Soft Pretzels: A Recipe for Bavarian Pretzels

Nothing goes better with a cold homebrewed beer than a big soft pretzel fresh from the oven! Today we’re going to set homebrewing aside and look instead at a recipe for large, Bavarian beer pretzels . Below is a recipe I’ve used for years to create delicious pretzels at home:

Soft Pretzel Recipe – makes one dozen large pretzels:

  • 1 packet active dry bread yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoons soft butter or margarine
  • 2 3/4 cups bread flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 5 teaspoons baking soda (for glazing)
  • Coarse salt (if desired)

Instructions:

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup warm water and packet of yeast.
  • Mix in 1-1/2 cups of flower, the 2 tblsp margarine, 1/2 tsp salt and tblsp sugar. Beat the entire mixture for 3 minutes to mix well.
  • Slowly mix in the remaining 1-1/4 cups of flour, and knead dough until all of the flour is mixed in and dough loses its stickiness.
  • Set aside in bowl, and let it rise until dough reaches approximately double its original size.
  • Divide dough into twelve approximately equal pieces. Using your palms, roll each piece into 18″ lengths about pencil thickness. Loop and twist the lengths into pretzel shapes and place on a greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again until they approximately double in girth.
  • Preheat oven to 475 degrees, and ready a boiling solution of 4 cups of water, and the 5 tsp of baking soda in a shallow non-aluminum (note – aluminum may react with baking soda).
  • With a plastic spatula, carefully lift each pretzel from the sheet and lower it into the boiling baking soda solution for 15-20 seconds. This will glaze the pretzels once you bake them.
  • Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt (if desired, they’re great without salt as well), and bake approximately 7-10 minutes until browned. Serve warm, topped with mustard or cheese, and a pint of your favorite beer.

There is nothing more wonderful than a fresh hot pretzel with a nice cold homebrew! Thanks again for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Have a great day and happy brewing.

20 thoughts on “Soft Pretzels: A Recipe for Bavarian Pretzels”

  1. I forgot to mention that I usually make a double batch of these – it takes a while to roll them all out but they are great. If you pop them in the microwave for about 20 seconds later and put a little mustard on the pretzel you will love it!

  2. Made these over the weekend and they were great!

    The wife and I loved them with a couple pints of Hefe I got rolling on tap!

    Thanks for the recipe!

  3. I’ll chime in… This recipe is EXCELLENT! I refuse to make something from a recipe unless I know what it’s supposed to look like when it’s done. Your picture looked delicious, so… last night my 8 yr old and I made these and they turned out perfect! Thanks.

  4. We are from Germany originally and have been hunting for this recipe for a LONG TIME. These are fantastic. I usually salt the bottom of the tray to have that ‘all round’ salt taste.

    Also when they are done, remove them from the tray immediately and prevent them from sweating – allow all round cooling to occour.

  5. Pingback: fermentarium » Blog Archive » Here’s what you missed at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival

  6. Pingback: Bavarian-style Soft Pretzels

  7. Do you think you could forget the sugar and use 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 cup wort? Maybe a little extra malt flavor?

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  9. Pingback: Bavarian Pretzels + Witbier | The Apartment Brewer

  10. I think that this might be a great use of spent grain flour 😀 I would think that most of the readers of this blog would have easy access to spent grain.

  11. Great without spent grain but fantastic using 2 cups bread flour + 3/4 cup spent grain flour! Had some from a batch of rye porter – made a great darker pretzel!!

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