Sourdough Soft Pretzels

This pretzel recipe uses sourdough starter (along with instant yeast) to add a tang of sourdough, and come out soft and fluffy.

Yields:

12 large pretzels

Time Required:

• prep: 35 mins.
• cooking: 20 mins.
• additional prep. 1 hr. 5 mins.
• total: 2 hrs.

Ingredients:

Pretzel Dough:

• 3 cups¹ (375 g) flour
• 1 cup (275 g) unfed sourdough starter
• ¾ cup² (175 ml) lukewarm water, more as needed
• ¼ cup² (30 g) powdered milk
• 2 Tbsp. (28 g) butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. (25 g) brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. (10 g) instant yeast
• 1 tsp. (6 g) salt
• (optional) 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) water, more as needed

Water Bath:

• 3 Tbsp. (50 g) baking soda
• 3 cups (700 ml) water

Finishing:

• 1 large³ egg
• 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) water
• 1 Tbsp. (28 g) coarse sea salt⁴
• 4 Tbsp. (56.7 g) butter, melted

Preparation:

To make 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 mins. Add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if dough is dry.

Remove dough from bowl, and shape into a ball. Clean and dry bowl, then grease lightly. Return dough to bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature for 1 hr.

Turn dough out onto a lightly greased surface. Fold and shape into a rectangle; divide into 12 equal pieces, cover with plastic wrap.

Roll one piece dough into an 18"-long rope; keep remaining dough covered while you work. Loop and twist rope into a pretzel shape; place onto a greased baking sheet. Roll and shape remaining pretzels.

Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).

Prepare water bath, by bringing 3 cups water to a boil in a pot. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in baking soda until dissolved. Lower one pretzel into water bath, and cook for 30 seconds, flipping halfway through. Remove with a slotted spoon or spatula, and place back onto baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels.

Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Brush egg wash over each pretzel, then sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake in preheated oven until dark golden brown, 12 to 15 mins. Remove from oven, and brush pretzels with melted butter. Cool for 5 mins. before serving.

Cook's Notes:

Equipment needed: baking sheet, rolling pin, pastry board, medium bowl, small bowl, medium saucepan or pot.

One fan of the original recipe says he/she can make a gluten-free variant using King Arthur Baking's "Measure for Measure" GF flour, adding also ½ cup rice flour. However, if this is for a celiac, remember that gluten in sourdough starter is a problem. (It's possible to maintain a gluten-free sourdough starter.)

Another fan substitutes buttermilk for powdered milk, and yet another dips them in butter and then cinnamon sugar.

Never skip dunking in the baking soda bath, as the Maillard reaction gives finished pretzels a shiny, crunchy, golden surface, and distinctive pretzel taste & aroma.

¹ Cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons are as defined in US Customary Units, not to be confused with differing British imperial, "legal", "coffee", Commonwealth of Nations, Canadian, Latin American, Japanese, Russian, or Dutch defintions — further proof that everyone needs the metric system.

² Because dairy doesn't love me, and because I suspect powdered milk's unhealthy (because of cholesterol oxidation), I reduce water by ¼ cup, add ¼ cup of real milk (in my case, lactose-free), and omit powdered milk entirely.

³ This insistance on "large" eggs in recipes is usually silly, and is here, too. If you have medium eggs, fine.

⁴ For this step, salt doesn't literally need to be sea-harvested, but it's easier to find desired coarse sizing that way, for texture. If all you have is table salt, good enough.

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Collected and re-published at http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/recipes/sourdough-soft-pretzels.html by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> on Apr. 9, 2025. Individual recipes are free from copyright. Share and enjoy!

Special thanks to "Jennifer", who contributed this recipe in 2022 to AllRecipes at https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/272372/sourdough-soft-pretzels/.

I cannot praise enough King Arthur Baking as a learning resource for cooks new to sourdough (among other things). For one starting point, visit here: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/sourdough.

As you will learn from those experts, a "sourdough starter" (also called "sourdough mother") is a SCOBY, a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. It may sound alarming to keep bacteria or yeast, not to mention a symbiotic colony of both, in your refrigerator, but it's not: The lactobaccili and acetic acid bacteria, and yeast organisms cohabiting with them, don't want to hurt you or other food in your refrigerator, and will happily live in the cooled home you give them: In my case, I use a leftover 32 oz. plastic yogurt container. As King Arthur Baking teaches, you just give the colony a meal of water and flour about every week, and it'll be fine.

(If I have any copyright title in my own very minor contributions to this page — not my intention — they were created in 2025 by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> and licensed for use under CC0. I have thereby waived all copyright, compilation copyright, and related or neighbouring rights to this work. This work is published from: United States of America.)