Boring pretzels? Not anymore! This homemade sourdough pretzel recipe is the most satisfying and delicious snack you'll ever eat! And they come together in just a few hours with very little hands on time!
Soft sourdough pretzels are made in three simple steps: forming the dough, boiling the pretzels in baking soda water and baking the pretzels in the oven. They can be made with either active sourdough starter or with discard.
Jump to:
- Why This Recipe Works
- Shopping List
- How to Make This Sourdough Pretzel Recipe
- Recipe
- How to Store Soft Sourdough Pretzels
- How to Store Pretzel Dough Overnight
- Helpful Tools
- What is Dry Malt Non-Diastatic Baking Powder?
- Variations for this Sourdough Pretzel Recipe
- How to Store Sourdough Pretzels
- More sourdough recipes
- Comments
Why This Recipe Works
These soft and chewy sourdough pretzels are easy to make with just 3 steps! The addition of commercial yeasts helps the sourdough starter to rise more quickly than traditional sourdough recipes.
Traditionally these homemade pretzels are not sourdough, but I just love the texture and tanginess that the sourdough starter adds to this recipe. Besides, I’m always looking for creative ways to use my sourdough starter discard, like my Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake!
Shopping List
- SOURDOUGH STARTER DISCARD || This recipe is super flexible because you can use either fed (peaked or ripe) active sourdough starter or the ‘hungry’ sourdough starter discard. This is the byproduct of feeding and caring for a sourdough culture. The sourdough must be ‘fed’ water and flour at regular intervals to keep the colony healthy and growing. To learn more about the basics of sourdough, I've broken the process down in my post Simple Sourdough Bread. Read How to Make a Sourdough Starter if you need to make a starter, or troubleshoot issues you are having with yours.
- ALL PURPOSE FLOUR || Bread flour is also a great option for this recipe.
- INSTANT YEAST (Active Dry Yeast) || Sourdough starter naturally contains yeast and will rise over time, but to keep this recipe fast, I have added commercial yeast. This allows the dough to be lighter and fluffier in only an hour! I buy my yeast in bulk and keep it in the freezer.
- WHOLE MILK || This adds a richness to the bagels that can only come from the addition of fat to the recipe. Personally, I have not tried this yet with a milk substitute, but in my opinion I think it would work… the bagel may be a bit less flavorful, though.
- ((OPTIONAL)) NON-DIASTATIC MALT POWDER || This is an optional ingredient, but it is what gives the pretzels their classic brown crust and chewiness. When I first began making pretzels, I did not have non-diastatic malt powder. My bagels were a light brown color and very pleasant, but they didn't have the deeper brown crust. Don't sweat it if you don't have any. They'll be fine without, and you will barely notice it's missing. Sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't. I did NOT use it when I made these pretzels today.
- Pretzel Salt (optional) || Any coarse salt will work fine. Today I used kosher salt.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make This Sourdough Pretzel Recipe
1. Place the mixing bowl on a kitchen scale that is set to grams, then hit the tare button. The tare function tells the scale not to count the weight of the bowl, which is important!
2. Add the hungry or active starter, bread flour, diastatic malt powder (if you are using it), whole milk, yeast, sugar and salt to the mixing bowl. I use the tare button between each addition to measure directly into the bowl.
3. Knead the dough in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for about five minutes, or until the stiff dough clings to the sides and feels soft and only slightly sticky to the touch.
If the dough is too dry, add a splash of milk. If the dough is sticking to the bowl and seems too wet, add flour gradually until the texture improves. There is a bit of intuition involved with making sourdough recipes, but you will get the hang of it!
4. Leave the dough in the mixing bowl, cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place it somewhere warm to bulk rise for an hour for the first rise. I turn my oven on to preheat for a few minutes, then shut it off to create a proofing box of sorts or boil a cup of water in the microwave and then store it in my modified proofing box.
5. After the dough has warmly rested for an hour, it will feel soft and pillowy. At this point the dough can be long fermented overnight or up to 4 days in the refrigerator or baked immediately.
On a clean work surface remove it from the mixing bowl and divide the dough into eight equal pieces using either a knife for pastry scraper.
6. Form each piece of dough into smooth balls and then gently roll them into a long rope. Shape the dough by twisting the middle together and bringing the ends down to form a pretzel shape.
7. Let the pretzel dough rest on the counter for the second rise for about 30 minutes, covered by a tea towel. Bring a large pot of water comes to a boil.
8. Once the water reaches a boil, add the baking soda. The baking soda creates an alkaline solution that acts as both a binder and pH stabilizer to keep the pretzel shape during the boiling process.
9. Once the boiling baking soda bath is ready, add 2-4 pretzels to the pot. The shaped pretzels SHOULD NOT TOUCH EACH OTHER in the boiling water. Set a timer for one minute and let the bagel boil.
10. After one minute, flip the pretzels over with a slotted spoon and boil the other side for one minute more. Remove the pretzels from the water and let any excess water drip off before setting them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
11. Brush the pretzel tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with a pinch of flaked sea salt or seasonings. I'm using Everything But the Bagel Jalapeño and plain poppy seeds.
12. Bake the pretzels at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes. This could vary depending on your oven. In my oven, I place my sheet pan on the bottom rack and bake for exactly 25 minutes. Sometimes I rotate the pan after 15 minutes if they appear to be browning unevenly.
12. Once the pretzels are golden brown and cooked through (check for an internal temperature between 195-205°F), let them cool on a wire rack.
Hint: The pretzel dough ropes can also be cut into one inch pieces to make pretzel bites!
