Soft Pretzels
88 comments » 
I am a bona fide soft pretzel addict. Whether I’m at the mall, at a sporting event, or at a restaurant that’s offering Oktoberfest specials, there’s at least a 90% chance that I’m going to get a soft pretzel.
There’s something so satisfying about that distinctive chewy exterior paired with the warm, soft inside of a pretzel that makes them irresistible. It’s a snack food that transcends seasons – whether you’re enjoying a baseball game on a warm summer evening, partaking in Oktoberfest festivities during the fall, catching a hockey game in the dead of winter, or strolling the mall any time of year, soft pretzels are where it’s at.
This is my third iteration of a soft pretzel recipe… my first attempt was nearly SIX years ago(!)… then I moved on to another recipe a few months later, and then finally settled on this fabulous version some two years ago, and it’s the only one I’ve been making since. I’ve found that this recipe produces the softest, chewiest, most “traditional” tasting soft pretzels that I’ve made to date. My deepest apologies for taking this long to get it up on the site!
You don’t have to be an expert at baking with yeast to turn out some fantastic soft pretzels. Before long, you’ll be twisting and shaping dough like a pro. So, if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to work with yeast, this recipe is a fabulous place to start, as it’s basic, easy and incredibly forgiving. Once you have this basic recipe down, you can use it to make all sorts of adaptations: mini pretzels, cinnamon-sugar pretzels, cheddar pretzels, or even pretzel dogs!
One year ago: Chicken Noodle Soup and Oatmeal Carmelita Bars
Two years ago: Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries and Pecans
Three years ago: Rugelach
Five years ago: Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
Soft Pretzels
Yield: 8 pretzels
Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
My favorite recipe for classic soft pretzels. Perfect plain or dipped in your favorite mustard sauce!
Ingredients:
1½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cups baking soda
1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water, whisked together (for egg wash)
Coarse salt, for sprinklingDirections:
1. Combine the water, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to foam.
2. Add the flour and butter. Use the dough hook attachment to mix on low speed until all of the ingredients are combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with the vegetable oil; set aside.
5. Combine the water and baking soda in a large, wide pot (a Dutch oven works perfect for this). Bring the mixture to a rolling boil.
6. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 2 or 3 at a time (or however many will fit comfortably given the size of your pot – don’t crowd them), for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large, flat spatula. Place the boiled pretzels back on the baking sheet, brush the top of each pretzel with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt.
8. Bake until dark golden brown in color, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
(Recipe adapted from Alton Brown)
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The only time I have pretzels are when I go to the mall and buy some from Auntie Anne’s. I particularly love it with Sugar and Cinnamon. Perhaps it’s time to make some myself. Thanks for sharing Michelle! Have a great week ahead!
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I have a serious weakness for soft pretzels, but I’ve never attempted them at home. Perhaps this will be the year I try to make them! Do you have any recommendations for good mustard sauce recipes?
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Michelle on January 7th, 2013 at 11:13 pm
Hi Allison, I’ve never made my own mustard sauce; I believe the one we had with the pretzels in the photo was purchased at Ikea in their little grocery section near the exit
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Too funny….on my list of things to make THIS WEEK (and would have done it today but it was raining and I didnt want to make bread on a rainy day) was to make soft pretzels. I was going to use the Alton recipe & King Arthur and sort of roll them into one. Yours look so good I just want to grab one, and makes me want to make my pretzels finally!
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Hi, thanks for this recipe! I love soft pretzels a lot and I would love to use your recipe.
But I have a question: 2/3 cups of baking soda seems like a whole lot to me (although I am not very familiar with baking soda, I’m from the Netherlands and we usually use baking powder as a leavening agent). So, is 2/3 cups / 200 grams correct?
Thanks in advance!
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Margriet on January 7th, 2013 at 2:42 am
Oh sorry, I understand now, it’s not used as a leaving agent but for the water to boil the pretzels in. That explains a lot.
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Ok, I’m so making this. Very soon. Will post pics of my success (or failure, but I highly doubt it will be a failure). I haven’t had a true “failure” from your recipes yet!
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I did not read the recipe very well and all I saw was 10 cups of water. Was reading your intstructions and am thinking that 10 cups of water to 1 pkg of yeast. Finally looked at the recipe again and saw 1 1/2 cup of water.
Have never tasted one of these but they sound good.
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I loooooove pretzels. I hope a recipe for that mustard comes along soon:)
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Its like you read my mind and posted this recipe for me! I was just daydreaming about having a big, warm soft pretzel just yesterday! I can’t wait to try these.
