Sourdough Pretzels Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between sourdough pretzels and pretzels? ›

Sourdough pretzels, unlike other regular pretzels, are made by fermenting flour and water (rather than adding yeast) to create a leaven. The result is a lighter texture, so sourdough pretzels have a better crunch than regular pretzels. Sourdough pretzels also have a richer taste than regular pretzels.

Shape pretzels: Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll it into an 18-inch rope with tapered ends. Grab the tips and form a U shape. Twist the ends twice, and flip them over. Tack the ends to the sides and place the shaped dough on a baking sheet.

Lye is primarily used to make pretzels, and it's the reason for their unmistakable shiny, mahogany color. To prepare, shaped pretzels are dipped in a lye bath, then baked in the oven. This method can also be used with rolls or buns. Once lye-dipped pretzels are baked, they're totally safe (and delicious!) to eat.

Homemade Soft Pretzels can be made with all purpose flour (plain flour) or bread flour. The difference is that if you use all purpose flour you will find that the inside of your pretzels will have a softer more fluffy texture, like a dinner roll.

Irrespective of the variety of pretzels, they have basic simple carbs as ingredients, making diabetics and people with underlying conditions vulnerable to blood sugar rise.

Best: Fitjoy Pretzels

Fitjoy pretzels are an all-around great choice, as they have no added sugar, a mere 3g of fat, and even boast a gram of protein. Additionally, one serving of Fitjoy pretzels provides 2% of your daily potassium needs which can help maintain a regular heartbeat and prevent potassium deficiency.

A common question - you will find that your soft sourdough pretzels will be too dense if they are not proofed adequately or you've used flour that is too high in protein. Before boiling, they should be lovely and puffy. They should look like little twisted pillows of dough.

When the bulk fermentation goes too long — often when the dough more than doubles or triples in volume — the dough can over ferment. You know the dough has over fermented if, when you turn it out to shape it, it is very slack — if it's like a wet puddle — and very sticky and lacking any strength and elasticity.

On the one hand, lye gives pretzels their distinctive flavor, kind of a sharp flatness, if that makes sense. It's what keeps a pretzel from tasting like pretzel-shaped bread.

Lye has a pH of around 13 whereas baking soda has a pH of around 8. This extra alkalinity accelerates the Maillard reaction, allowing that caramelization to develop on the exterior of the pretzels. That ultra-deep color and slightly crispy, crunchy exterior crust is only made possible with lye.

What is a German pretzel? ›

The pretzel, known as "Brezel" in German, is a type of baked bread product that is typically twisted into a distinctive knot-like shape. Its origin is often attributed to Germany, specifically to the region of Bavaria, although its precise beginnings are somewhat debated.

I really recommend that you use bread flour rather than all purpose when making soft pretzels. Bread flour has a higher gluten content, which in this case yields softer and chewier soft pretzels than you could expect with all purpose flour.

Like lye, baking soda is an alkaline substance, and when mixed with water and brushed over the pretzel dough, it changes the pH of the dough and gelates the surface starch. In the oven, the starch gel hardens and the alkaline baking soda makes browning happen fast.

Dipping the dough in a lye solution gives traditional German pretzels their characteristic salinity; chew; and smooth mahogany exterior, but the strong alkali (sodium hydroxide) is corrosive and can burn your skin, so it must be handled with caution.

Make the dough: Mix flour, sourdough starter, water, powdered milk, melted butter, brown sugar, yeast, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook until dough comes together. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Pretzels are one of America's favorite snacks. It's also one of the most versatile. While there are many different types of pretzels out there, the most common delineation is that between soft pretzels and hard pretzels.

How is a pretzel different from bread? A lot of people wonder how a soft pretzel is different from bread! The answer is that the dough is boiled before it is baked! Boiling the dough in the baking soda & water bath is the step in this recipe that gives this Homemade Pretzel Bread it's pretzel-y identity!

Sourdough hard pretzels contains 70 calories per 21 g serving. This serving contains 0 g of fat, 2 g of protein and 15 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 1 g sugar and 1 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Sourdough hard pretzels contains 0 g of saturated fat and 0 mg of cholesterol per serving.