Easy 30 Minute Homemade Soft Pretzels Recipe
Amazingly easy homemade soft pretzels recipe with no complicated steps and no rising or boiling – they are ready in 30 minutes, making them perfect for easy snacks and fun meals. Made from scratch with just a few simple ingredients, these delicious soft pretzels are a great kitchen activity for the whole family. Give this simple process a try and create some unforgettable memories along with a healthy snack!
✩ What readers are saying…
“OH. MY. GOSH!!!! I’d never made pretzels until just now, and I was honestly sort of scared to make them. But now I know that there’s nothing to be afraid of. THESE PRETZELS ARE THE BOMB.COM!!!!” – Cate
While this homemade soft pretzels recipe creates salty, chewy, and soft oven baked pretzels that taste wonderful, there is another reason you may want to make these:
They are the easiest homemade pretzel recipe you’ll find – ready in just 30 to 45 minutes, start to finish (depending on your “helpers,” that is). No kneading, no rising, no boiling soda bath – just mix, shape and bake!
Not only does this quick method make pretzels a fun addition to a bowl of soup like homemade tomato, cheesy cauliflower, or Cajun chicken barley, or as an appetizer of soft pretzel bites dipped in roasted tomato sauce, they are also kid friendly at all ages!
In fact, they were one of the most requested recipes from my kids when they were growing up – and all their friends.
Seriously, I was completely surprised over and over again how popular these were with kids, as both an activity and to eat. If you have kids, grandkids, or ever babysit, grab this recipe for your activities list – you will all come to love it, I’m sure!
Do these turn out like traditional soft pretzels?
I’m not going to pretend like they are the best soft pretzels anywhere – you know, like the ones from the popular stores that sell them. They do not have that signature shiny-extra chewy crust that comes from boiling in water.
But there is an egg wash that helps mimic the boiling stage with a crispy crust out of the oven – and they DO have the chewy and soft texture like all good pretzels do.
So these aren’t just a roll shaped like a pretzel! They taste amazing out of the oven on the day they are made.
Your whole family will be pretty happy with the results, too. They are usually gone in a day at our house.
Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
You’ll need the following ingredients to make these amazing soft pretzels recipe:
- Flour – I’ve used everything from whole wheat pastry flour, to half whole wheat-half all-purpose, to all unbleached all-purpose. Basically use what you have.
- Instant yeast – You can also use active dry yeast: Let the yeast sit for about 5 minutes in step 1 instead of adding the flour right away.
- Honey – You can substitute white sugar if you need.
- Salt – it will seem like a lot, but these are not too salty, even with the salt topping. Experiment at your own risk.
- Topping: egg wash and coarse salt – this is not optional as it helps replicate the crispy exterior of a baking soda bath.
How to make homemade soft pretzels: step by step
Here are a few helpful visual instructions – the full instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the printable recipe card below.
Step 1: Combine ingredients. Mix the yeast, warm water, honey and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the flour and start mixing. Kid Tip: Let children dump each ingredient into bowl – separate the cups of flour so each can do one if there is more than one child.
Step 2: Mix dough. Mix until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl (you do not need the dough hook attachment). The dough should be smooth to the touch and not sticking to your finger when touched.
Step 3: Shape dough. Separate the dough into pieces. I just eyeball it, but you can cut the dough into 12 pieces if you want. Roll each piece into a long roll if making shapes. For pretzel bites you can get almost double – cut into about 20 pieces and shape into rounds.
Step 4: Topping. Place the pretzels on a prepared baking sheet (greased or lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats) as you shape them. Whisk an egg until foamy and brush onto each shaped pretzel. Sprinkle with a coarse salt like kosher salt.
Step 5: Bake. They’ll only need about 13-15 minutes to bake until golden. Remove them to a wire rack to let cool until you can touch them and then dig in!
Tips for Making With Kids
I started making these when my kids were little as something fun to do when they had playdates. Once they made them, kids always wanted to make pretzels whenever they came over- not anything else!
Why is this great for kids?
Since there are only a few ingredients to mix up and no waiting for kneading or rising, the kids can move from helping to add ingredients right to shaping their own pieces of dough.
What part can kids do?
Shape dough.
Brush egg wash and sprinkle salt. We call it “painting” the dough and it’s one of the favorite helping parts.