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I’ve been wanting to make soft pretzels for awhile now. I’ve made them in bite form, but I want to actually twist the pretzels
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I love soft pretzels and yours look amazing! I have been hearing about Alton’s pretzel recipe a lot lately, and with your recipe, I plan on making pretzels this week!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
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I’m addicted to soft pretzels, too, but have never been brave enough to try to make them myself–I may just have to give them a whirl!
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Soft pretzels are totally on my bucket list!!!!!!!
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Love soft pretzels- can’t wait to try this recipe. I just got a pastry mat similar to the one you show above as well!
-m
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Okay, so I’ve never made soft pretzels but they are definitely on my list. So funny that you posted this today because over the weekend we found a soft pretzel shop while we were out and about and went on a total binge, and my little guy’s been wanting more. Thanks!
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Soft pretzels are the best! My husband has been hinting that I need to make them again!
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Michelle, since I made my first soft pretzel recipe last month during the holidays, i’ve been searching cookbooks and the internet for different varieties and I have always come back to Alton Brown’s. I’m glad you made it and shared these with us – I am a true believer in homemade pretzels now and can’t wait to try this version someday.
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Totally swooning!
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I LOVE soft pretzels too! Thanks for the recipe!
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Hubby is a big fan of soft pretzels, so soft pretzels have been on my to-do list for quite a long time. I’m so making these soon! I’m a big AB fan and your pics are great so I’m sure these can’t go wrong. Mmmmm, I can almost smell them now. thanks for sharing!!
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I love homemade soft pretzels; do you have any advice – I have stripped the gears on my artisan kitchenaide three different times making soft pretzels, and the last time I made them by hand
too much kneading my arm was so swore.
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Michelle on January 7th, 2013 at 11:15 pm
Hi Jade, Yikes! I feel your pain. It got to the point where my Artisan was smoking every time I kneaded bread dough. If you find that you’re kneading a lot of dough in your mixer, I definitely recommend upgrading to the Professional series. It’s been a dream for me. Until then, lots of elbow grease!
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Can we get the dip recipe or do we have to wait for it? =)
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Michelle on January 7th, 2013 at 11:16 pm
Hi Carolin, I apologize for any misunderstanding, I don’t have a homemade mustard dip recipe. I am working on a homemade cheese dipping sauce, though!
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I recently got into making homemade pretzels and my family loves them. I do mine slightly different – I do not put on the egg wash. I wait until they have been in the oven for 5 minutes – then I brush with butter and sprinkle the salt at that point. Then bake until golden brown – they taste similar to auntie annies!
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Looks good! One of my 2013 foodie goals is actually to make more yeasted breads. These WILL be made in my kitchen soon!
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I’ve been dying to make pretzels and was thinking of doing so in the coming weeks, and these definitely look like a great place to start!
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We love making soft pretzels!
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Such a fav in this house. Yum!
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If I don’t want to add salt on top of the pretzels do I still need to do the egg wash?
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Michelle on January 7th, 2013 at 11:17 pm
Hi Michelle, I would, it gives them a nice golden brown color.
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I love soft pretzels too! I am just not sure if I have the patience for this process! I think the whole boiling water and putting them in there scares me!
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I had soft pretzels on my mind recently. These look perfect! I have yet to try Alton’s recipe but after seeing yours – I can’t wait!
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these look GREAT girl!!!
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I’m madly in love with soft pretzels and it was one of the first yeasted doughs I tried. So simply and totally amazing fresh outta the oven.
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Thank you for this recipe. My mom used to make a version of this so it touched me so very much to see something like she used to make. Note to the ladies – always get your mom’s recipes before its too late.
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I’m so glad to see you adding photos of the recipe in progress in addition to your final finished end product pics.
Is there a particular reason why you only crossed the ends of your pretzels rather than twisting them as is traditionally done?
Also, if using instant yeast do you just skip the step of adding the yeast to the water and waiting for it to foam?
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Making soft pretzels is one of the things my grand daughters love to do at grandma’s house. Now we have a new recipe to test out. Their father, my son, particularly likes it when we make soft pretzels also. Thanks for the new adventure.
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These look pretty easy to make! I’ve stopped getting pretzels from stands at games, etc. just because I don’t think they taste like they used to! They have become flavorless and blah. But, the one’s from Auntie Anne’s & The Pretzel Twister are a different story!
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This is too funny because I’ve had soft pretzels on my mind for a week now. I have to make them at home because the ones at the mall, although soo tempting, are so horrible for you!
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These are the best! Can you share a good cheese dip recipe for the pretzels? I can’t find one that we like…
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Michelle on January 7th, 2013 at 11:17 pm
Hi Rebecca, I am working on it!
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OH my goodness these look so fabulous!
