The Best Homemade Pretzels

This is probably my favorite recipe for soft homemade pretzels. Originally from Alton Brown, the recipe works perfectly — especially if you use weights rather than volume.

In my opinion this recipe is great for beginners because the dough is so easy to work with.  That, plus these homemade soft pretzels taste infinitely better than store-bought.  They’re giant with chewy brown skins and soft fluffy centers.  If you aren’t into trying different types of mustard, you will be after making these because they are even better with a side of spicy mustard.

Here’s a link to the original full batch version. I always halve the recipe and make a smaller batch, so that’s what you’ll see below. The small batch homemade pretzels will give you 4 very large pretzels or 6 slightly smaller ones.

Some notes on ingredients.  When I first started making these I used Platinum yeast, a special instant yeast with dough conditioners.  Lately I haven’t been able to find Platinum, so I use regular instant (quick rising) yeast.  For the flour, I’ve used all-purpose, bread flour and even a special high gluten Artisan bread flour from Bob’s Red Mill.

The artisan bread flour makes the dough stronger and less likely to break when rolling out your ropes, and the pretzels seem fluffier.  If you can find it, I recommend the artisan flour.  I’ve also noticed I get fluffier pretzels when I use half butter and half oil rather than just butter.  And finally, for the pretzel salt we just use pretzel salt leftover from whatever brand of frozen pretzels we’ve purchased in the past. Super Pretzels and Dollar Store frozen pretzels always give you more salt than you need in the little salt packs.  The frozen pretzels are okay in a pinch, but these homemade ones are SO much better.

Print Recipe

The Best Homemade Pretzels

Small Batch Homemade Pretzels adapted from Alton Brown's recipe. These freeze well.

Prep Time3 hrs 20 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time3 hrs 35 mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4

Author: Cookie Madness

Ingredients

• 308 grams all-purpose flour or Artisan bread flour 2 1/4 cups plus more if needed
• 1 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (or use 1 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil)
• ¾ cup very warm water hottest out of the tap

Boiling Solution

• 5 cups water
• 1/3 cup baking soda
• 1 beaten egg mixed with a little water
• Pretzel salt or Maldon sea salt

Instructions

• Weigh your flour and combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the melted butter (or butter and oil), then stir in the water to make a soft dough. You can use the paddle attachment or just stir with a heavy-duty scraper or spoon.
• Attach dough hook and knead until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. **Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in warm spot in the kitchen until doubled (45 minutes to an hour).
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil (I usually skip the oil). Set aside.
• Bring the 5 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a 3 1/2 quart saucepan.
• Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface (this helps keep the ropes from breaking as easily) and divide into 4 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 half sheet pan.
• Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg mixture and sprinkle with your choice of salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

I used to clean out the mixing bowl and oil it a bit before adding back the dough to rise.  These days I just leave the kneaded dough in the bowl and cover it.