The littlest people can help pour in the ingredients and just pat the dough if rolling is too hard – all shapes are allowed, not just traditional pretzel shapes (as you can see in the photo below).
At about four and up, rolling is easy and all kinds of shapes become within reach. The dough is pretty easy to shape and doesn’t spring back like a lot of bread doughs can.
Ideas for shaping soft pretzel dough
Here are a few different shapes you can make with your quick dough:
- Letters – This is a great crossover activity for preschoolers learning their letters. I always help kids make the first letter of their name, if they need it, even the littlest children. Just one more way that they start to recognize “their” letter.
- Hearts– Valentines, anyone?
- Traditional pretzel shapes – if you want bigger, looser shapes just grab a bigger piece of dough.
- Blobs – The “blob” is for those little ones who just can’t grasp the rolling technique yet. It’s fun to let them make whatever shape they want, helping only when they ask so that they have a feeling of accomplishment.
- Pretzel Bites – use a smaller piece of dough and shape into a simple round or make a bigger, thicker log and cut off bite-size pieces.
No matter what the shape, when anyone takes a first bite of one of these soft pretzels, the pretzel tastes that much sweeter from the hands that made it, don’t you think?
Recipe Tips & Storage
- In my experience, kids will be tired of this after making just 2-3 shapes, so be prepared to make the rest of the shapes yourself.
- The pretzels don’t really taste as good the next day – they lose that fresh from the oven crisp that helps them resemble soft pretzels.
- Storage: That said, I’ve had some luck storing in an airtight container for a day, or freezing them for longer, and then thawing and using a toaster oven to heat them up again.
- I suggest making only one batch. This isn’t really the time to double the recipe, or you will find yourself rolling, and rolling!
Jami’s Biggest Tip
The egg wash is crucial to giving this simple bread dough the chewy mouth feel of a pretzel- so don’t skip this step or use butter instead if you can at all help it. While butter tastes good, it makes the pretzel more like a roll in texture.
Your Questions Answered
Sure – add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough and shake a cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of the egg wash before baking instead of salt.
If you would like to have a darker color and to lock in the soft interior – and you have the time – you can boil the shaped pretzels before baking: bring a pot with about 6 cups of water and 1/4 cup of baking soda to a boil. Dip the pretzels in for about 25 seconds with a slotted spoon and place on prepared baking sheet. Continue with the recipe.
While I haven’t tried it, I think you could make it a couple hours ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to shape since it’s a yeast-based dough.
I use any flour, but bread flour has more gluten for structure which may make it easier to shape the dough.
While there is a type of salt called pretzel salt, any coarse salt like kosher or Maldon will work.
Yes you can make these without a stand mixer! Simply mix all the ingredients with a spoon until it’s all combined. Then knead the dough for a couple minutes until smooth to mimic the stand mixer action – try not to use any extra flour if at all possible (you can oil your hands as an option if it’s too sticky).
More Easy Snack Recipes To Try
- Easy Chocolate Chip Almond Granola Bites (+ Variations)
- Ultimate No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
- Easy No Bake Chocolate Almond Oat Cups (Dairy Free, Gluten Free)
Best Comments
Hands down THE BEST pretzel recipe I have ever made. Used whole wheat pastry flour and they were excellent. Super quick recipe too, definitely a keeper. Thank you! -Lisa
Just made them with my 8 and 5 year old boys and they said they were the best pretzels ever so I guess they were a hit. Helping to make them was educational for them too. Thanks for the great recipe. -Andrea
Made these with my son this evening using whole wheat flour and they turned out great! We had so much fun making different shapes. Thanks for posting! -Bel
Just wanted to let you know that I made these tonight with my 9 & 4 year old little neighbor boys and they LOVED them! Such an easy, quick and fun recipe. Thanks so much for sharing! -Jane
I hope you love this homemade soft pretzels recipe! If you make it, be sure to leave a recipe rating so I know how you liked it!
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Easy 30 Minute Homemade Soft Pretzels Recipe
Equipment
- stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons instant yeast*
- 1½ cups warm water
- 1 tablespoons honey or sugar
- 1 tablespoons salt**
- 4 cups flour***
- 1 egg for wash-don't skip since we're not boiling
- salt for sprinkling, kosher is best but sea salt will do fine
Instructions
- Combine yeast, water, honey, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Stir in flour and mix until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl (1-2 minutes). The dough should be smooth to the touch, and will stick only when pulling off pieces- as soon as you start rolling for the pretzel shape, it should not stick to your hands or surface (add just a touch more flour if you have sticking problems- I never have, though).
