Buttery Soft Pretzels

Five pretzels scattered on a table. The front pretzel has a piece torn from it, to show it's fluffy interior.

These buttery soft pretzels have a fluffy, chewy interior. The pretzel dough needs just one rise, and then formed pretzels are bathed in a baking soda and water mixture, before getting baked to perfection. Baked pretzels are slathered with melted butter and sprinkled with flaked sea salt.

Course Snack

Cuisine German, North American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 12

Rising time 1

Servings servings

Calories 673kcal

Author Nina

Equipment

2 baking sheets

Ingredients

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons light brown sugar packed
1 ½ cups whole milk warm
3 ¼ - 3 ¾ cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, divided
1 teaspoon salt

Baking soda bath

4 ½ cups water
½ cup baking soda
salt flakes or course salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To make the dough, place yeast, light brown sugar and warm milk into a large bowl. Let it sit for 2 minutes to make sure the yeast is activated. Yeast will float and start to bubble.
Add 2 cups of flour and stir together. Add 1 cup of flour and either knead by hand or use a mixer with the dough hook attachment.
Add flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough is no longer sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl. Form dough into a ball and place it in a large freshly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Turn dough out onto a clean work surface and cut it into 6 equal sections.
Roll each section into a long, thin rope, about 24 inches long. Bring the ends up so the rope is shaped like the letter "u." Twists the ends together, and then twist again. Bring the ends down to the bottom of the "u," and press down to form a pretzel shape. Continue forming the remaining dough sections into pretzels.
Bring water and baking soda to a boil. Carefully drop 1 or 2 pretzels at a time into the baking soda bath. Do not crowd the pan. Bath the pretzels for 20-25 seconds. Any longer and they will taste metallic. Use a slotted spoon to lift out pretzels and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Brush each pretzel with some of the melted butter, reserving half the butter for later use. Sprinkle salt on top of pretzels and bake for 11-13 minutes, or until the pretzels are very golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush on more butter, and sprinkle with more salt.
Keep pretzels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

The baking soda bath is hugely recommended because it gives the pretzels that distinctive pretzel flavour.
If you want to make cinnamon sugar pretzels, omit sprinkling on salt. Brush with butter after baking and sprinkle on cinnamon sugar. To make cinnamon sugar, mix together ½ cup sugar and ¾ cup ground cinnamon.
Don't want to make full pretzels? Cut the pretzels into bite size pieces after you have rolled a piece out into a long rope.

Nutrition