Soft Sourdough Pretzels
Soft sourdough pretzels are delicious and fun. They are soft and chewy with a shiny golden surface and coarse salt topping.
Soft sourdough pretzels are known for their toothsome chew. They are bigger than the snack-sized hard pretzels found at the store. The shape and the sprinkle of coarse salt on top of soft pretzels are the same though.
The recipe base for this soft sourdough pretzel recipe is similar to my sourdough bagels. It’s a low-hydration, lean dough that’s easy to make by hand and is leavened with a sourdough starter and no commercial yeast.
Ingredients
The sourdough pretzel dough is a lean dough with minimal ingredients. The full ingredient amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. To make these sourdough pretzels you will need –
- Bread flour. A pretzel should have a decent amount of toothsome chew to it. Flour with a higher protein level is required for the chewy texture – a level between 11-13%. Some all-purpose flours have a protein level of over 11% in which case you can use that sort of all-purpose flour for homemade pretzels.
- Active sourdough starter.
- Salt.
- Brown sugar.
- Water.
- Baking soda. For in the water bath when poaching the pretzels. This baking soda solution gives pretzels their iconic taste and creates that golden crust.
- Coarse salt for topping
See the recipe card for quantities.
The sourdough starter
This sourdough pretzel recipe needs around 100g of active starter.
Use your starter once it has doubled or tripled but before it passes the peak and collapses.
Instructions
In the morning or the evening before, feed your sourdough starter. Let it rise until doubled in size.
Once risen, in a large bowl combine the starter, flour, water, brown sugar and salt and mix it together into a shaggy dough.
Tip it onto a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is strong and smooth. Alternatively, use the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
Bulk fermentation
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for around 3-4 hours until it has puffed out by around 40%. If the dough is drying out, spritz it very lightly with water.
After this rise, cover the dough and refrigerate it overnight (or up to 24 hours.)
The next day
The next day, take the cold dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
Shape the dough into a ball and weigh it on kitchen scales. Divide this number by 8. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces of this weight and shape each piece into a ball.
The pretzel shape
Take a piece of dough and roll it out into a 22inch/60cm rope. Take the two ends of the long rope and bring them together at the top and twist the ends together.
Fold the twisted ends down. Place the shaped pretzels on flour-dusted parchment paper while you shape the rest of the dough.
Poaching and baking
Let the shaped pretzel dough rest at room temperature for around 30-40 minutes until slightly puffy. When they have nearly finished puffing, preheat the oven and bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Once boiling, add baking soda. Be careful because it will foam up.
Poach the pretzels, two at a time, in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and allow the water to drain for 10 seconds.
Place the poached pretzel onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat with the remaining pretzels.
Bake the pretzels in a hot oven for around 15 minutes until deep golden brown. Turn the baking sheet halfway through if they are browning unevenly.
Equipment
Here is what you need for this soft pretzel recipe.
- Kitchen scale -to accurately measure the ingredients. I highly recommend using a scale, a measuring cup is not consistent.
- Large saucepan – for poaching the pretzels.
- Slotten spoon – removing the pretzels from the poaching liquid.
- Baking sheet pan – to bake the pretzels on.
Storing
The pretzels are best served on the day they are baked. Leftover pretzels can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
More sourdough recipes
Sourdough Pretzel Recipe
Soft sourdough pretzels are delicious and fun. They are soft and chewy with a shiny golden surface and coarse salt topping.
Ingredients
Sourdough starter
- 20g sourdough starter
- 40g all-purpose flour
- 40g water
Dough
- 440g bread flour
- 240g water
- All the sourdough starter
- 25g soft brown sugar
- 6g salt
Water bath
- 1 ½ litres (1 ½ quarts) water
- 45g (2 ½ Tablespoons) baking soda
- Coarse salt for topping
Instructions
- About 6 hours before beginning, feed your sourdough starter. Let it rise until doubled in size.
- Once risen, in a large bowl combine the starter, flour, water, brown sugar and salt and mix it together into a shaggy dough.
- Tip it onto a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is strong and smooth. Alternatively, use the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for around 3-4 hours until it has puffed out by around 40%. If the dough is drying out, spritz it very lightly with water.
- After this rise, cover the dough and refrigerate it overnight (or up to 24 hours.)
Shaping
- Take the cold dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
- Shape the dough into a ball and weigh it on kitchen scales. Divide this number by 8. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces of this weight and shape each piece into a ball.
- Take a piece of dough and roll it out into a 22inch/60cm long rope. Take the two ends of the rope and bring them together at the top and twist the ends together.
- Fold the twisted ends down. Place the shaped pretzels on flour-dusted parchment paper while you shape the rest of the dough.
- Let the shaped pretzel dough rest at room temperature for around 30-40 minutes until slightly puffy.
- When they have nearly finished puffing, preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.
Poaching and baking
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Once boiling, add baking soda. Be careful because it will foam up.
- Poach the pretzels, two at a time, in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and allow the water to drain for 10 seconds.
- Place the poached pretzel onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat with the remaining pretzels.
- Bake the pretzels in a hot oven for around 15-20 minutes until deep golden brown. Turn the baking sheet halfway through if they are browning unevenly.
Notes
If you want to feed your starter the evening before, feed it a higher ratio so it doesn't rise too fast.
- 20g starter
- 60g water
- 60g all-purpose flour
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 289Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1475mgCarbohydrates: 59gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 9g
This is an informational estimate only. I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist
