it into a large loaf pan — for this amount of dough probably a 10×5-inch loaf pan. Brush it with the baking soda solution after it rises and crowns the rim of the pan? Then bake it. My only thought might be to increase the water. This is such a low hydration dough, and I’m thinking in loaf pan form it might be kind of dry/dense, but maybe a denser loaf is how a pretzel bread should be? Let me know if you give it a go either as written or with more water. Also hieeeeeeee xoxo
Can I make the dough a day ahead of time?
Yes! Just store the dough in the fridge in an airtight vessel.
These are amazing! My kids prefer bites, so now when I make this I cut into bites instead of forming traditional pretzels – works great, they reheat beautifully and quickly, and are a favorite in our house!
Yay! Great to read this, Kate. Thanks so much for writing and sharing these notes… so helpful for others wanting to do the same 🙂
This is my second recipe from Alexandra and I am obsessed. The dough came together so easily and I’ve never had such an easy time rolling out the dough or shaping the pretzels. My pretzels actually looked like pretzels! The warm baking soda bath instead of doing it on the stovetop was a game changer. Way easier, quicker and I think yielded better results. The first time I made this I made 15 pretzels that were about 73-74g each. They were very skinny and didn’t puff up very much. I also “overbaked” them at the 12min mark and some were way too hard/chewy (my fault, not the recipe’s!). The second time I made them I made 14 pretzels and they were about 80g each—yes I used my scale! These ended up being thicker and more pillowy. I chilled the shaped pretzels in the fridge for a few hours and took them out for about 30min before the baking soda bath. They came to room temp and I think puffed up a bit more! These pretzels were done at 10min and were just like the big, soft and buttery pretzels I used to get at the movies as a kid. Husband is obsessed with these pretzels and so is my toddler. This will be on repeat for us!!
So nice to read all of this, Chelly! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes — so helpful for others. Isn’t a scale game changing? I use a scale to portion cookie dough, too — it’s a tedious process, but it’s so nice knowing that each portion is identical. So glad your family approved!