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.
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Is there a more comforting snack than warm, homemade, soft sourdough pretzels topped with coarse salt? No way. These homemade pretzels have that classic chewy crust and soft interior.
With more than 100 sourdough recipes on the blog, I’m constantly trying to find creative ways to use up my homemade sourdough starter and bring more recipes to your home.
I’m often asked if I ever don’t want to cook, or if I 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 love being able to provide my family and yours with these delicious recipes. From sourdough brioche cinnamon rolls to zucchini lasagna and everything in between.
Being creative in the kitchen and coming up with these recipes also helps me keep the food spark alive.
This recipe is a great way to be creative. Pair it with this delicious cheese sauce.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy: Once you get the hang of sourdough recipes, they are usually not very difficult. Just mix the pretzel dough and allow it to rise, then shape, rise, boil, and bake. I swear it’s not that hard and requires very little hands-on time. This recipe is really quite similar to my sourdough bagels.
Delicious: Soft and chewy, they make the perfect snack or treat. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce, like kefir ranch dressing, or top with cinnamon sugar for a yummy dessert.
Perfect for parties or to make ahead: These pretzels can easily be stored in the freezer for a few months at a time. What’s great is preparing a bunch of them and keeping them in the freezer for a party or when you are just craving a soft and chewy pretzel.
Ingredients
Dough
Sourdough starter – Active and bubbly.
Honey – You could also substitute the 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
Baking soda – This gives the pretzels a deep golden color, a cracked exterior, and a pleasantly chewy interior. You will find it is very similar to making sourdough bagels. The baking soda makes the water alkaline and gelatinizes the exterior, which prevents the bagels from fully rising during the baking process, giving them a chewy texture.
Egg Wash
Egg – Gives it that lovely, deep, golden color.
Pretzel salt – Is there anything better than a salty pretzel? You want to use coarse sea salt so it stays nice and chunky.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
Slotted spoon or spider strainer
How To Make Sourdough Pretzels
Step 1: Add active sourdough starter, water, honey, salt, and flour to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Step 2: 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 in a warm place for 8-12 hours or until doubled.
Step 3: Shape. Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces (image 3). Roll each piece into an 18” long rope, then create a U shape (image 4). Take the two ends of the rope and create a twist with the dough (image 5). Twist it twice, then press the ends of the dough into the bottom of the U shape (image 6). Cover the dough and let the dough rise for about an hour.
Step 4: 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. Place the pretzels in boiling water for 30 seconds on each side (image 6). I like to do 4 pretzels at a time so that they aren’t overcrowded.
Step 5: Take out with a slotted spoon or kitchen spider strainer, shaking off excess water, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (image 6).
Step 6: Brush each pretzel with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse pretzel salt (image 7). Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
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 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. Or try my sourdough discard pretzel recipe that has active dry yeast.
- You don’t need to be confined to just creating the pretzel shape. Try shaping them into pretzel buns, knots, twists, or rolls!
- If you are new to sourdough, I have a whole post on how to make a sourdough starter and another on how to care for a sourdough starter.
- Some people are sensitive to baking soda, so if you know this is the case, skip the baking soda and just use sugar in the boiling water.
Baker’s Timeline:
Feed your sourdough starter.
Mix the dough. Cover and ferment.
Shape dough and allow to rise for an hour covered. Preheat oven and bring water to a boil.
Boil and bake pretzels.
Reheating Pretzels
To reheat pretzels, gently moisten the pretzels with a little bit of water and place in a 325°F oven 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 not the preferred way, as the results will leave something to be desired.
Pretzel Topping Ideas
Before adding toppings, brush the baked pretzels with melted butter.
- Coarse salt
- Cinnamon and sugar, or even pumpkin spice
- Parmesan 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.
Recipe FAQ
Place in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container or bag.
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.
Boiling them in a baking soda or lye solution. I prefer baking soda because it is much safer than lye and not poisonous.
The real difference is that pretzel dough is boiled in water with baking soda before it is baked giving it that yummy crust.
Yes. Freeze after baking in an air-tight container or freezer-safe 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 for 2-3 hours or until completely frozen, then transfer into a freezer-safe bag. To bake, allow the dough to thaw completely and then rise for another hour. Boil and bake as directed.
More Sourdough Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Sourdough Brioche
- Sourdough Banana Bread
- Fluffy Sourdough Donuts With Vanilla Glaze
- Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
- Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Soft Sourdough Pretzels
Ingredients
- ½ cup sourdough starter, active and bubbly (113 grams)
- 1 cup water, 236 grams
- 2 tablespoons honey, 42 grams or maple syrup
- 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
- pretzel salt
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 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. Try shaping them into pretzel buns, knots, twists, or rolls!
- Some people are sensitive to baking soda, so if you know this is the case, skip the baking soda and just use sugar in the boiling water.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m going to nake these thus week.
E
Enjoy!