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I am trying to move away from using white flour. Any suggestions on how this would need to be modified for (at least partial) whole wheat flour?
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Michelle on January 7th, 2013 at 11:24 pm
Hi Anna, I have not used any wheat flour in this recipe to date. You could give it a try, but I wouldn’t recommend substituting all of the flour for whole wheat. Even a partial substitution may affect the texture and outcome. Please let me know how it goes if you try it!
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Like you, I cannot resist a good pretzel. I have been MEANING to bake some.. maybe with some cheese sauce! Great post!!
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Thank you for this! It reminds me of being back in New York City! And my boyfriend loves soft pretzels so I will definitely be making these!
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I LOVE SOFT PRETZELS!!! Can’t wait to make these!!
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um, YES please! I’ve been wanting to make soft pretzels for a while now, and these pictures are convincing me even more! Looks delicious!
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Soft pretzels are amazing, nothing can compare! Yours are the perfect color and shape!
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Thanks for posting a tried and true recipe, I can’t wait to try my hands at pretzel making!
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Originally pretzels were boiled in a lye/water solution. Lye is not something most of us want to use in our home kitchens for cooking. However, if you bake the baking soda in a 200 degree oven for an hour the ph of the baking soda will be lowered and the resulting pretzel will be better.
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If it weren’t so late and my mixer weren’t so loud, I’d be in the kitchen making pretzels right now. I haven’t had a homemade soft pretzel in far too long!
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I haven’t had a soft pretzel in forever but they are one of my favorite childhood treats. Your sound and of course look amazing. I guess I need to get to work
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This doesn’t sound too difficult… I will have to try it out some time soon. Thanks for sharing!
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I love soft pretzels! Unfortitely it’s kind of hard to find here in Australia! I would so make these right now except it’s a scorching hot 43 degrees C heat wave and the last thing I want to do is bake!
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When I was younger, my sister and I would make pretzels with my mom. We always created funny shapes and had a blast. Thank you for jogging my memory with your post. I can’t wait to make them!
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I’m envisioning these for Super Bowl Sunday. Any thoughts on how they hold up if you sit them out for a bit? Better to shape and let sit uncooked until just before you’re ready to serve them?
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Michelle on January 9th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
Hi Mia, I think they would be fine if left to sit out for an hour or so after making them. If worse comes to worse, you could always pop them into a 350-degree oven to warm them up.
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Pretzels have been on my list to make for so long….this makes me want them even more.
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We woke up today in Idaho to our first snow day of the school year and saw these fantastic looking pretzels. My girls and I made these and they are AWESOME! I have made different recipes in the past and they don’t stand up to this one. I only had 1/3 cup of baking soda in the water but we still got that yummy salty taste. Don’t hesitate to make this recipe it comes together quickly. It made our snow day yummier!
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Michelle on January 11th, 2013 at 3:53 pm
Aw, I love this! Snow days were so much fun when I was a kid. My mom, sister and I would always build jigsaw puzzles
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I love to bake and we LOVE soft pretzels, but I am afraid of yeast! I really want to learn. How warm is “warm”, for the water?
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Michelle on January 11th, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Hi Pam, Some recipes give a specific temperature, but I find about 110 degrees F to be about spot on most of the time. If you stick your finger in the water, you want it to be noticeably warmer than room temperature, but not so HOT. I hope that helps!
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Made these and they are wonderful…best treat ever. Thanks for posting the recipe. Will be making these often.
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Hi Michelle! I love your site…one of the first one’s I visit every morning. I unfortunately do not have a stand mixer…do you think I could make these yummy looking pretzels in a bread maker? Mine has a dough setting on it, and I have been making delicious homemade pizza dough in it now for months. Thanks!
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Michelle on January 15th, 2013 at 6:41 pm
Hi Jennifer, I have actually never used a bread machine, and would probably recommend mixing by hand before using a bread machine. Just use a wooden spoon to mix the dough, and then knead by hand on a floured countertop.
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I made a “test” batch of these yesterday afternoon. My brother-in-law has a Super Bowl party every year (even if the Steelers are not in it) and I’m always looking for something new to take. Well, this is it! The pretzels were the BEST. I tried making soft pretzels in the past and, although they tasted good, they lost their shape when I boiled them. I watched Alton Brown’s demo and had no problem at all. I also made a beer cheese dip to go with them. Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
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Hi Michelle! I knew I wanted to make these as soon as I read this post, and I just finished making a batch. Your instructions are great. I did make a few substitutions to make the pretzels more healthy. Here’s what I did: swapped wholemeal wheat flour for all the all-purpose flour and olive oil for the butter. I found the dough quite dry (I guess because of the wholemeal), so I added more water while kneading. The dough rose beautifully, and the pretzels look real nice (although not as pretty as yours–wholemeal flour isn’t very pretty). They are yummy, moist, and soft, and my husband and I are enjoying eating them
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I made these and they were awesome, but I have a question about storing them. I made half topped with salt and half topped with cinnamon and sugar, and I put them together in a ziploc bag once they were cool. The cinnamon and sugar ones were fine, but the salted ones got sort of soggy, and left condensation in the bag, even after I left it open for a while. Any tips/suggestions for optimal storage?
