READY IN ABOUT 2½ hrs

Mom's Pretzels

Read Reviews (42)

"These pretzels are good sprinkled with cheese before baking. Homemade pretzels are the best!" — FIREDANCER201

Directions

Sprinkle the yeast over 1 cup of warm water in a bowl. The water should be no more than 100 degrees F (40 degrees C). Let stand for 10 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
Stir in 1 1/2 cups of flour, vegetable oil, and table salt, to make a thick, smooth batter. Stir in 1 1/4 cups of flour, and knead the dough on a well-floured surface until elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, cover it with a cloth, and let it rest for 1 hour.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the dough ball into 12 even pieces, and roll each out into a rope about 18 inches long and as thick as a pencil. To shape into pretzels, form a dough piece into a "U" shape, then cross the two tails to make a loop. Spread the two tail ends apart, bring them up, and press the ends into the top of the loop, to form the pretzel shape. Let the formed pretzels rest for 30 minutes on the prepared baking sheet.
Preheat an oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
Fill a large saucepan about half full of water, bring to a boil, and stir in the baking soda. Working one at a time, drop each pretzel into the boiling water, and let cook for 1 minute, to give the pretzel a skin. Place the boiled pretzels onto the prepared baking sheet, and sprinkle each one with coarse salt.
Bake in the preheated oven until the pretzels are golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 40 mins
COOK 12 mins
READY IN 2 hrs 22 mins

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jun 15, 2009

This is a great and accurate recipe for making classic soft pretzels. Expect the dough to be sticky... that's just pretzel dough. If you add too much flour while kneading, your pretzels will be tough and hard. Follow the directions as written and you will come out with great pretzels.

—Mrs. Hooper

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Oct 26, 2009

Though the making of the dough was easy enough, these pretzels baked up hard as rocks on the outside and really odd on the inside. The taste of the dough was great, and it was simple enough to make, but don't make these expecting soft pretzels like at the mall.

—AMBERNPETTY

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48 Ratings

Nov 25, 2009

Very delicious. boiling them really gives them a good texture so dont skip that part! the only thing i would suggest is lightly greasing the baking pan before putting on the pretzels, because they will require a bit of coaxing to get off the pan after baking if you dont.

—spicyme

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Feb 28, 2011

Very good pretzels. Not sure why someone commented that they were hard; mine were not hard at all, and I refrigerated the dough bc I had to leave after making it. The dough was still cold when I started shaping, so I would think they'd have ended up hard and dense on my batch, if anything, but they were soft and chewy. As for the distinct flavor of pretzels--try using beer for a different taste. I've tried a number of pretzel recipes since we love them in this house, and yes, these are a bit like regular bread, but they are still really good. You can play around with the toppings for these if you like: add shredded cheese, garlic, parmesan, cinnamon and sugar . . .the list goes on and on. That's the great thing about a plain pretzel recipe--it allows for endless variations! Thanks for the recipe!

—pomplemousse

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Dec 02, 2011

To anyone who thinks these taste like regular bread: Use more baking soda!!! Your boiling water should be slightly cloudy, and you should be able to smell the soda if you put your nose near the steam. This is the KEY to a pretzel's signature flavor! Using soda to that measure, these pretzels are -out of this world.- They are so soft and delicious! I didn't use parchment because I was out. During the second rise, they didn't stick. I just sprinkled the pan with kosher salt before baking and they came right off the bare pan after the quick boil. Absolutely perfect. My boyfriend's grandfather had a bakery in Germany, and he says that this recipe is like the one they used in the shop. I made eight pretzels with this recipe. They were all kind of fat (that's how I like 'em!), but I imagine you could do 12 thinner pretzels if you like.

—ilkaisha

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Sep 01, 2009

Awesome! Followed recipe exactly and they came out great!

—zfornuto

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Feb 10, 2011

Just made these and they are very tasty. Made them heart shaped since it's almost Valentine's Day. Will be using this recipe again for sure :)

—Violet

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Aug 11, 2009

very simple recipes and it works very well. Just very time consuming I find. Also, be very careful not to bump the preztels in the slightest amount, otherwise they will flatten out.

—craiglalonde

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Nutrition

Calories
126 kcal
6%

Carbohydrates
22.1 g
7%

Cholesterol
0 mg
0%

Fat
2.6 g
4%

Fiber
0.9 g
4%

Protein
3.2 g
6%

Sodium
1646 mg
66%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Mom's Pretzels

Serving Size: 1/12 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 126
Calories from Fat: 23

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 2.6g 4 %
Saturated Fat 0.4g 2 %
Cholesterol 0mg 0 %
Sodium 1646mg 66 %
** Potassium 43mg 1 %
Total Carbohydrates 22.1g 7 %
Dietary Fiber 0.9g 4 %
Protein 3.2g 6 %
Sugars 0.1g
** Vitamin A < 1 %
** Vitamin C < 1 %
** Calcium < 1 %
** Iron 14 %
** Thiamin 24 %
** Niacin 20 %
** Vitamin B6 1 %
** Magnesium 3 %
** Folate 37 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.