These easy soft pretzels are so good they’re dangerous!!! You won’t be able to stop at one or two, you’ll want to eat them all!!!
We love to make this pretzel snack to go along with our charcuterie boards, or anytime we’re craving a hearty treat! You won’t believe how easy this recipe is to make!!
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Ingredients in the Easy Soft Pretzels…
There are some pretty basic ingredients in this recipe, but one thing you’ll need to make sure to have on hand is yeast for making the easy soft pretzels.
Water, sugar, flour, salt, butter, baking soda, egg yolk, and sea salt are also needed!
Mixing the pretzel dough…
If you’re lucky enough to have a stand mixer with a dough hook, it works great for making this dough. But it’s not a must! We’ve mixed these pretzels up by hand too, and they turn out just as good!! It just takes a little more energy to make them! But it’s a great stress relief if that’s what you need, lol!!
Place warm water, sugar and salt in your mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to bubble a bit and smells all nice and yeasty!
Add in the flour and melted butter. Use the dough hook (if you’re using a stand mixer!) or a large spoon to combine. Knead for 4 minutes in the mixer or by hand.
Place the ball of dough into a large bowl that has been sprayed or greased. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel, and place it in a warm spot on your counter.
Let the dough rise for about an hour, or until it’s about doubled in size.
Making the pretzels…
In a large roasting pan place the water and 2/3 cup baking soda over high heat to bring it to a boil. While the water is heating, you can form the pretzels.
Spray or grease an area of your countertop to work with the dough. Divide the dough into four separate sections. Then divide each section into again four sections, so you have about sixteen little globs of dough.
Roll the dough into a rope about 10-12 inches long. You can leave the pretzels in ropes to make pretzel sticks, or you can shape the ropes into a pretzel shape. They taste the same either way. And just plain ropes are much easier to make. So pretzel sticks it usually is, lol!
Sometimes I make shorter pretzel sticks, so they seem to go further!!!
Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment paper to further prevent sticking.
Place the pretzels 1-2 at a time in the boiling baking soda water. Boil them for 30 seconds, removing them with a slotted spatula onto the prepared baking sheets. If you boil the pretzel sticks for more than 30 seconds they’ll get a funny taste!
Whisk together an egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water. Brush the boiled pretzels with egg mixture, and sprinkle with Sea Salt.
Bake the pretzels at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes, until nicely browned.
Let the pretzels cook about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve warm easy soft pretzels plain, or with cheese sauce, pizza sauce, mustard sauce, or any other sauce of your choice.
I’ve made homemade cheese sauce, and honestly I prefer the sauce out of a can for dipping pretzels into! So easy and cheesy yummy!!!
Honestly, these pretzels are so tender and yummy, they don’t even need sauce. Sometimes I just brush them with a little garlic butter when they’re warm, and eat them plain! Yum!!
Enjoy!!!
Easy Soft Pretzel Sticks
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 egg yolk beaten, with 1 Tbsp water
- Sea salt
Optional Garlic Butter:
- 3 Tbsp salted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- pinch fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
- Combine the water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer, that's ok! Then use a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast begins to foam and smells yeasty.
- Add the flour and melted butter. Use the dough hook (or a large spoon if mixing by hand) and mix on low until well combined. Switch to medium and knead for about 4 minutes (or knead by hand 4 minutes), until the dough is smooth and elastic-like and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour or until about doubled in size.
- Fill to half a large stockpot or roasting pan with water. Add baking soda and over high heat bring to a boil.
- Preheat oven to 450°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly spray with non-stick spray.
- Spray your counter or cutting board with non-stick spray. Remove dough ball from bowl and divide in half, then in halves again until you have 16 total pieces. Roll each piece into a 10"-12" rope.
- Wisk egg yolk with 1 Tbsp. water, set aside.
- Boil 2-3 pretzel sticks at a time for 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon or slotted spatula to remove them from the boiling water onto the lined baking sheet.
- Brush boiled pretzels with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.Remove to cooling rack. Cool a few minutes before serving. If desired, brush warm pretzels with garlic butter.
- Serve plain or with cheese sauce, pizza sauce, mustard, or any other sauce you'd like!
- Enjoy!!!
