Sourdough Soft Pretzels
Sourdough pretzels have a deep flavor from long fermentation and the satisfying chew and crisp crust of a classic soft pretzel. These pretzels are a fun, hands-on baking project for the whole family.
Table of contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
This recipe uses active sourdough starter for both leavening and flavor, resulting in a dough that’s complex yet easy to work with.
The process includes a quick dip in an alkaline (baking soda) bath for that signature “pretzely” crust.
I like to start the dough in the afternoon/evening of day 1 and then roll the pretzels the next morning.
If you work on this schedule you’ll have fresh hot pretzels by early afternoon. The baked pretzels freeze really well. Just pop them in the oven to re-warm before eating.
We ate these Sourdough Soft Pretzels with my Jalapeño Cheddar Dip, only this time instead of a fresh jalapeño I made the sauce with chopped up Pickled Jalapeños. YUMMMMMY!
If you don’t have one, check out my post to learn How to Make a Sourdough Starter. Then check out my system to Feed and Maintain Sourdough Starter or you can learn How to Keep a Small Sourdough Starter.
I know you hate to throw away that sourdough discard. Check out these recipes that use sourdough discard.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- All Purpose Flour – Medium content AP flour makes a pretzel with a soft crumb but with enough elasticity to shape into the iconic pretzel twist.
- Sourdough Starter – The recipe was developed using a 100% hydration starter. If your starter is not 100% hydration you will need to adjust the flour or water in the recipe as needed.
- Baking Soda – The baking soda bath is alkaline (not acidic). The alkaline bath gives the pretzel the classic slightly bitter crust. The alkaline bath also aides in browning so the pretzels become deeply golden brown in the oven.
Process Photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Combine the active starter with water and some of the flour. Set it aside for 1 hour. This give the flour time to absorb the water and begins the process of gluten development.
- Add the sugar, salt and remaining flour to the sponge.
- The dough will start out quite shaggy.
- After 5 minutes of kneading the dough should be cohesive, cling to the hook and clear the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Set the dough aside at room temperature for the initial fermentation.
- Every hour fold the dough over itself to aerate the dough and redistribute the yeast.
- After a night in the refrigerator the dough is ready for shaping.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into a tight ball.
- Roll the dough to a long rope. Pull up the two ends to form a “U”.
- Twist the ends 2x.
- Lift the twisted end toward the center of the “U”.
- Lift the pretzel by the top to transfer to the baking sheet. Set the pretzels aside for 1 hour.
- Boil the pretzels in the baking soda bath for 10 seconds per side.
- Transfer the boiled pretzels to a cooling rack to drain. Continue with the rest of the pretzels.
- Transfer the boiled pretzels to the baking sheet. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake until golden brown.
Storage
The pretzels are best warm from the oven or within a few hours of baking. Pack left over pretzels into storage bags and freeze up to a month. Re-warm the pretzels in a low oven to serve.
More Pretzel Recipes
More Sourdough Recipes
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Sourdough Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
- 8 oz active sourdough starter (1 cup, 100% hydration)
- 10 oz warm water (1 ¼ cups)
- 17 ½ oz all-purpose flour (3 ½ cups, see note)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- 2 quarts water
- 2 ½ oz baking soda (⅓ cup, for boiling)
- 1 egg white (lightly whisked)
- salt and seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Combine 8 oz active sourdough starter and 10 oz warm water in the bowl of a stand a mixer with the paddle attached (or mix by hand).
- With the mixer running on low add 10 oz (2cups) of the flour and mix to form a smooth batter. Cover the bowl and set it aside for 30-60 minutes.
- Switch to the dough hook and add 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons table salt and the remaining 7 ½ oz flour. Knead on medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough will clear the bowl and cling to the hook after kneading. If mixing by hand knead the dough hand for 5 minutes, sprinkle with extra flour as you knead if required.
- Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature.
- After 30 minutes uncover the bowl, lift one side of the dough and fold it into the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other three sides of the dough then flip the dough over. You're basically turning the dough inside-out to redistribute the yeast. Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes repeat the procedure again.
- Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes turn the dough one more time. By now the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.
Make the Pretzels (Day 2)
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle the paper lightly with flour.
- Turn the cold dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into a smooth ball. Shape a dough ball into a rope. Using flat hands, roll the dough back and forth moving your hands in opposite directions from the middle of the rope towards either end. If the dough gets sticky dip your hands in flour and continue. The dough should stick to the surface just a little so that the friction will allow you to pull the dough into a long rope. The longer and thinner the rope the more open the pretzel shape will be. Try to get the rope to about 20"-24"
- To form a pretzel lift the dough rope on either end and allow the middle to sit on the surface, forming a "U" shape. Twist the ends of the rope together 2x and fold the twist over and rest on the center of the "U". Lift the pretzel by the two top loops and place on the baking sheet.
- Cover the tray with plastic wrap and set aside to for 1 hour to bring the dough to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, combine 2 quarts water and 2 ½ oz baking soda in a large pot and bring it to a boil. Preheat the oven to 475 °F.
- Drop the pretzels into the boiling water for 10 seconds, flip and boil another 10 seconds. (I can fit about 3 at a time in my pot, don't overcrowd the pan). Set the boiled pretzels onto a cooling rack set over a clean baking sheet. Continue boiling all the pretzels.
- Transfer the pretzels back to the baking sheets. Brush each pretzel with egg white and sprinkle with coarse salt and/or seeds of your choice. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Turn the sheets halfway through baking so they brown evenly.
- They’re best eaten warm from the oven. They also freeze really well.
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I tried this and my dough came out way too runny. Maybe by starter was too wet? It was like putting soft taffy into the boil & what came out was sad blobs that looked like they might have been deep fried frogs
I’ve switched to measuring my starter feed by weight vs volume & will try again. What consistency should the starter be? Cake batter? Soft dough like ciabatta? Sticky like rolls before you knead them?
Hi Tiffany. This recipe was developed with a 100% hydration starter. That means the starter is fed with equal weights of starter-flour-water. The texture is like a very, very thick batter or very wet dough. If your starter was the texture of pancake batter that would be too moist and you’d need a little more flour in the recipe. Also, working with the dough when it’s cold from a night in the fridge makes shaping the pretzels much easier.
They turned out great! Soooooo good. We topped them with Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning!
Awesome!
Thanks. It seems to be doing okay all of a sudden. I went and folded it a few more times and it’s now more lively and not sticking to the bowl. It took 7 hours! I put it in the fridge and can’t wait to make them in the morning.
Yes, timing for sourdough can vary greatly. Glad the dough is perking up.
First time making anything with my sourdough starter. Does this dough rise in the bowl during the 4 – 5 hours that first day? I made mine about 3 hours ago and have followed all of the directions. I’m used to regular bread dough that would’ve doubled by now but this looks the same.
Yes, it should rise during the long fermentation on the first day. It will also become more elastic and “lively”. How long it takes depends quite a bit on the temperature of the dough and the room. If your dough feels very cool it will be slow to rise. Sometimes I will set the bowl of dough over another bowl that has some warm water in the bottom (not touching the bowl with the dough). This can help warm the dough and kick-start the process. If I have a slow moving dough I’ll just leave it out all afternoon and evening, then put it in the fridge right before bed. You can’t really over-rise the dough at this point.
Could I stretch this not a three-day recipe – leave the dough in the fridge overbite, roll & shape, fridge again, then remove on day 3, let it come to room temp, build & bake?
Hi Dave, You probably could. Or you could leave the dough for two days in the fridge then take out, shape & bake. I’m just afraid that a full day in the fridge the shaped pretzels might over-rise a bit.