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These were absolutely amazing! They came together with little work – so simple and easy. Never knew that I was capable of making my own soft pretzels before!
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.
Now knead it up – 10-15 times is good – and put back in the bowl.
Now cover with plastic and let the yeast do its thang.
Roll, shape, and dip in a baking soda solution (that’s what pretzelifies it).
Bake. Dip. Eat. What a happy ending.
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:
Because let’s be honest. That’s really why we’re making these soft, fluffy, steaming hot pretzels. To rip, cheese-dip, and devour.
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Basic Soft Pretzels
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 large soft pretzels 1x
Description
Basic Soft Pretzels! Necessary dippers for your beer cheese soup ♡
Ingredients
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 3–4 cups warm water
- 1 egg
- coarse salt
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
When you say knead it 10-15 times is that 10 – 15 minutes?
Hi! No, just pushing down to knead the dough 10-15 times.
Where does the baking soda whisked into water come into play for the Basic Soft Pretzel recipe? It wasn’t mentioned in the steps.
Great article, Really awesome.
Yum, yum, yum!
These are SO tasty, AND easy!
We’ve made them twice in the last week!
These pretzels are SO good! They get gobbled up at my house and actually get my 2 year old excited for dinner!
Could I use part sourdough starter for this recipe instead of yeast?
We think that’d work out just fine!
I made these but the dough was way too wet to knead. I added at least another 1/2 cup flour before I could kind of work with it. Any thoughts?
Hi Meg! A couple of questions. Did you use the full 2 and 1/4 cups of flour? Any chance you live in a warmer/humid climate? That can sometimes affect the texture of the dough as it rises. Definitely a great idea to add more flour if the dough was wet.
Love these!! Make them all the time with the kiddos. Although my OCD gets put to the test when they pretzel-fy them! 🙂 never a perfect pretzel.. but still taste great!
Love hearing this, Kendra! Thanks for the comment!
They look incredible! Has anyone made them gluten free?
Can i omit sprinkling the salt and top this with cinnamon sugar at the end or does this recipe only suit savoury pretzels? I want something like auntie Anne’s pretzels.
We think that’d be a great idea, Joanne!
These are SO insanely good! My entire family gobbled then up. Super easy, my daughter and I made them together. They will definitely be a repeat treat at our house from now on!!!
The pretzels I made tasted great, but they puffed while in the oven and turned out more like buns. Any ideas so they will keep their pretzel shape like yours did?
Thanks for the feedback! It may be due to the hydration of the dough. This article may be helpful in determining what happened. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2017/may/18/how-to-bake-the-perfect-pretzels
Hey Lindsay! It’s first time I tried to make it myself at home. I tried it last weekend & it was a great fun to make this. It was soooo delicious and juicy. Just keep sharing new recipes & smiles for others. Thanks
I’ve made these several times now and am always amazed and how easy they are! The last time I made them, I split the dough into 16 portions to make mini sized ones as an appetizer that I served with a honey mustard dipping sauce. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks! Who knew it was so easy to make your own soft pretzels!?!??!
So easy, right?! Glad you enjoyed these, Shannon!
Hello, I’m wondering if you have ever made this with gluten free flour? I am planning on trying with bobs 1 to 1 gf flour, but thought I would check first with you first! Also, love ALL your recipes ❤️
Hi, Aline! We haven’t tested this out with gluten-free flour yet, so we’re not totally sure what the end result would be like. Let us know if you end up trying it out – we’d love to hear!
Made these for super bowl and they were delicious! I only wish I’d made more because they went very quickly.
Sounds like the perfect Super Bowl food!
I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve made these weekly since you posted the recipe. Perfection!
YUM! We would have exactly zero problems eating these pretzels every week. 😋
I’ve made these pretzels a couple times and they’re really so good. The dough is quite wet so I end up playing with it more than kneading. But after a 1-3 hour rest it’s ready to roll and dip and bake.
Glad to hear this, Angela! 🙂
Just made these. Didn’t have milk so used almond milk. AMAZING!! Crunchy crust, soft and fluffy inside. So easy and simple. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed the pretzels, Lisa! 🙂
These were absolutely amazing! They came together with little work – so simple and easy. Never knew that I was capable of making my own soft pretzels before!
So happy to hear you enjoyed these, Jacie!
Hi, so when I made the dough for the scratch recipe pretzels, I had to continue to add more flour because it was too sticky to handle. I’m wondering if anyone else had this situation? I did measure carefully and I am a fairly experienced cook/baker… Anyway I continued to add a little more at a time until I could handle it, it was still on the stickier side if I was to need it some more but I knew it would get tough if I added too much flour. Regardless, I’m sure they’re going to be good, I mean it’s like homemade bread right?! I also did not want to bake them just yet so I put the dough in the fridge after the first kneading…Anyone else tried this?.. And if I pull the dough out of the fridge an hour before I want to finish with the recipe, with that be enough time to let it come up to room temperature and continue on? I am recovering from some serious spine surgery so I have to do things in little steps, thanks for any help you can offer!!
This looks delicious, thank you so much for sharing. Can I replace the milk with a non dairy equivalent and the butter with olive oil? If yes, how much olive oil should I use?
Hi, I just saw your comment I know it is over a year ago but I would like to join in just in case anyone is still wondering, I also use alternative milk, this time was a soy, and used olive oil a light version instead of the butter.. dough is in the rising stage so I will let you know how mine turn out, wondering if you went ahead and did the recipe with the altered ingredients, and how did that turn out ?? Thanks, another pretzel lover ❣️
can you freeze the dough?
I made these and they turned out perfectly! Do you think they could be frozen and reheated or would that dry them out?
This looks so awesome!! Is there any way to finish them besides the egg wash? Butter maybe? We just found out my son is allergic to eggs and I’d love to make them for him.