Soft, tender, buttery and brushed with a garlic and herb butter… these soft pretzel sticks from scratch taste amazingly good!
I’ve been wanting to make my own pretzels for a while now… and I finally put on my big girl pants and tried it. And you know what? They. Were. Amazing! It’s a little bit of work, but totally worth it, I promise you! Seriously, insanely good.
Start by adding the water, sugar and salt in the bottom of your stand mixer (fitted with the dough hook), and sprinkle the yeast right on top. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or so. It will foam slightly and smell “yeasty”.
Add your flour and melted butter and mix at low speed until mixed together well. Switch speed to medium and mix about 4-5 minutes (mine only took 3), until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and looks smooth.
Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit about an hour in a warm place.
Bring a large stockpot of water mixed with baking soda to a boil. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Spray a plastic cutting board or your counter with cooking spray and turn dough out onto your work surface. Work it into a ball and cut in half. Cut each half into 8 pieces. Roll the pieces out into 10-12″ ropes.
Boil the pretzel sticks, one at a time, for 30 seconds each. Remove with a strainer and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Beat an egg yolk with a bit of water to make an egg wash, and brush each pretzel stick with the egg wash, then sprinkle with salt. I didn’t have pretzel salt as the recipe called for, so I used sea salt instead.
Bake for 14-15 minutes, turning over after about 8-9 minutes, until they are dark golden brown. Once they are finished, remove from oven and brush with some melted butter that has been mixed with some garlic powder and fresh parsley.
As you can see, they’re a little free-form and rustic looking… which I like 🙂
These taste… dare I say it… BETTER than that certain pretzel place in the malls!! And they’re from scratch, so you can feel better about what’s in them 🙂
I paired these with my Beer Cheese and Onion Soup and it was a match made in heaven!
Sooooo soft and fluffy on the inside!
These would be a great appetizer, side dish, or snack for the kids after school (or anytime).
Recipe modified slightly from Alton Brown
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 Tbsp egg yolk beaten with 1 water
- Sea salt
OPTIONAL GARLIC BUTTER:
- 3 Tbsp salted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- pinch of minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- Combine the water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let to sit for 5 minutes or until it foams slightly and smells “yeasty”.
- Add the flour and melted butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low until well combined. Switch to medium speed and knead about 4 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
- Bring a large stockpot of water mixed with baking soda to a boil.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray.
- Spray a cutting board or your counter with cooking spray and shape dough into a ball. Cut dough in half, and cut each half into 8 pieces (for a total of 16 pieces). Roll each piece into a 10-12″ rope.
- Beat egg yolk with tablespoon of water and set aside.
- Boil each stick one by one, for 30 seconds each. Remove them from the water with a strainer or large spatula. Place on prepared baking sheets, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, about 14 minutes (flipping over after about 8-9 minutes). Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
- If desired, combine garlic butter ingredients and brush onto cooked pretzels.
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Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Elizabeth Lombardi says
Mine are not as pretty as yours are, but they are AMAZING!!! Such an easy recipe and you spelled everything out so beautifully. I did have the batch with sesame seeds (added with the salt before baking) and garlic butter and half with butter and then rolled in cinnamon sugar (all after baking) and somehow they are BOTH my favorite! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Cathy says
These sound delicious and I cannot wait to try them. Can these be made ahead of time, either the day before the party, or made and frozen ahead of time?
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested the recipe in that way, so I can’t say for certain, but I think they could be baked and frozen ahead of time 🙂
Paige Rappleye says
Did you try to make in advance?
Linda says
I,m going to make them next week when the grandchildren are with us for a week.
They can help and will enjoy them.
Going to make a tomato dip if I can find a recipe.
Wish me luck
Liu says
Look’s beautiful like the chef who made it
Azura says
How many gram is a package of yeast?
