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Soft Sourdough Pretzel Recipe

The Pantry Mama
These easy sourdough pretzels are soft and simple to make. They can be topped with salt or sesame seeds and are perfect for sharing with friends.
4.55 from 80 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 13 hours
Servings 12 pretzels
Calories 178 kcal
SOFT SOURDOUGH PRETZEL RECIPE - FEATURE RECIPE IMAGE
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Equipment

  • Stand Mixer recommended
  • Baking Trays
  • Stock Pot for boiling pretzels
  • Slotted Spoon

Ingredients  

  • 100 g Sourdough Starter fed and bubbly or discard (see notes)
  • 500 g Bread Flour
  • 260 g Water Warm
  • 30 g Sugar
  • 10 g Salt
  • 1 Egg plus 20g of water for egg wash

For Boiling

  • 2 Litres Water
  • 60 g Bicarbonate of Soda Baking Soda

Instructions 

  • I recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe as it is a stiff dough and can easily be kneaded in a stand mixer.
    Add sourdough starter, water, flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer and bring together to form a shaggy dough.
  • Allow the dough to rest for around 15 minutes.
  • Knead the dough (you'll need to use a dough hook for stand mixers) for around 10 minutes until it is smooth and supple.
    This is a stiff dough (much like sandwich bread dough) so it won't be super elastic, however it should be smooth and not sticky.
  • Once the dough is sufficiently kneaded, you'll need to allow it to rise or ferment.
    You want the dough to double and be puffy and soft.
    Soft sourdough pretzel dough risen after fermenting in a plastic bowl
  • Once the dough has risen, you'll need to shape the pretzels. It's quite simple, you just need a little patience.
    Divide the dough into 12 pieces weighing 80g each. Shape each piece of dough into a small ball and then roll out into a long, thin strip. Around 45cm is perfect.
    Pretzel dough rolled into 45cm long strips
  • Twist each strip into a pretzel (see shaping notes above).
    Shaped pretzel
  • Cover the pretzels with a dish cloth and allow them become lovely and puffy.
  • Once they are puffy, place them into the freezer for around 30 minutes to set.
  • While they are setting in the freezer, bring a pot of water with 60g of baking soda added to the boil and preheat your oven to 200C/392F.
    Adding baking soda to pot of boiling water
  • When the water is boiling, carefully place 3-4 pretzels into the boiling water at a time. You want to boil them for around 30 seconds each. They should float to the surface and that's when you know to take them out.
    Place frozen pretzels into boiling water to set
  • Carefully remove the pretzels from the boiling water using a slotted spoon.
    Lay the pretzels onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
    Removing pretzels from boiling water with slotted spoon
  • Using a pastry brush, brush on the egg wash mixture and then sprinkle with salt or seeds as desired.
    Egg washing pretzels before adding salt and or sesame seeds
  • Bake the pretzels for around 20 - 25 minutes at 200C/392F. Remove them from the oven when they are golden brown.
  • Allow them to cool before you enjoy them!

Notes

Topping Ideas: Pretzels can be topped with a range of different things including - sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flakey sea salt, everything bagel seasoning, parmesan cheese, shredded tasty cheese, cinnamon sugar just to name a few!
Kneading: ideally this recipe should be done in a stand mixer because it is a stiff dough - but you can knead it by hand if you wish.
Using Sourdough Discard - if you are using sourdough discard, you'll need to add up to 7g of yeast. This will mean that the dough will rise much faster than using sourdough starter alone. You will not need to leave them as long to rise in this case.

Nutrition

Calories: 178kcal Carbohydrates: 37g Protein: 5g Fat: 1g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 1g Sodium: 325mg Potassium: 44mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 5g Vitamin A: 1IU Vitamin C: 1mg Calcium: 7mg Iron: 1mg
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