Chewy and soft sourdough pretzels are like the classic recipe, but with that flavorful sourdough tang. Top them with salt, cinnamon sugar, or some fresh parmesan cheese for a delicious snack.
Is there a more comforting snack than warm homemade soft pretzels topped with coarse salt? Well, yes, these long fermented sourdough pretzels. Talk about taking a classic recipe and bringing it up a notch.
With more than 80 sourdough recipes on the blog, I’m constantly trying to find creative ways to use up my sourdough starter and bring more recipes to your home.
I’m often asked if I ever don’t want to cook or get stuck in a food rut.
Truth be told, making food from scratch has been a passion of mine for a long time, and there is just no contest between store-bought and homemade. I absolutely adore being able to provide my family with these delicious recipes.
I’m thankful I get to bring them into your home as well. Being creative in the kitchen and coming up with these recipes also helps me keep the food spark alive.
Tips:
- You want to use active sourdough starter to make this light and fluffy.
- This is the perfect master recipe that is delicious with just a little salt or you can totally customize with additional delicious toppings.
- Sourdough discard can be used instead of active sourdough starter, but you may have to let the dough ferment longer.
- You don’t need to be confined to just creating the pretzel shape, you can also shape these into buns, knots, twists, and rolls.
- If you are new to sourdough, you can learn how to make a sourdough starter here.
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Sourdough Pretzel FAQ:
Are sourdough pretzels a healthy snack?
Yes, most definitely. They are the perfect salty snack. Since the dough is fermented, the vitamins and minerals are more bio-available for your body to absorb, and there is less gluten making them easier to digest.
What makes pretzel dough different than bread?
The real main difference is that pretzel dough is boiled in water with baking soda before it is baked giving it that yummy crust.
Can sourdough pretzels be frozen?
Yes. Freeze after baking in an air-tight container or Ziploc bag. Pop in a warm oven for a few minutes to reheat.
You can also freeze the pretzel dough after the bulk fermentation and after you have shaped the dough. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2-3 hours or until completely frozen. Then transfer into a Ziploc bag. Allow the dough to thaw completely and then rise for another hour. Boil and bake as directed.
Tools you may need:
Measuring cups and spoons
Large bowl
Pot
Slotted spoon or spider strainer
Ingredients:
Dough
Sourdough starter – Active and bubbly
Water – Preferably filtered
Honey – Could also substitute honey with maple syrup
Salt – Adds so much flavor to the dough, and bread without salt is bland.
Unbleached all-purpose flour – Store-bought or fresh milled
Water Bath
Water
Baking soda – This gives the pretzels a deep golden color, cracked outside, and chewy inside. You will find it is very similar to making sourdough bagels. This is because the baking soda makes the water alkaline and gelatinizes the outside which prevents it from fully rising during the baking process, giving it chewy texture.
Brown sugar
Egg Wash
Egg – Gives it that beautiful deep golden color.
Coarse salt – Is there anything better than a salty pretzel? You want to use coarse sea salt so it stays nice and chunky.
How To Make Sourdough Pretzels:
Add active sourdough starter, water, honey, salt and flour to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Mix the dough on the lowest speed for 5-10 minutes with the dough hook. You could also knead by hand for 10 -15 minutes. The dough should pass the window-pane test.
Cover the bowl and let rest at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
Shaping Pretzels
Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a 18” rope and then create a U-shape.
Take the two ends of the rope and create a twist with the dough.
Twist it twice and then press the ends of the dough into the bottom of the U-shape.
Cover the dough and allow them to rise for about an hour.
Boiling And Baking Pretzel Dough
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Bring water in a large stockpot to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.
Boil the pretzels for 30 seconds on each side, I like to do 4 pretzels at a time, so that they aren’t overcrowded.
Take out with a slotted spoon or kitchen spider strainer, shaking off excess water and place on a parchment line baking sheet.
Brush each pretzel with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Baking Schedule
10 AM-12 PM: Feed your sourdough starter.
8 PM : Mix the dough together. Cover and ferment.
8 AM the next day: Shape dough and allow to rise for a hour covered. Preheat oven and bring water to a boil.
9 AM: Boil and bake pretzels.
Storage:
Place in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. Or freeze up to 3 months.
Reheating Pretzels:
To reheat pretzels, gently moisten the pretzels with a little bit of water, and place in a 325°F for 5 minutes until warm.
You can also reheat in the microwave. Cover with a damp towel and reheat in 30 second intervals until warm. This is definitely not the preferred way as the results will leave something to be desired.
Pretzel Topping Ideas:
Before adding toppings brush the cooked pretzels with melted butter.
- Course Salt
- Cinnamon and sugar. You could also use pumpkin spice
- Parmesean cheese
- Everything but the bagel seasoning
- Top with shredded cheese and place in a 350 degree oven until just melted. Serve with some warm pasta sauce to make pizza pretzels.
Find More Of My Favorite Sourdough Recipes
- Sourdough Brioche
- Sourdough Banana Bread
- Fluffy Sourdough Donuts With Vanilla Glaze
- Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
- Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone with your delicious creation.
Sourdough Pretzels
Ingredients
- ½ cup sourdough starter active and bubbly (113 grams)
- 1 cup water 236 grams
- 2 tablespoons honey 42 grams
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt 11 grams
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour 420 grams
Water Bath
- 2 quarts water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Add active sourdough starter, water, honey, salt and all-purpose flour to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix the dough on the lowest speed for 5-10 minutes with the dough hook. The dough should pass the window-pane test.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and let rest at room temperature for 8-12 hours. Or until doubled.
- Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece into a 18” rope and then create a U-shape.
- Take the two ends of the rope and create a twist with the dough.
- Twist it twice and then press the ends of the dough into the bottom of the U-shape.
- Cover the dough and allow them to rise for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bring water in a large stockpot to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
- Boil the pretzels for 30 seconds on each side, being careful not to overcrowd.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Brush each pretzel with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Notes
- You want to use active sourdough starter to make this light and fluffy.
- This is the perfect master recipe that is delicious with just a little salt or you can totally customize with additional delicious toppings.
- Sourdough discard can be used instead of active sourdough starter, but you may have to let the dough ferment longer.
- You don’t need to be confined to just creating the pretzel shape, you can also shape these into buns, knots, twists, and rolls.
Ashten says
Hi! I absolutely love your sourdough recipes and THANK YOU for including gram measurements. Volume measurements work too, but I use recipes from different sources so this helps so much! I use several of your sourdough recipes on a consistent basis, but I always struggle with this one. The dough wants to retract into itself when shaping and they are so sticky. Still really tasty but turn out more like pretzel knots. The discard recipe you have for these always comes out perfect so I’m wondering what I’m doing wrong?
Shade says
I am having the same issue. dough looks more like slime not like your pretty playdough looking pretzels.
Yasmine says
I have just made this recipe and my dough was like slime, I must have added at least another 150 grams of flour until I got a good consistency. I just kept adding until it reached a more workable consistency. Just waiting for the rise now.
Elisabeth heslep says
Glad I’m not the only one I thought I did something wrong
Celena says
My experience was a bit different. My dough was beautiful, no issues with stickiness or anything, very nice to work with. My trouble came when it was time to roll and shape them. Even letting them rest and getting nice long snakes, as soon as I’d shape them they’d retract in on themselves. I made 1.5 batches and ended up with about 14 pretzels. I tried making them a bit bigger so they wouldn’t just be a blob. They taste delicious, but they definitely don’t have the cute pretzel shape. Any advise?
Linda Kaplan says
I made my pretzels into pretzel hotdogs using Nathan hotdogs. They were a big hit. After dividing the dough, I wrapped the hotdogs with the long “snake” of dough. I placed the wrapped dogs on a cookie sheet sprayed with non stick spray. I placed in oven with oven light on to help them raise quicker. When they were ready, I removed from oven. Then preheated to 425 degrees. I placed 3 at a time in the boiling water, soda and brown sugar bath for 30 seconds. Placed on parchment, brushed with egg wash and baked 15 minutes. They were a big hit!
Lisa Bass says
That is amazing! What a great idea.
Veronica Coates says
First time making this recipe and it was a DISASTER!! The dough was INCREDIBLY sticky. Even after adding more flour. No got a successful windowpane test, even agter kneading for 20 minutes. After rising, still so so sticky. Know way could I make pretzels. And the dough stuck so bad to the parchment paper. Ended up like tiny blobs.
Will not be making this one again.
Lisa Bass says
I’m sorry you had troubles! That’s not how the dough is supposed to form. Would you like to try it measured in grams? Here’s my conversion chart. Some people prefer that for the precision.
Sylvia says
Could you please list the ingredients by grams. I have had a bad time with this recipe but love the idea
Lisa Bass says
Here’s a conversion chart.
Heather D says
Wow! This recipe was perfect. I had not one issue with making these from start to finish. Maybe being at elevation helped? I will be using this recipe over and over again. The pretzels were also baked perfectly and delicious. I recommend watching them to make sure you get them browned to your liking. I’m definitely going to try some other ideas listed in the comments, too.
Lisa Bass says
Glad you liked the recipe.
Emily says
I had very sticky dough, almost unworkable as most comments had stated. I used the weighted measurements instead of cups. It also never passed the window pane test. I added an extra 100 grams of flour and was still unworkable, but better. I decided to add “stretch and folds” before I let it rest for the 8-12 hours. This helped tremendously! Pretzels turned out great that way!
Lisa Bass says
Sometimes the stretch and folds can help the gluten structure form! Glad that helped and thanks for sharing your feedback.
Elina says
Unfortunately, my pretzels were an absolute disaster. The dough was too sticky, even after adding more flour the pretzels were sticking to everything. And after baking they were completely stuck to the parchment paper. I has to toss the entire batch.
Lisa Bass says
I’m sorry you had that issue!
Chelsea says
These were fantastic! My husband ate most of the batch fresh out of the oven, and is now in a food coma. I almost didn’t try this recipe after reading reviews about the dough being too sticky, but I didn’t run into that at all. I used the volume measurements, and probably ran the mixer with the dough hook for closer to 20 minutes – until the dough passed the window pane test like the recipe says. I’m so excited with how these turned out!
Lisa, you should make a sourdough cookbook!
Lisa, you should
Audrey says
Would anyone know about how many grams each pretzel would be when dividing them up?
Tori says
The bread came out entirely too sticky to shape and divide.
Lisa Bass says
It sounds like your dough may have over fermented. That can cause a sticky dough that won’t hold its shape. I’m sorry you had troubles!