I have tried a lot of recipes. Most of which somehow don't turn out right. I have no idea why, but they always seem to fail, especially on the first attempt making it.
But, low and behold, a soft pretzel recipe that actually turned out SO GOOD on my first try making the recipe! I have already made this recipe multiple times because of how good it is!
- 150 calories per pretzel
But, low and behold, a soft pretzel recipe that actually turned out SO GOOD on my first try making the recipe! I have already made this recipe multiple times because of how good it is!
- It's soft, especially right out of the oven.
- It's buttery (no kidding), even though it has NO BUTTER in it whatsoever (so perfect for those who can't have dairy, like me!).
- And, it actually tastes like a pretzel!
- I decreased the amount of flour by 1 cup because my dough was already doughy enough (adding the extra 1 cup would have made the dough too dry).
- I decreased the boiling water by 1 cup because I made each pretzel smaller in size, which meant I could use a smaller pot to dip my pretzels in and I didn't need as much water.
- I decreased the baking soda from 1/2 cup to 3 tbsp because (1) I didn't want to use so much baking soda and (2) the purpose of the baking soda bath is to get the "pretzel" taste. I compared the amount of baking soda used by Allrecipes and other websites, and it turned out that a lot of the other recipes didn't use as much baking soda as Allrecipes. So, a good middle point that I decided to try was 3 tbsp. And it worked! The pretzels still had that signature "pretzel" taste.
- I added an egg wash for my pretzels to give them a nice shiny golden color after baking.
Best Soft Pretzels Recipe:
- Makes 16 pretzels- 150 calories per pretzel
Ingredients:
- 4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1.25 cup warm water
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 3 tbsp baking soda
- 3 cup boiled water
- Kosher salt (optional)
- 1 egg (optional)
- 1 tsp water (optional)
Procedure:
- In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar in 1 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water.
- Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease 2 baking sheets.
- In a sauce pan, boil 3 cups water and add the baking soda, turn off heat and set aside. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape (or whatever shape you want!).
- Once all of the dough is shaped, turn the stove heat to low and dip each pretzel into the baking soda-water solution and place pretzels on baking sheets.
- Whisk egg and 1 tsp of water together. Brush egg wash on pretzels.
- Sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Bake for 8 min.
- Boom. Done.