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. For more delicious recipes from scratch and homesteading tips, follow me on instagram @NinnescahHomestead
Recipe
Sourdough Pretzels
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- baking sheet
- dutch oven or stock pot
- stand mixer
Ingredients
- 227 grams sourdough starter fed or hungry
- 360 grams all purpose flour or bread flour
- 170 grams milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon non-diastatic malt powder optional
Instructions
- Place the mixing bowl on a kitchen scale that is set to grams, then hit the tare button. The tare function tells the scale not to count the weight of the bowl, which is important!
- Add the hungry or active starter, bread flour, diastatic malt powder (if you are using it), whole milk, yeast, sugar and salt to the mixing bowl. I use the tare button between each addition to measure directly into the bowl.
- Knead the dough in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for about five minutes, or until the stiff dough clings to the sides and feels soft and only slightly sticky to the touch.If the dough is too dry, add a splash of milk. If the dough is sticking to the bowl and seems too wet, add flour gradually until the texture improves. There is a bit of intuition involved with making sourdough recipes, but you will get the hang of it!
- Leave the dough in the mixing bowl, cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place it somewhere warm to bulk rise for an hour for the first rise. I turn my oven on to preheat for a few minutes, then shut it off to create a proofing box of sorts or boil a cup of water in the microwave and then store it in my modified proofing box.
- After the dough has warmly rested for an hour, it will feel soft and pillowy. At this point the dough can be long fermented overnight or up to 4 days in the refrigerator or baked immediately.On a clean work surface remove it from the mixing bowl and divide the dough into eight equal pieces using either a knife for pastry scraper.
- Form each piece of dough into smooth balls and then gently roll them into a long rope. Shape the dough by twisting the middle together and bringing the ends down to form a pretzel shape.
- Let the pretzel dough rest on the counter for the second rise for about 30 minutes, covered by a tea towel. Bring a large pot of water comes to a boil and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Once the water reaches a boil, add 1 tablespoon of baking soda. The baking soda creates an alkaline solution that acts as both a binder and pH stabilizer to keep the pretzel shape during the boiling process.
- Once the boiling baking soda bath is ready, add 2-4 pretzels to the pot. The shaped pretzels SHOULD NOT TOUCH EACH OTHER in the boiling water. Set a timer for one minute and let the bagel boil.
- After one minute, flip the pretzels over with a slotted spoon and boil the other side for one minute more. Remove the pretzels from the water and let any excess water drip off before setting them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Brush the pretzel tops with an egg wash* and sprinkle with a pinch of flaked sea salt or seasonings. I'm using Everything But the Bagel Jalapeño and plain poppy seeds.
- Bake the pretzels at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes. This could vary depending on your oven. In my oven, I place my sheet pan on the bottom rack and bake for exactly 25 minutes. Sometimes I rotate the pan after 15 minutes if they appear to be browning unevenly.
- Once the pretzels are golden brown and cooked through (check for an internal temperature between 195-205°F), let them cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Variations
- For cheesy Italian pretzels, before baking the pretzels, brush them with egg wash and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and sea salt. Once it has baked, serve with warm marinara sauce.
- When I am craving the flavorful punch of Everything But the Bagel seasoning, I make my plain pretzels and sprinkle them generously with the seasonings after the egg wash and before baking. They are so tasty when served with softened cream cheese!
- Poppyseed Pretzels are a variation that is super easy! All you have to do is sprinkle the pretzel with poppyseeds just before baking.
Nutrition
How to Store Soft Sourdough Pretzels
The sourdough pretzels can be stored in a plastic bag or airtight container for up to two days on the counter or two months in the freezer.
How to Store Pretzel Dough Overnight
- Let the dough rise. Once it has rested in a warm spot for an hour, cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap.
- Place the dough in the refrigerator overnight. The cold temperatures will slow down fermentation and keep it from over proofing.
- Get the dough out of the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes and then continue with shaping, boiling and baking.
Helpful Tools
- Stand Mixer
- Kitchen Scale
- Silpat Baking Mat
- Parchment Paper
- Bench scraper
What is Dry Malt Non-Diastatic Baking Powder?
The last game changer for this recipe is dry malt non-diastatic baking powder. Yes, this is different than diastatic malt powder. While most bakers don’t routinely have it in their pantry, this is what gives baked goods (like pretzels and bagels) their gorgeous golden crust.
It is made with barley flour and is formulated to provide boosted enzyme activity and add sweetness to doughs like pretzels or bagels. I have made bagels and pretzels without this powder, but it definitely makes the crust better.
Variations for this Sourdough Pretzel Recipe
This recipe can be made so many different ways!
- For cheesy Italian pretzels, before baking the pretzels, brush them with egg wash and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and sea salt. Once it has baked, serve with warm marinara sauce.
- When I am craving the flavorful punch of Everything But the Bagel seasoning, I make my plain pretzels and sprinkle them generously with the seasonings after the egg wash and before baking. They are so tasty when served with softened cream cheese!
- Poppyseed Pretzels are a variation that is super easy! All you have to do is sprinkle the pretzel with poppyseeds just before baking.
How to Store Sourdough Pretzels
The sourdough pretzels can be stored in a plastic bag or airtight container for up to two days on the counter or two months in the freezer.
More sourdough recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Tessa
I have been trying many sourdough pretzel recipes and can not seem to find one that works well. This one came out the best! It resulted in soft and flavorful pretzels. I have struggled with the other pretzels being too bland.
Andrew
I can’t seem to see how much baking soda you use or how many egg for the egg wash? Is that part missing?
Meg
Hi Andrew,
The amount of baking soda to add is 1 tablespoon. Not much, but it really helps to brown up the edges nicely! I added a note on the recipe card for how to make an egg wash, thank you for pointing it out that it was missing!
Here's how to do it:
1. Crack one egg into a small bowl.
2. Add a half teaspoon of water.
3. Stir vigorously until the egg mixture becomes light and frothy.