Super Easy Soft Pretzels Recipe {Perfect for Kids to Help Make!} (2024)

What do simple ingredients, a little time, and a whole lot of fun create? A soft pretzel recipe that makes perfectly soft, buttery, doughy, and so-good-you-don’t-want-to-stop-eating pretzels!

I’m a total sucker for those big soft pretzels you can get in the mall. They’re chewy and perfectly doughy. Yum! However, I prefer to make my own at home and I have a soft pretzel recipe that tastes just like the store-bought version – but it’s a whole lot more fun.

I love baking these soft pretzelswith my kids. They’re quick and easy to put together (you don’t even have to wait for the dough to rise!) Plus, the kids love making their own unique pretzel shapes.

I usually make the dough myself and then call the kids into the kitchen to twist pretzels or make whatever shape they want. I secretly love it when they make letters!

Ingredients Needed For Soft Pretzel Recipe

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this easy recipe. The ingredients are simple, yet create something almost magical.

• Active Dry Yeast – Yeast can be a little…finicky. It took me a long time to feel brave enough to work with it. If you have ever felt intimidated about baking with yeast, this is the perfect recipe to help you gain some confidence.
• Warm Water – It’s crucial to have the right water temperature for the pretzels to rise correctly. Water warmed to a temperature of 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit will make for a very happy yeast.
• Sugar – Soft pretzels don’t call for a lot of sugar, but it adds the perfect sweetness to the dough.
• Salt – You’ll use just a bit of salt in the mixing process – not to be confused with the coarse salt for the outside of your pretzel. You can use any salt that you have on hand for this part of the recipe.
• All-Purpose Flour – Your basic all-purpose flour works best for these pretzels, as it creates the fluffiest end result.
• Egg – An egg is a tried and true method for getting salt to adhere to the pretzel dough before baking.
• Coarse Salt – What would a pretzel be without salt? Use a coarse variety to really enjoy the bits of saltiness on the crisp outer layer of your soft pretzels.

How To Make Soft Pretzel Recipe

Follow these nearly no-fail instructions step-by-step, and you’ll end up with warm, gooey, delicious soft pretzels before you know it:

Step 1

First, use a microwave to warm the water. Heat for about 10-15 seconds, then use a candy or kitchen thermometer to measure the temperature.

If it’s not warm enough, heat it more. If you warm it too much, just start over. Easy enough.

Step 2

Next, dump the water into your mixing bowl and add 2.5 teaspoons of yeast. It needs to dissolve all the way into the water. The water will look kind of murky.

Step 3

Then, when the yeast is dissolved, add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix gently.

Step 4

Add 3 cups of flour.

Step 5

Step 6

Now, mix this for a minute or two and then add another 1/2 cup of flour.

Test the dough. If it’s okay, you can move on to kneading. If it’s still really sticky, you’ll want to add a little more flour – up to 1/2 cup more.

Step 7

For kneading, you can either do this by hand for 6-8 minutes or continue using your dough hook (much preferred, in my opinion.)

With a mixer, “knead” for about 4-6 minutes. The dough will start pulling from the sides of the bowl.

The dough above isn’t quite done yet. We want it to be smooth and elastic. I had to run the mixer for probably about 6 minutes total.

This is what it looks like when it’s done:

“Smooth and elastic” – see how it pulls away?

Great! Your soft pretzels dough is ready to move to the next step – baking!

Step 8

Preheat your oven to 425° and pull out a couple of cookie sheets. Line them with foil and grease. This is so important; do not skip this step!

If you don’t do it, you’ll be scraping pans much later tonight. Trust me, learn from my past mistakes.

Step 9

Next, call the kids because it’s time for the fun part: making shapes! Unless you don’t need to call them because you were brave and had them help you make the dough. Or they were already hanging on you. 😉

Shape the dough into whatever you want!

Nathan and Emily make letters, shapes, and of course pretzel twists. I love it too; it’s fun to mold that dough. It reminds me of playing with play-doh.

See Also

Maple Sugar Cookies Recipe

Nathan made this awesome twist all by himself:

We made a letter for each of the kids’ names. I just now realized we spelled out “J-E-N” below, lol. It was meant for Joshua, Emily, Nathan – with an L for Luke above

Step 10

Now, remember the egg at the beginning of the recipe? Now is when we need it. If you haven’t already, beat it.

With a pastry brush, brush the egg onto the pretzels. This will allow for the salt to stick plus add a nice golden color when the soft pretzelsare baked.

Step 11

Sprinkle coarse salt over the pretzels. See how talented I am? I can shake salt andtake a photo at the same time.

Step 12

Bake the pretzels for 12-14 minutes each. You don’t want them to be overdone, so check on them.

Pull them out when they are just beginning to turn golden (or they’ll likely burn).

Cool on a wire rack.

Here are some “Mom-made” Soft Pretzels:

Don’t they look amazing? Believe me – they taste just as good as they look! So yummy!

Easy Soft Pretzel Recipe Notes & Tips

It’s important for water to be at the right temperature when working with yeast. If it’s too hot or too cold, it can kill the yeast or make it inactive, which means your bread – or in this case pretzels – won’t rise. And who wants that?

You can prepare the best soft pretzel recipe ahead of time and refrigerate the dough in an airtight container for up to a day. Alternatively, you can bake and freeze fully cooled pretzels for up to two months.

To reheat frozen pretzels, bake them at 350°F for about 20 minutes until they’re warmed through.

Delicious Soft Pretzel Recipe Variations To Make

This soft pretzel recipe is finger-lickin’ good all by itself. However, if you want to try other flavors, here are a few ideas:

• Cinnamon And Sugar – Simply sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of your bagels after brushing them with the egg mixture.
• Cheese – Sprinkle shredded cheese of your choice on top of the bagels after brushing them with the egg mixture.
• Everything Bagel – After brushing your pretzels with your egg mixture, sprinkle a generous amount of everything bagel topping.
• Garlic Parmesan – Before baking your pretzels, brush a mixture of garlic powder and butter over them. Then sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese over them.

More Delicious Kid-Friendly Recipes

• Poppy Seed Muffins Recipe
• Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
• Graham Bread | The Easy Paleo Bread For Kids
• Chock-Full-Of-Good-Stuff Morning Glory Muffins Recipe

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