The Chunky Chef says
Approximately 7 grams.
laurie muldoon says
I just made these and to be perfectly honest I have always been scared to do pretzels but these were so easy and they came out Awsome. I will even admit that I forgot to put butter in it with the flour. (Forgot that it was in the microwave) they were still chewy. Perfect!! Thank you so much!! I would recommend everyone to try these
Anna John says
Thanks for the amazing recipe, have just made these amazing snacks. Excellent instructions. Few things that I learnt during this recipe:
– the thinner the better, although not too gangly as then they are hard to get out of the boiling water
– I went for 57g per stick (I often make bread rolls, so am used to weighing dough, as strange as that may seem)
– try and leave the sticks in for as long as possible. I generally left them in for about 14 mins, past the point where I thought they were burnt, but although they were quite dark, they have the perfect pretzel taste.
Really really excellent
Julie says
Not as pretty as yours but the ladies at book club enjoyed them. I’ll try again. Maybe if they were shorter, they would be easier to take out of the boiling water.
Pearse says
Can we make these in stages – like make till the baking step and refrigerate and then bake just before guests arrive .
Thanks
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Pearse 🙂 I’ve never done that, but I think it should work. Make them up through the rising time, then go ahead and form them into sticks, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Before your guests arrive, set the pretzels out on the counter and bring the pot of water and baking soda up to a boil. Boil, then bake as directed. I can’t personally guarantee the same results, but in theory it should work out just fine.
Yolie says
Thanks for sharing, I made these last night and they are amazing. Recipe is easy to follow, especially with your notes and comments along the way.
Lana says
Hi:)
I’d really like to make these but what exactly is 1 cup? I’m not really familiar with this kind of measurement.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Lana 🙂 Here in the US it’s a very common measurement, but here’s a handy chart that should give you an equivalent you’re familiar with https://whatscookingamerica.net/equiv.htm
Karina says
Just made these, and they turned out AMAZING. Followed recipe exactly, except for I let rise for longer (mostly because I forgot). Excellent, thank you for sharing. MUST TRY!!
Suzanne Beshara says
Sounds delicious! Do you have a calorie count for each pretzel?
The Chunky Chef says
Thank you Suzanne! I figured it up, and 1 stick is 164 calories, not including any optional butter brushing 🙂
Liz says
Could I freeze any left overs?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve never tried to freeze any, but it should work 🙂 I would lay the pretzels on a wax paper lined baking sheet and freeze them for about an hour, then you can put them in a big ziplock bag and freeze for a couple of weeks.
Shannon brewer says
I’m going to. Try to make the dough in my bread maker on the dough setting
Kimberly says
2/3 cup baking soda? That seems an awful lot! Is that definitely the right measurement?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Kimberly 🙂 Yes, that’s the correct measurement. As per the recipe instructions, you’ll be using the baking soda in a full large stockpot of boiling water, not in the actual pretzels themselves 🙂
Rebekah says
Hi! I was wondering how much water, sugar, salt, and yeast do i use? I must have missed it.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Rebekah 🙂 You’ll use 1 1/2 cups of water, 1 Tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp of salt
Tracy says
I think I must have missed something. It says to “bring water mixed with baking soda to a boil”. I see the 2/3 cup baking soda, but how much water do I mix it with? Thanks!
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Tracy 🙂 I mentioned it within the post, but I’ll add again to the actual recipe… but just a stockpot of water, like you would use to boil pasta. No exact measurements here, but I’d say at least 8-10 cups of water 🙂
Debi says
So could you please explain what it does to the bread sticks to put them in the soda water bath? I haven’t tried the recipe yet but I am tempted! Thanks.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Debi 🙂 Boiling in the baking soda water does two things. First, it adds to the chewiness of the pretzels, and second, it’s what causes that great deep golden brown crust on the outside. It’s an extra step, but one I think is well worth it if you’re already taking the time to make homemade pretzels 🙂
Cristina says
I don’t have a standing mixer. Can I use a hand held one instead?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Christina 🙂 I would say to just use a wooden spoon to combine the dough ingredients and then knead the dough by hand. I think the handheld mixer wouldn’t be able to handle the dough… at least mine wouldn’t, but if you try it, I’d love to know how it goes 🙂
Meredith says
While theses were good, the texture is more like bread on the inside. It lacks the doughy texture of a pretzel.
The Chunky Chef says
I’m sorry you didn’t find the pretzels to be to your liking Meredith. Many many people have loved these, but I know how it can be disappointing to try something and have it not be everything you’d hoped