- Start preheating the oven to 425 degrees.
- Pull off pieces of dough (alternately, pat dough out and cut to get more even pieces), shape into letters, hearts, pretzels, animals, little bites, etc. and place on two lined or greased cookie sheets. TIP: Fill one sheet at a time, as the first sheet will be done before you've finished shaping all the pretzels for the second sheet.
- Mix the egg with a bit of water and brush all over the dough shapes, then sprinkle with some salt.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes at 425 degrees until golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before taking the first fabulous bite!
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe has been updated – it was first published in 2011, updated in 2018 and again in 2024.
We are on a quest to eliminate processed foods (really we have done so with almost everything). I don’t like to use regular sugar either so these are perfect for us. Just made them with my 8 and 5 year old boys and they said they were the best pretzels ever so I guess they were a hit. Helping to make them was educational for them too. Thanks for the great recipe. My husband will appreciate it tonight also as he missed his “processed” foods lol.
So nice to read, Andrea – they really have been a hit with all the kids I’ve ever made them with. Kind of amazed me, actually, as they aren’t that hard. 🙂
You say in the first step to combine all the dry ingredients, including sugar, but there is no sugar in the ingredient list- is the first 1 Tb salt supposed to be sugar, or do you mean the honey? Thnx
Well, Amber, you’re the first in all these years to catch that! I adapted the original recipe to use honey and didn’t make it consistent in the directions – I’ve fixed it now to say honey (though it’s not all dry ingredients – it’s the first 4, which includes water). You should be good to go now. 🙂
making them as we speak, excited about making the letters! when my son wakes up from his nap will surprise him
Made these with my son this evening using whole wheat flour and they turned out great! We had so much fun making different shapes. Thanks for posting! Love your site =)
I can’t wait to try this but my daughter can’t have egg. Would brushing it with soy-milk work?
I don’t know- it’s just to get the salt to stick, so you can experiment with different things and see how it goes!
you can use water instead of egg just need something to help the salt stick
Thanks, Angela, that’s a good tip!
Just wanted to let you know that I made these tonight with my 9 & 4 year old little neighbor boys and they LOVED them! Such an easy, quick and fun recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hope they become a family favorite for you, too, Mindy!
:J
How did I miss this the first time around? Will definitely need to do these with the kids!
those look soo yummy!! looking forward to trying this one and the french baguettes recipe! Happy Monday:)
These look so yummy!
I can’t wait to make them.
Thanks for sharing
Nancy
Jami,
I’ve been wanting to try to make my own pretzels for a long time, thanks for inspiring me!
The first time I considered doing this is when I saw an episode of Good Eats where they made pretzels.
Check it out. http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/season11/EA1102.htm
The one thing in this that you might find interesting is the baking soda boiling water bath. I guess the alkalinity is supposed to give the pretzels that characteristic outside.
I haven’t tried it yet, but as Alton Brown is rarely wrong, I thought I’d share.
Thanks,
Jason
Jason- I’m sure the soda-water-bath would give that chewy texture just like it does to bagels. That would surely be the way to go if you’re trying to make the best soft pretzels, but since I’m usually just trying to please the kids, I don’t bother. 🙂
Let us know if you do and how it comes out!
Yummy! We love pretzels and I’ve been searching for the perfect recipe. I will definitely have to try yours.
I LOVE this. Thank you! My boys love soft pretzels, so we are definitely going to do this!
Thanks for sharing this. Looks simple to put together and I can’t wait to try it.
What a fun idea! The kids would love making these ♥ Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the post. My kids are shaping as I type! I may post and link to you.
Thanks for posting this. I remember making these with my mom and will have fun doing this with my kids.
Oh, I have all the ingredients except honey. Oh, this looks easy. I LOVE pretzels. When I lived in Germany, I’d buy soft pretzels all the time at the grocery store..like the ones here and ones that looked like rolls too..so yummy. I’d even go to the local bakery and buy a soft pretzel sliced in half with nice butter on it 😉 🙂 Oh so yummy…now I can make this at home for myself!!!! Thank you, thank you 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather 🙂
i love this! i am going to try it soon. no really! 🙂