Pretzels (Soft)
This vegetarian builds plain bread flour, warm water and active dry yeast into a proper meal you can have ready in about 60 minutes. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 6 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and large pot. At medium difficulty across 6 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (1)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water (around 40 C, comfortably warm but not hot) and leave for about 5 minutes until it turns foamy.
- Add the flour, fine salt and softened butter, then mix and knead on a lightly floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes until you have a smooth, elastic dough; cover and let it rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour, until doubled.
- Punch down the dough, divide it into 8 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a rope about 50 cm long, then twist into the classic pretzel shape and place on parchment-lined trays.
- Bring 2 litres of water to a rolling boil in a wide pot and carefully stir in the baking soda; lower each pretzel in for about 30 seconds, then lift out with a slotted spatula and return to the trays.
- Brush each boiled pretzel with the beaten egg white and scatter generously with coarse salt.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 220 C for 12 to 15 minutes, until deep golden brown and glossy, then cool on a wire rack and serve warm.
You'll use: Oven · Large pot · Saucepan
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
Tips & common questions
How long does Pretzels (Soft) take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 6 steps and 9 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Pretzels (Soft) vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Pretzels (Soft) is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Clara Peeters - Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels.jpg (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.