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recipe soft german pretzels

Soft German Pretzels Recipe

Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/4 cup Warm Water not hot, warm
  • 2 tsp. Dried Yeast
  • 2 tsp. Brown Sugar
  • 2 TBL Bread Flour
  • 3 cups Bread Flour
  • 2 tsp Salt

For Topping- pick any, or leave bare:

  • Pretzel Salt
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Smoked Ham Cubes with Cheese
  • Pumpkin Seeds

For the Bath:

  • 1/4 cup Baking Soda
  • 10 cup Water

Instructions
 

  • Read all the instructions first so you are clear about the steps. It IS a bit of work for 8 pretzels, but there is no comparison to the ones you find in the Freezer section of the grocery store.

For the Baking Soda Bath:

  • Before you start the dough (in fact, you can do this a day or two in advance) bake 1/4 cup of baking soda in a baking dish (non-metallic) at 250 degrees for 1 hour. Set aside... You can make more and store the extra in an airtight jar.

For the Pretzels:

  • Add 2 tsp dried yeast to 1 1/4 cup warm (not hot... WARM) water.
  • Add 2 tsp brown sugar and 2 TBL Bread Flour... stir to combine
  • Set aside for 10 minutes.
  • Combine 3 cups of bread flour and 2 tsp salt (I used Kosher salt) in the bowl of a mixer.
  • When the water/yeast mix is all bubbly looking, add it to the flour/salt in the mixer, then mix on low until the dough is combined and comes togther.
  • Now, knead the dough by hand, or with a dough hook in your mixer, for 10 minutes. (I ended up doing a combination... 5 minutes in the mixer, 3-4 minutes by hand, then a few more in the mixer)
  • Take it out, and knead/shape into a ball.
  • Put a bit of oil at the bottom of a medium mixing bowl. Drop the dough ball in, then flip it over (this coats the whole ball). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then place in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour.

While this is happening, set up your station:

  • Cover 2 cookie sheets with Parchment Paper
  • Sprinkle an area on the counter with a bit of bread flour... or sprinkle a large baking sheet with bread flour ( I will explain in a moment)
  • When the dough has doubled in size, remove from the bowl, and cut to 8 pieces.
  • Be patient when shaping the dough, it doesn't always go how you want it to. Start with rolling and stretching each piece to a longish strand. At first the dough will want to spring back to a ball... just stretch it a bit, and set it on the cookie sheet/ counter to rest a bit.. work on the other pieces. Now go back and stretch a bit more... then a bit more...
  • When you have 8 16-19 inch strands, do the fancy pretzel knot twist. (Hold the ends, then give a twist so the U part spins, then flip over and Voila!) I will attach a photo...
  • Put the 8 Pretzel shapes on the parchment covered baking sheets.
  • Let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Boiling Pretzels:

  • Bring 10 cups of water to a boil in a non-aluminum pot. Add the Baked Baking Soda.. stir carefully until it dissolves.
  • PREHEAT THE OVEN to 400 degrees F
  • After the pretzels have risen again, carefully lower them in to the water 2 at a time (more if more fit without crowding at the surface)
  • Boil 30 seconds, then flip and boil 30 seconds more.
  • Lift out of the water with a spatula... and set back on the parchment. (nice side up)
  • Repeat with other pretzels.
  • Let rest for 5 minutes.
  • (Is the oven hot?)
  • Sprinkle your toppings on the Pretzels...
  • I put both trays in the oven at once... bake 10 minutes, then rotate the trays top to bottom, and bake 10 more minutes.
  • Take out of the oven, and cool 2 -3 minutes on the baking sheet.
  • Remove from baking sheet on to cooling racks.
  • Let cool until you can put them into your mouth.
  • Eat

Notes

Read the instructions, and gather all ingredients first.
Preheat the oven and bring the water to a boil while Pretzels are on their second rise.