Oh, Oktoberfest, the annual fall festival that’s enjoyed in beer halls throughout the Bavarian city of Munich. And thanks to the german diaspora this annual celebration can now be found in many cities across the world. It’s a festival that most people associate with good times and copious amounts of beer. However, today I want to shine a light on one of Oktoberfest’s great food traditions, the soft pretzel.
There’s just something beautiful about the simple soft pretzel, it’s like the perfect mix of soft, salty, and doughy goodness. Plus due to their unique shape, you can easily rip off enough pretzel as you want and save the rest for later. But what you probably don’t know about soft pretzels is that they are incredibly easy to make right at home. In fact, all it really requires is a few simple ingredients and about 30 minutes out of your day.
The key to perfect soft pretzels, a baking soda bath
You might be surprised to learn that the key to making great soft pretzels isn’t how it’s braided, nor the use of coarse salt, but rather a quick bath before baking. You see, just like boiling bagels before baking, this step is a small but fundamental piece of the recipe. It helps to not only produce that authentic chewiness of the dough but also the distinctive color and taste of the pretzel. However, unlike bagels which are typically boiled in water sweetened with sugar, pretzels are boiled in some form of alkaline water.
Now traditionally one would use a water and lye solution to achieve this process. However, it is sort of hard to come by food grade lye, and if I’m being honest the idea of using lye with cooking is a little too freaky for me. Luckily there is an excellent and easily available substitute, baking soda.
So how do you do it?
Well, it starts by adding some baking soda to some water in a large pot. Then you get this mixture up to a low boil. And finally, you place the uncooked pretzels in this solution and let then cook for 30 seconds.
That’s it!
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- What to make cinnamon sugar pretzels? Then make the pretzels exactly the same way as below, however, make sure that you don’t sprinkle coats salt over them before baking. Then after the pretzels are baked brush the top of them with 4 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter. And finally, tip the tops of the pretzels in a mixture of ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- You can also make pretzel bites. Make the dough just like instructed and roll the dough into the same 2-foot long rope. Then simply cut the rope into 1-inch sized pieces instead of forming them into pretzel braids.
- Spread some melted butter over the top of the pretzels at the end for extra flavor and a nice sheen.
- Check out our quick and easy beer cheese dip if you want something to dip your pretzels in.
Soft Pretzels Recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredient
1½ Cups of warm water
2¼ Teaspoons of active dry yeast, should be one packet
2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
1 Teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
3½ to 4 cups of either all-purpose flour, or bread flour
Coarse salt for sprinkling over top the pretzels
For baking soda bath:
⅓ Cup of baking soda
6 Cups of water
Instructions
- Activate the yeast: Get some water to a boil and then pour it into a medium-sized bowl. Once the water has cooled down to 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees celsius) add in the yeast, brown sugar, salt, and melted butter. Whisk these ingredients together and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. You will know that your yeast has been activated once you start to see little bubbles form at the top of the water.
- Make the dough: Add the water/yeast mixture to a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Place the mixer on a low speed and add in 1 cup of flour. Let the water/yeast mixture and the flour combine, then add in another cup of flour. Repeat this step and add in the third cup of flour. At this point, you will only want to add ¼ cup of flour each time until the dough is slightly tacky, but no longer sticky.
I ended up using 3½ cups of flour, but it can differ for you. Alternatively, you can do this step in a large mixing bowl, using either a wooden spoon or better yet your hands.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover it with either plastic wrap or a clean towel, and let the dough rise for 15 to 20 minutes.
- While the dough is rising you will need to prep two things. First preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or 205 degrees celsius. Secondly, add the 6 cups of water and ⅓ cup of baking soda to a large pot, and place it over medium heat until it comes to a low boil.
- Form the pretzels: Turn the pretzel dough onto a lightly floured surface, and use either a sharp knife or a bench scraper to divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Then take one portion and use your hands to roll it out into a roughly 2-foot long rope. Next, lay this rope out into a U-shape.
Take the two ends of the rope and twist them over and under each other.
Finally, take this twist and fold it back on to the bottom of the “U”.
Place this on either a parchment-lined or silicone mat lined baking sheath. Repeat this step until all portions of dough are formed into pretzel shapes.
- Give the pretzels a bath in the baking soda solution: Make sure that the baking soda solution is at a low boil. Then use either a large slotted spoon or a slotted spatula and gently place one pretzel in this bath. Let the pretzel cook in this bath for 30 seconds making sure to use the spoon/spatula to splash some of the water over the top of the pretzel. After the 30 seconds take the pretzel out, make sure it drains completely, and place it back on your baking sheet.
Repeat this step with all of the pretzels.
- Bake the pretzels: Sprinkle some coarse salt over the tops of each pretzel.
Then place them in your oven and let them bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are nicely brown in color. Take the pretzels out of the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Your soft pretzels are now done, make sure to enjoy them while they are still nice and warm.
Soft Pretzels Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ Cups of warm water
- 2¼ Teaspoons of active dry yeast should be one packet
- 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 Teaspoon of salt
- 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter melted
- 3½ to 4 cups of either all-purpose flour or bread flour
- Coarse salt for sprinkling over top the pretzels
For baking soda bath:
- ⅓ Cup of baking soda
- 6 Cups of water
Instructions
- Activate the yeast: Get some water to a boil and then pour it into a medium-sized bowl. Once the water has cooled down to 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees celsius) add in the yeast, brown sugar, salt, and melted butter. Whisk these ingredients together and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. You will know that your yeast has been activated once you start to see little bubbles form at the top of the water.
- Make the dough: Add the water/yeast mixture to a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Place the mixer on a low speed and add in 1 cup of flour. Let the water/yeast mixture and the flour combine, then add in another cup of flour. Repeat this step and add in the third cup of flour. At this point, you will only want to add ¼ cup of flour each time until the dough is slightly tacky, but no longer sticky. I ended up using 3½ cups of flour, but it can differ for you. Alternatively, you can do this step in a large mixing bowl, using either a wooden spoon or better yet your hands.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover it with either plastic wrap or a clean towel, and let the dough rise for 15 to 20 minutes.
- While the dough is rising you will need to prep two things. First preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or 205 degrees celsius. Secondly, add the 6 cups of water and ⅓ cup of baking soda to a large pot, and place it over medium heat until it comes to a low boil.
- Form the pretzels: Turn the pretzel dough onto a lightly floured surface, and use either a sharp knife or a bench scraper to divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Then take one portion and use your hands to roll it out into a roughly 2-foot long rope. Next, lay this rope out into a U-shape. Take the two ends of the rope and twist them over and under each other. Finally, take this twist and fold it back on to the bottom of the “U”. Place this on either a parchment-lined or silicone mat lined baking sheath. Repeat this step until all portions of dough are formed into pretzel shapes.
- Give the pretzels a bath in the baking soda solution: Make sure that the baking soda solution is at a low boil. Then use either a large slotted spoon or a slotted spatula and gently place one pretzel in this bath. Let the pretzel cook in this bath for 30 seconds making sure to use the spoon/spatula to splash some of the water over the top of the pretzel. After the 30 seconds take the pretzel out, make sure it drains completely, and place it back on your baking sheet. Repeat this step with all of the pretzels.
- Bake the pretzels: Sprinkle some coarse salt over the tops of each pretzel. Then place them in your oven and let them bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are nicely brown in color. Take the pretzels out of the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Your soft pretzels are now done, make sure to enjoy them while they are still nice and warm.
