Light & Easy Soft Pretzels

I have always been intrigued by pretzels, especially soft pretzels. The soft bread is full of flavor on its own and the flavor is only enhanced when paired with a cheese sauce, mustard, or a sugary glaze.

Alas, I set out on a mission to make them. One night, I put *figuratively* put my foot down and said I was making them. But of course, I had almost all the ingredients I needed on hand…but I managed!

I couldn’t decide what kind of pretzels I wanted, sugary or sweet, so I made both. I made pretzels drizzled with sea salt and pretzels glazed with cinnamon and brown sugar (yum!).

Light & Easy Soft Pretzels

Adapted from Sally’s 30-Minute Whole Wheat Pretzel Recipe. I was drawn to using Sally’s recipe since no boiling was involved. Her recipe preserves that pretzel taste without having to put in the extra effort! 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose/white flour (You’ll need some extra flour too when kneading the dough and shaping the pretzels too)
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (white sugar)

Ingredients for the Cinnamon Sugar Glaze:

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

And, does patience count as an ingredient? If so, you may need a whopping amount of it!

Directions: 

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the warm water. Then add in the yeast and stir. The mixture will look cloudy and even a little milky. Then add the salt and granulated sugar. Stir again.

2. Now, start to add in the flour. Do this by adding in 1 cup at a time and using a large spoon or spatula to mix until the dough thickens. Continue to add flour until the dough isn’t sticky. I actually ended up using 5 cups of flour (1 cup whole wheat flour, 4 cups white flour).

3. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Then take one of the quarters and cut it into thirds (you will have 12 pieces of dough). Using flour to make the dough less sticky and easy to work with, roll out the dough as evenly as possible into a long rope. I found that rolling the dough between my hands helped speed along the process (kind of like when they try to start fires in cartoons by rubbing sticks together). I’d roll the dough in my hands and then continue rolling it on the counter to even it out. I’d also pull at the dough to stretch it out.

4. Once you’ve got a rope, twist it into a shape of a pretzel like below. As I’ve learned, make sure the overlapping end of the rope is stuck to the rest of the pretzel well, or else it’ll pop up while cooking. Continue to shape the rest of the dough. Arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. Pre-heat your oven to 425F.

6. Crack the egg into a bowl that is large enough to fit one pretzel, and beat the egg. Then, take each pretzel and dip it in the egg. Make sure to cover both the front, back, and crevices of the pretzel.

7. Make sure your pretzels are about 2 inches apart from each other when spacing them. They will seriously puff up while baking.

8. Decide how you want to flavor your pretzels. If you want salty pretzels, drizzle some sea salt over the pretzels. Sprinkle as much as your heart desires! If you want cinnamon and sugar glazed pretzels, keep reading.

9. For the cinnamon and sugar glazed pretzels, add some leftover egg to the cinnamon and brown sugar mix in a small ramekin. The mixture I made was a medium golden brown color. Then using a fork, brush, or your finger, gently spread the mixture over the front of the pretzels.

10. Bake for 10 minutes and then broil on high for 2-3 minutes. Remove from tray and let cool on cooling rack before eating.

These pretzels took me about 2 hours to make because I’m super slow. SUPER SLOW. If you’re fast it’ll probably only take you like 30 minutes. But it was totally worth it. It’s great to have fresh, light, and healthy treats around. Plus I love knowing all the ingredients that went into making these fluffy pretzels.

Hopefully in the future, I can make the size and shape of these babies a little more consistent. But, I think this was a pretty solid attempt.

Have fun making these yummy pretzels!

Yum