30 Minute Homemade Soft Pretzels

Make an EASY version of those soft, buttery mall pretzels at home in under 30 minutes (from start to finish!). No mixer needed - just a spatula and a few simple ingredients to make homemade soft pretzels!

Makes 8 large pretzels, 12 small pretzels, or lots of pretzel bites! Be sure to follow baking instructions below based on size.

Course Bread

Cuisine Snack

Keyword homemade pretzels, homemade soft pretzels, soft pretzel recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 243kcal

Author Melissa Rose

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough

1 ½ cups warm water
4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast Two (0.25 oz.) Packets
3 tablespoons salted butter unsalted is fine but salted tastes way better in these!
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt

Water Bath

2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda (not teaspoons!)

For Topping & Dipping (Optional)

½ tablespoon coarse pretzel or sea salt
3 tablespoons salted butter for brushing on top

Instructions

In a medium-sized bowl or measuring cup, stir together warm water (1 ½ cups), active dry yeast (4 ½ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (3 tablespoons). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet - no need to heat it up more. Let sit for 5 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.
*See notes below if your mixture doesn't foam or bubble.
While the yeast is proofing, mix together the all-purpose flour (4 ½ cups) and salt (½ teaspoon) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture.
After the 5 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture and pour into the crater you created in the flour bowl.
Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a solid ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
Place the dough ball back into the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean dish towel) and let sit for 10 minutes. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
Using a knife, cut the dough into 12 even sections (you can make larger pretzels by cutting it into 6-8 sections). Once cut, use your hands to roll each ball into a long strip about ½ inch thick and 20 inches long (if making 8 larger pretzels, roll 1 inch thick and 24 inches long).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups warm water and 2 tablespoons (not teaspoons) of baking soda.
Dip each dough strip in the baking soda mixture for 1-2 seconds then quickly form into a pretzel and place on baking sheet. * See video above for how to twist a pretzel.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt or pretzel salt, if desired.
Bake at 425℉ according to times below.
Small Pretzels (if making 12): Bake 7-8 minutes or until pretzels are a light golden brown (my oven typically takes 8 minutes).
Larger Pretzels (if making 6-8): Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
After removing from the oven, use a pastry brush or spoon to brush warm pretzels with melted salted butter. This is what truly gives it that mall pretzel taste - don't skip the salted butter!
Where I normally use unsalted butter in baking, these need salted butter for dipping. Unsalted just doesn't taste as good here!
Enjoy warm with cheese sauce!

Video

Notes

Yeast isnt foaming or bubbling? If your mixture doesn't foam or bubble after 10-20 minutes, your yeast is likely dead and you need to start over with fresh yeast.

Storing/Freezing: These are best fresh, but can also be stored in an airtight container or bag for 1-2 days. I will say that after 1-2 days, they lose their fresh taste & soft texture, but they're still edible.

If you do not plan to eat them right away, let them cool then freeze them in an airtight bag (for 1-2 months). To get them to taste the freshest again, pop them into the oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes until they're heated through.

Cinnamon Sugar Variation: For Cinnamon Sugar pretzels, mix together ½ cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon and then roll each pretzel (after you brush on the butter) in the mixture!

Nutrition is just an estimate and auto-calculated from a directory. Based on 12 pretzels and does not include dipping sauces.

Nutrition