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Michelle on January 20th, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Hi Rachel, That’s because of the salt, it happens even when I get store-bought soft pretzels and have leftovers. The best way to store leftover pretzels is in a brown paper bag, which eliminates the condensation from the salt. However, they’re usually only good like this for a day or so. If you won’t eat all of them in that period of time, I would recommend freezing them.
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I made these Friday night for the first time. I have been following your blog for a while and everything I’ve made from here has been a hit. The boiling water part really intimidated me since I’ve never done that before with dough but I figured you have always posted amazing recipes so why not step out of my comfort zone. I was so happy these pretzels turned out great even despite my lack of skill. My husband and two boys loved them. Thanks for always inspiring me and getting so many great recipes out to us!
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I can’t believe I made soft pretzels!!! To me they were one of those intimidating recipes that I thought I’d never make. Thank you for such an easy to follow recipe. I was really nervous but they turned out perfect. All the picky eaters in my family loved them!!!! Thanks! I’ll have to make them again.
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I’ve always wanted to make traditional pretzels (I’m German, in some ways it’s a right of passage
First off, these were super easy to make and more importantly-they were awesome! Thank you for posting such a great recipe!! (I gave one to my step dad to try when visiting and he said, after trying many which included multiple tries in Germany that they were the best he has ever tasted!) Look forward to trying more of your recipes 
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Made them with pleasure today. SO easy. I took my time as my kitchen is a tiny thing and they turned out FANTASTIC. My husband sells beer for a living and luckily had a nice German beer to go with. Next time I might make them a little smaller so I can share with more people. I’ve already got requests for more
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These look so good!
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I have tried so many of your recipes and I am almost never disappointed. This recipe turned out GREAT. I had never made pretzels before, but it was quite easy. I froze the remainders so that we will not eat them all so quickly. Thank you!!!!
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Was about to try these but wondered if 2/3c of baking soda is a mis-type. It seems like a lot!
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Kimberley on February 9th, 2013 at 2:02 pm
Oh, never mind. I just realized its for the water.
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Wow… I tried to make pretzels a couple of years ago and it went so poorly that I was sure I would never do it again… This morning the idea came to mind again and I found your posting. All I can say is… THANK YOU. I made these during my lunch break and brought them to my wife at work. She and her coworkers loved them. BTW, I doubled the recipe without any issues and now I have more for when my children get home from school. GREAT POST! THANK YOU AGAIN!
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Trying these pretzels right now! My husband is thrilled and cannot wait until they come out of the oven!
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These look yummy…
My favorite soft pretzel recipe, hands down, is King Arthur Flour’s Hot Buttered Pretzel recipe – best of any I’ve tried! It doesn’t require boiling (you dip the pretzel into warm H20/baking soda solution before baking at 500 degrees) & when they come out of the oven you brush them with melted butter. Mmmmm…
Delicious!
I like to make them on Sunday – such a contemplative process on a day of rest… kneading the dough, folding them into prayer arms, and then eating them!
Yum!
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We just got back from New York holiday. It is the first time we have tried soft /pretzel and we absolutely loved it! Although I am terrible in baking I am determined that I will make this a success! Thanks!
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May I use instant dry yeast instead of active dry yeast?
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Michelle on April 8th, 2013 at 11:51 am
Hi Kate, You can, but your rise time will be different. You also don’t need to bloom the yeast first; it can be whisked into the dry ingredients. I haven’t tried this recipe with instant yeast, but I think they should turn out just fine.
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I just tried your recipe, and the pretzels turned out great. I love their soft, chewy texture. A couple comments — first, I found using a slotted spoon made it easier to lift the pretzels out of the boiling water without breaking the shape. Also, you can make a really good honey mustard dip by combining equal parts dijon mustard and melted honey — a simple dip that goes really well with the salty pretzels.
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I just made these tonight. First, I accidentally grabbed my instant yeast instead of the active dry! I didn’t realize it until after they were rising. I just went with the recipe and they seemed great! We did a taste test by brushing 4 with egg wash and salt, and then the other 4 we did with melted butter and salt. The butter and salt was preferred, but the difference was slight. We devoured them all! Great recipe!
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