Sourdough Pretzels

Mar 16, 20213 min read

Updated: Jul 2, 2021

Soft pretzels are an amazing snack or side! You can make them sweet, savory, and they go with just about every dipping sauce. These sourdough soft pretzels are soft on the inside and just crunchy enough on the outside. Get twistin' 🥨🤍

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Soft pretzels are reminiscent of baseball games for me, but really they go with everything! Last time I made these, they were a delicious addition to a large cheeseboard and we dipped them in ranch and queso 😋. They are super soft and light on the inside with a good crunch on the outside. They really would make perfect bread sticks as well.

PRETZEL TOPPING & DIP IDEAS

Original (Kosher Flakey Salt) with Spicy Mustard or Queso
Cinnamon Sugar with Cream Cheese Frosting
Garlic Parmesan (pictured above) with Marinara
Everything Seasoning with Jalapeno Jelly
Herby Rosemary & Chive with Alfredo
Cheddar and Jalapeno Slices with Ranch

Don't have a sourdough starter yet? Learn how to make your sourdough starter using nothing but water, flour and time! Then head here to learn how to take care of your sourdough starter.

Sourdough Pretzels Recipe

Yields: 6 large soft pretzels

Cook Time: 2.5 hours

Instructions:

Remove starter from fridge the morning before making dough. Feed your starter that evening and leave on the counter overnight covered by a tea towel.
The next afternoon, warm the milk and butter in a saucepan until butter has melted.
Add milk/butter mixture, sugar and sourdough starter to bowl of stand mixer and mix on low until incorporated.
Add flour gradually with mixer on low until incorporated and all the flour is off the walls of the bowl.
Knead dough for 5 minutes.
Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with tea towel. Let rest for 2 hours.
Turn out dough onto clean surface and do a round of lift and tucks to form the dough into a tight ball. (Lift one edge of the dough and pull it across the top, tucking on the opposite side. Turn bowl 90° and repeat until all 4 sides have been lifted and tucked.)
Separate the dough into 6 equal sections.
Lightly flour your surface and, one at a time, roll each section out into a long rope-like strip. I did mine about 24" long because I wanted larger wide pretzels. If you want thicker more overlapping pretzels, don't roll the strips out as long.
Shape each strip into a pretzel and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Freeze the pretzels for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 450° and begin to boil a large pot of water.
Once the water is boiling, add the baking soda.
One or two at a time, pull the pretzels out of the freezer and place them in the boiling water. Boil until the pretzels float to the top, about 30 seconds.
Pull pretzels out with slotted spoon and place back on cookie sheet.
Beat the egg, brush on top of the boiled pretzels and top with your desired topping.
Once all pretzels have been boiled, egg washed and sprinkled with your topping of choice, bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown with a hardened crust.
Let cool slightly before serving.