Basic Soft Pretzels Recipe - Pinch of Yum
icon-arrowicon-chevron-whiteicon-chevronicon-commenticon-facebookicon-hearticon-instagramicon-instant-poticon-listicon-lockicon-meal-prepicon-nexticon-pinteresticon-popularicon-quoteicon-searchicon-staricon-sugar-freeicon-tiktokicon-twittericon-veganicon-videomenu-closemenu-open
Our recipes, your inbox. Sign up

Basic Soft Pretzels

21 reviews / 5 average

Basic Soft Pretzels – necessary dippers for your beer cheese soup ♡ Soft, excessively fluffy, basic, and delicious. These are the BEST.

Beer cheese soup was made for soft pretzels. I know it, you know it, and these twisty knots of soft fluffy bread with the chunky salt know it.

And that is my job today: to give you the pretzels you need to complete the beer cheese soup set. Soft, excessively fluffy, basic delicious pretzels. You know I take this job very seriously.

Here’s a Soft Pretzel Perks Recap. They are:

  • Simple and straightforward.
  • Domestic goals.
  • Make-able with just a bowl and a wooden spoon.
  • Seriously. Just use a wooden spoon.
  • Soft, fluffy, pillowy.
  • Adaptable to your favorite shapes, flavors, etc.
  • Highly dip-able.
  • Yummy.

How To Make Our Basic Soft Pretzels:

Here’s a quick rundown of the process.

First: Mix up the dough.

Dough for Basic Soft Pretzels in bowl with spoon.

Now knead it up – 10-15 times is good – and put back in the bowl.

Dough for Basic Soft Pretzels uncovered in bowl.

Now cover with plastic and let the yeast do its thang.

Dough for Basic Soft Pretzels covered in bowl.

Roll, shape, and dip in a baking soda solution (that’s what pretzelifies it).

Basic Soft Pretzels on pan before baking.

Bake. Dip. Eat. What a happy ending.

Baked Soft Pretzels on pan.

I did not bother to do a center pretzel twist, mostly because I was just in such a hurry to get some bread in my oven so that I could make this moment happen:

Basic Soft Pretzels dunked in Beer Cheese Soup.

Because let’s be honest. That’s really why we’re making these soft, fluffy, steaming hot pretzels. To rip, cheese-dip, and devour.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Baked Soft Pretzels on baking sheet.

Basic Soft Pretzels


  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: 68 large soft pretzels 1x

Description

Basic Soft Pretzels! Necessary dippers for your beer cheese soup ♡


Ingredients

Scale

Soft Pretzels:

  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 1 package instant yeast
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • more flour for dusting

Extras:

  • 1/4 cup baking soda whisked into 34 cups warm water
  • 1 egg
  • coarse salt

Instructions

  1. Make the Dough: In a mixing bowl, gently whisk the warm milk, yeast, brown sugar, butter, and salt. Stir in the flour until a dough forms. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead 10-15 times.
  2. Let the Dough Hang Out: Return to the bowl and drizzle with a little oil to prevent sticking. Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and set aside for an hour to rise.
  3. Pretzel-ify: When the dough has risen, punch it back down and divide it into 6-8 sections. Roll each section into a loooong skinny rope. Fold it into a pretzel. Dip into the baking soda solution and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  4. Bake: Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. YUUUUUM! Dip in cheese sauce, mustard, or my personal favorite – beer cheese soup.
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: homemade pretzels, soft pretzels, pretzel recipe


One More Thing!

This recipe is part of our collection of easy baking recipes. Check it out!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

86 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This looks delicious and, living in South Africa, I have always been curious about the taste of these and am excited to try them. Could you please tell me what the weight of the yeast package is?
    Thank you

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        I tried this recipe and it worked out perfect for me. Definitely making these more often!

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    It has NEVER occurred to me that I could make a soft pretzel. And on zero caffeine right now, I just realized how hard it is to spell pretzel. And yes yes yes to the pretzel with the beer cheese soup. Speaking of which, I’m wondering if you have ever had the beer cheese soup in Disney, Orland (Epcot Center…Cananda. I hope this one is like that one!!!!!

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Is there a reason why you stopped adding the nutritional info to your recipes? It was very helpful and I know many readers appreciate it

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    After seeing the Beer Cheese Soup recipe yesterday, I can’t wait to try making these!! I was so excited about the cheese and pretzel idea, I forwarded it to my husband who was at work and said, “We should try making this sometime.” I kid you not, I got a reply in under 60 seconds that said “Yes!”

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    As I almost never have instant yeast on hand, but always have a jar of Active Dry in my fridge, do you know how the recipe might change using the Active Dry instead of the instant? Thanks in advance. These look so delicious!

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    never bothered making pretzels since I always thought there were strange special ingredients (lye?…) so thank you for a very straight-forward pretzel recipe AND walk-thru, much appreciated, love pretzels, eat them very rarely through, but now that I can control the ingredients with this recipe, more often

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hi Lindsay!
    I’m intrigued with your recipe b/c you don’t boil the pretzels in the soda water but just dip them in it. All others have the boil step; I’d much rather do it your way. Any reason why you just dip? Also, why the “3-4 cups water” ingredient? Isn’t the ratio of soda to water pretty important?

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I was hoping you were going to share the yummy looking pretzels from your soup post the other day 🙂 What a perfect combo together! Thanks for sharing!

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hi,

    I clicked on a link the other day (I believe on the soup recipe) and it lead me to another website with the pretzel recipe including a quicker version using refrigerated biscuit dough. So I tried that recipe out and it was absolutely the worst tasting thing I’ve ever put in my mouth – as in run to the garbage can and spit it out / food should not taste like this bad. It called for the same 4c water to 1/4 c baking soda combo. The only thing I can figure is my baking soda was bad / too old? It’s probably 6 months old but kept in an airtight container and I just used it the other week to make cookies which were fine (granted on 1 tsp went into the cookies). I’m mystified….might try the homemade recipe using a box of freshly purchased though….

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Hi, made these lots, love them! Can i make dough night before? Leave to rise in fridge??? Mel x

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I tried to make this and my yeast did
    not rise.
    Does the melted butter need to cool before you add it? Any suggestions for working with yeast. Is the warm milk the only thing needed to active it? Thanks

  11. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hey Lindsay…! Your basic soft ptetzels looks soooo good & more delicious, sounds soooo yummy. I really enjoyed your recipe and i will try to making this in some few days after. Thanks for sharing ….keep shared your new idea with beautiful recipes……..!

  12. Pinch of Yum Logo

    If I’m using my KitchenAid mixer, how long would you recommend “kneading” the dough?

  13. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I’m obsessed with these golden pretzels… they look soooo good!

    I only have one question: I’ve made pretzels before, but they’ve always ended up having a very unpleasant baking soda taste when they are done baking and ready to eat. Is there anyone out there who would help me troubleshoot?

    Thanks!

  14. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This is the first recipe I’ve seen that uses brown sugar — I liked the slightly different flavor. And, dipping it into a bowl of baking soda water is a lot easier than fishing them out of a pot of boiling baking soda water that my mom’s recipe called for. Definitely, this is the new recipe for pretzels at our house!

  15. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I have a current obsession with pretzels (and cheese sauce) so this was a no brainer for me! It was my first time making pretzels, I think I did well. Although when I got to the step were I needed to roll them in long loose pieces my dough started to separate. I made it work, but any tips or suggestions?