This are so good! I made beer cheese to accompany these and because I wanted them to be easy dipping I made pretzel bites instead of the classic pretzel shape shown. They were a big hit!
That sounds amazing! Yum!!
I have these in the mixer now. The dough is very sticky and not holding shape at all. It’s been in the mixer for over 10 minutes. I’m going to add a bit more flour in hopes that that helps! I’m super excited about making these! Making them as a sabbath treat for tomorrow!
Sorry I’m just getting back to this now. How did they turn out? Did they just need a little more flour and kneading time? Sometimes the kneading can take longer like 15 minutes or so.
I love the idea of making bites. My shapes were a total fail so I turned them into straight little twists. The flavor is SO SO good.
Help! I am going to continue with the process but I am making these for the first time. The dough wasn’t coming together after 15 mins so I added an extra spoonful of flour and it took over 30 mins in the kitchen aid to get the dough to come together enough for a sort of passable windowpane test but it was still rather gooey. Then this morning I went to shape the dough and it is so sticky. I added flour to the counter and my hands in order to get the dough to work withy out being a sticky mess. Was I supposed to do that? I am pretty new to sourdough and have never made pretzels before so maybe this is how it is supposed to be? I haven’t cooked them yet but I am looking forward to the end result. I appreciate any feedback you can give me!
The dough should have been thicker than this. How long did you let it ferment and how warm your home during the time? Over-fermented dough will be sticky and hard to work with.
You have 2 tablespoons of baking soda and brown sugar in the ingredients. You have add 1 tablespoon of baking soda and brown sugar in the instructions. Can you clarify, please?
These are so good! My family agrees they are by far the best sourdough pretzels I’ve made! Thank you 🙂
Yay! Wonderful to hear.
Not sure what I did wrong, perhaps the fact I have to hand knead the dough…however, it was very sticky after the 1st overnight rest, and the more I tried to shape it, the stickier and wetter the dough became. I ended up just making “blobs”, as it didn’t shape at all and just wanted to, well….blob. LOL. It is rising as I type this…I am going to attempt the boil and bake….however….I’d REALLY like to know what I did wrong! =) Any suggestions would be appreciated!
I’m currently having the same issue! It is sooo sticky, it’s impossible to work with! I followed the instructions exactly. I’m so disappointed!
Mine too! Not just sticky but gooey! I couldnt make a shape if I tried! I tried to let it sit longer to ferment and it doesnt look like it rises either! Ugh
Sticky sourdough is a result of letting the bulk rise go on for too long. It doesn’t need to double or triple anywhere from 50% – 75% volume increase is best!
UPDATE***** ( that I forgot to post back in June!! )
The “pretzels” were a KIND OF fail. They tasted pretzel-ly…..but weren’t soft, were very dense and hard. I’m not going to attempt them again until I get a high watt stand mixer with a dough hook. I think that’s the key, as I kneaded by hand and perhaps not enough. *shrugs*
Bah! Me too! I think it is the hand kneading as I had to hand knead mine as well. So sad. Did your blobs torn out yummy?
Same exact issue. I even added a whole extra cup of flour and it’s still sticky. I finally just quit fiddling with it and let it bulk ferment overnight. It doubled in size but it was quite pillowy and fluffy….still a stick globby mess. I see some one else commented it was over fermented, but this was happening before it ended fermented. I couldn’t even roll them out, I just had to do fat stick blobs 😂 not looking forward to boiling them, but really don’t want to just throw the dough away and waste all this flour 😑
I made your pretzels the other day and they were amazing. As someone else mentioned, in the list of ingredients, it lists 2 Tbsp each of baking soda and brown sugar…but in the directions, it says to add 1 Tbsp of each into the pot. I tried the first batch with 1 Tbsp each, then added more for the second batch. The second batch tasted slightly more pretzel-like but both batches were delicious. I sprayed a little avocado oil to the dough so it wouldn’t stick to the plastic wrap while rising and fermenting overnight so it got mixing into the dough before shaping. I also made some little flatbreads with the dough as an experiment and they were delicious. Like your easy flatbread recipe but it was fluffy in the middle (I let it rest for an hour just like the pretzels).
SO good with sesame seeds on top and tried some with melted butter and cinnamon sugar like you suggested – addicting!!!! My kids loved them both ways.
I made these today. They’re such a treat! I have never made pretzels before. My family loved them. I used 2 tablespoons each of the soda & brown sugar like it says in the directions. They really turned out great. I’m sure I’ll be making these again.
I make a lot of your recipes. Thank you
Your recipe states 2 tablespoons baking soda and brown sugar but in the directions it says 1 of each. Which is correct? Thank you!
I followers your recipe you flposted on IG and I think it said 3 cups of flour, not 4 Like here, but my dough was still too dry with that, what am I doing wrong? I added some extra water and starter but I just don’t know!
Well, that was horrible, typos galore, followed** and posted**