Quick and Easy Soft Pretzels
These are the softest, chewiest, quickets, and easiest soft pretzels you will ever bake in your life!
Servings: 8 Pretzels
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1½ cups Warm Water
- 1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
- 4 teaspoons Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (melted)
- 3½-4 cups All-Purpose Flour
For Boiling:
- 6 cups Water
- ¼ cup Baking Soda
For the Topping:
- 2 Egg Yolks
- Pretzel Salt or Maldon Flaky Salt (optional)
Instructions
- Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing until fully incorporated. Once the third cup is added and incorporated into the dough, add 1/2 cup of flour to a working surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and begin to knead the dough on the surface, gradually adding the 1/2 of flour on the working surface as you are kneading it.
- If the dough is still too sticky once the 3 ½ cups of flour are added, add ¼ cup more flour to the working surface while you are kneading. The dough should be tacky but not sticky. If your dough is still sticky and you need to add another ¼ cup of flour, you can, but I ususally find 3½ cups to be perfect for my dough. You want the dough to still be supple and smooth but not sticky.
- Once the dough has been kneaded for at least 8 minutes, transfer to an oiled bowl and allow to rise for 40-45 minutes or until doubled in size. Make sure the bowl is covered with plastic wrap to ensure the dough stays hydrated and does not dry out.
- Once the dough is risen, divide it into 8 or 16 equal sections. You can either make 8 large pretzels or 16 mini pretzels, the ones in my photos are the large ones. For the large pretzels, roll the dough into a long rope, about 18-20 inches long, and twist into a pretzel shape. Add water to the dough where the loose ends meet the bottom of the pretzel to ensure the pretzel shape holds together. Repeat for each pretzel and set on an oiled baking sheet and allow to rise, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until they look puffed.
- After the pretzels have puffed, boil 6 cups of water and 1/4 cup baking soda in a heavy bottomed pot. Place parchement paper on two large baking sheets. At this point, preheat your oven to 425°F.
- When the water is boiling, add your pretzels 1 or 2 at a time, boiling for 30 seconds per side. Once finished boiling, transfer the pretzels to the parchment covered baking sheets. Finish boiling all of the pretzels. About 4 large pretzels will fit per sheet comfortably.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the egg yolk over the top of the boiled pretzels, making sure to have even coverage of yolk over the dough. Sprinkle the salt on top of the egg yolk washed pretzels, and place in the preheated oven to bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven once evenly browned and puffed. Allow to cool before enjoying!