30 minute, 5-Ingredient Extra Thick Soft Pretzels
My social media has been flooded with people baking all sorts of breads during the quarantine season, and I’m sure that yours has too. Well, this is the new quarantine-bread. Soft pretzels. Or bagels. Honestly this dough is kind of a hybrid between the two, but I’d take a soft pretzel over a bagel any day—so for that reason, I’m sticking with pretzels. Either way, this extra thick dough is super fluffy, soft, chewy, and soooo good.
Today I'm bringing you the easiest soft pretzel recipe ever. Seriously. As you can tell by the title, you can have fresh, hot, soft pretzels better than the ones you get at a football game or pub in half an hour. This recipe will definitely come in handy in a few months when football season rolls around *fingers crossed that it doesn’t get canceled or pushed back.* These make the perfect game-day snack. Or late night snack.
Since this recipe is short and sweet, it bypasses the traditional baking soda/water bath that gives pretzels that crunchy, dark brown coating. This recipe still creates a crispy golden-brown coating, but it isn’t as crunchy and dark. If you want to go for that thinner, crunchier, dark brown traditional pretzel, I’ll insert the extra step needed, but it will add time. I didn’t do this step this time because I like mine doughier and chewier.
Another plus about these pretzels is that they’re made with 5 ingredients that you most likely already have in your kitchen. So you can go ahead and make them… right now. If you want to spice things up a little you can add different toppings, but that also makes them more than 5 ingredients. I did a mixture of Sea Salt, Everything Bagel Seasoning, Parmesan & Black Pepper, and Cinnamon-Sugar. And if you really want to take it to the next level you can melt some cheese or chocolate to dip them in… but I’ll leave that up to you.
The easiest Soft Pretzel recipe ever
Makes 8 pretzels
Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast OR 1 3/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F - any higher will kill the yeast)
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 egg
Toppings (optional): flakey sea salt, parmesan/black pepper, Everything Bagel seasoning, chives, asiago cheese, garlic, cheddar-jalapeño, cinnamon-sugar, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc. Get creative! Have fun! Experiment with different toppings.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Whisk the yeast into the water with the sugar and let it sit for 2 minutes, or until frothy and the yeast has dissolved. Sift your flour into a large bowl and add the salt into it. Pour the yeast/water mixture in and fold in with a spatula. Once the mixture has formed into a crumbly dough, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes. Form into a ball and cut into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 1-inch wide rope. Cross the tips over each other with about 1 inch* of the ends hanging off. Fold the rounded part over so that the tails are pressing into the opposite end of the circle. Flip over so that the pretzels are face up with the twist on the bottom.** Read below if wanting to make the crispier, dark-brown pretzels. Lay the pretzels out evenly on a greased baking sheet, leaving a few inches of spaces between each one. Whisk the egg and lightly brush the tops of the pretzels. Top each pretzel with your topping of choice. If you’re using a sugar-based topping (like cinnamon-sugar, honey, etc.) or an herb topping, cook the pretzels half-way and then re-brush the tops with the egg mixture and add the toppings to avoid burning. Cook for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. I like to finish them with about 30 seconds under the broiler to get the tops extra golden-brown.
If going for the more traditional pretzel:
Skip the egg wash. I recommend making these ropes thinner- about 20 inches long. Bring 1/2 cup baking soda and 9 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Drop pretzels into the boiling water a couple at a time depending on the pot size. Let boil for 20 seconds, remove from water and allow as much water to drip off of the pretzels as possible. Place on the baking sheet and add toppings. These will take about 5 minutes less to cook, typically.
*The thinner you roll the rope, the crispier and less doughy the pretzel will be- I like to keep mine on the thicker side for a doughier consistency.
**You can also switch up the shapes of them — make them into bagels by just doing circles, twist two ropes together to make pretzel twists, cut them into small logs to make pretzel-bites, etc. Just remember that the smaller the piece, the shorter cook time it will need.
