Homemade Soft Pretzels

We love making this soft pretzel recipe on weekend afternoons! It's super fun to make, and the pretzels are always chewy, flavorful, and delicious.

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If you love fall baking but need a break from pumpkin spice, make homemade soft pretzels! Way back in the early years of Love and Lemons, Jack and I shared a vegan soft pretzel recipe that continues to be one of the most popular recipes on the site. A few weeks ago, when we were in the mood for a fun weekend project, we decided to give the old recipe a go. Our homemade pretzels came out pretty well, but we thought we could make them even better.

This soft pretzel recipe is a new and improved version of the old one. It’s still vegan (no eggs or butter here!), and the pretzels are fantastic. They’re soft and chewy, with a classic sweet and salty pretzel flavor. I think you’ll love them, but almost more importantly, I think you’ll love making them. This is a great recipe for a cool, gray day, when nothing sounds better than holing up in a warm kitchen and making something that’s just as fun as it is delicious. Let’s bake!

Soft Pretzel Recipe Ingredients

Good news! You only need a few ingredients to make this easy soft pretzel recipe:

All-purpose flour – This recipe calls for quite a bit of flour – 4 1/2 cups! – so measuring it accurately is important. Too much flour, and your dough will be dry. Too little, and it will be wet and sticky. I recommend using the spoon-and-level method for a precise flour measurement.
Active dry yeast – It helps the dough rise and makes the soft pretzels puff up as they bake.
Maple syrup – It activates the yeast and adds a subtle sweetness to the dough.
Water – To best activate the yeast, make sure your water is warm when you start making this soft pretzel recipe. We aim for 105°-115°F.
Extra-virgin olive oil – It adds richness to the dough, helping create the soft pretzels’ addictive chewy texture. A neutral-flavored oil, such as sunflower oil or canola oil, will work here too.
And salt – A soft pretzel essential! You’ll add fine sea salt to the dough. Then, once you’ve shaped the pretzels, you’ll sprinkle them generously with coarse sea salt.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Pretzels

Making this homemade pretzel recipe is a blast! Here’s how it goes:

First, make the dough. Activate the yeast by mixing it with the water and maple syrup. When the mixture foams, pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the flour, salt, and oil, and mix on medium-low speed until a cohesive dough forms around the hook.

Then, let it rise. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form it into a ball. Brush a large bowl with oil and place the dough inside. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside for 60 to 90 minutes, until the dough has almost doubled in size.

Next, shape the pretzels! After the dough rises, turn it out onto a clean, unfloured work surface, and divide it into 8 pieces.

Roll one into an 18-inch rope.

Grab the ends of the dough rope, and bend it into a U-shape.

Cross one of the ends of the rope over the other, leaving a wide loop of dough below them. Then, wrap the dough ends around each other again to create the pretzel’s twist.

Finally, fold the twist towards you, into the center of the dough loop, to make a pretzel shape. That’s it! Repeat with the remaining dough.

Last but not least, boil and bake. Boil the pretzels one at a time in a baking soda bath. Use a slotted spoon to lift each one out of the pot and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle it generously with coarse salt, and use a sharp knife to create a 4-inch slit at the bottom of each pretzel.

When all the soft pretzels are boiled and salted, transfer them to a 450° oven and bake until they’re golden brown and puffy. Enjoy!

Homemade Soft Pretzel Recipe Tips

Add more water or flour if you need to. If the dough seems too dry or wet when you’re mixing it together, don’t worry! Before it rises, you have some wiggle room to adjust its consistency. If it’s super dry and not coming together in the stand mixer, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does. Conversely, if it’s wet and sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it forms a cohesive, pliable dough.
Let the dough rise somewhere warm. Yeast responds to warmth, so, for an extra productive rise, stick the dough somewhere warm. We like to put ours on a sunny windowsill!
Boil and salt the pretzels one by one. In a traditional pretzel recipe, an egg wash or melted butter helps bind the coarse salt to the pretzels. We choose not to use eggs or butter in order to keep this recipe vegan, so it’s important that you sprinkle each pretzel with salt right after you boil it, while the dough is still wet. For the best results (and calmest salting process), I recommend boiling and salting each pretzel one by one.
Serve them with sauce. Not going to lie, these homemade soft pretzels are delicious on their own, especially when they’re still hot from the oven. But who doesn’t love soft pretzels with dipping sauce?? Make these guys even more fun and flavorful by dunking them in spicy mustard, vegan cheese, chipotle sauce, or vegan ranch dressing.

More Favorite Baking Recipes

If you love this soft pretzel recipe, try one of these fun baking projects next:

Homemade Bagels
Pita Bread
Rosemary Focaccia Bread
No-Knead Bread
Cinnamon Rolls
Pumpkin Bread
Apple Crumble Pie
Or any of these 25 Super Fun Baking Recipes!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

rate this recipe:

4.97 from 27 votes

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 14

Rising Time: 1

Serves 8

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This homemade soft pretzel recipe is such a fun baking project! Enjoy them on their own, hot from the oven, or serve them with spicy mustard or vegan cheese for dipping.

Ingredients

For the pretzel dough

2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 pkg. (¼ ounce) active dry yeast (2¼ teaspoons)
1½ cups warm water
4½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil, more for brushing
Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

For the poaching water

6 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda

Instructions

Prepare the pretzel dough: In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup, yeast, and water and proof for 5 minutes or until foamy.
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, place the flour, salt, olive oil, and the yeast mixture. Mix on medium-low speed for 5 to 6 minutes, until the dough is well-formed around the hook. If the dough is very dry after 3 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of water.
Transfer the dough to a clean lightly floured work surface and gently knead to form into a ball. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Brush a large bowl with ½ teaspoon of olive oil and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot for 60 to 90 minutes, until the dough is almost doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Turn the dough out onto a clean (not floured) work surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Roll one piece of dough into an 18-inch rope. Grab the ends of the dough rope to make a U shape. Cross one of the ends of the rope over the other, leaving a wide loop of dough below them. Then, wrap the dough ends around each other again to create the pretzel's twist. Fold the twist towards you, into the center of the dough loop, to make a pretzel shape. (See step-by-step photos above). Place it onto the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
Prepare the poaching water: In a large pot, combine the 6 cups of water and the baking soda and bring to a boil. Drop pretzels, one at a time, into the pot. Boil for 30 seconds, then lift out using a slotted spoon and place onto the baking sheet. While the dough is still wet, sprinkle with coarse salt. Use a sharp knife to cut a 4-inch slit along the bottom of each pretzel.
Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown.

adapted from Alton Brown.