Sourdough Pretzel Recipe

These easy sourdough pretzels are soft and simple to make. They can be topped with salt or sesame seeds and are perfect for sharing with friends.

Course Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword Sourdough Discard, Sourdough Rolls

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Fermentation Time 12

Total Time 13

Servings pretzels

Calories 173kcal

Equipment

Stand Mixer recommended
Baking Trays
Stock Pot for boiling pretzels
Slotted Spoon

Ingredients

100 g Sourdough Starter fed and bubbly or discard (see notes)
500 g Bread Flour
260 g Water Warm
30 g Sugar
10 g Salt
1 Egg plus 20g of water for egg wash

For Boiling

2 Litres Water
60 g Bicarbonate of Soda Baking Soda

Instructions

I recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe as it is a stiff dough and can easily be kneaded in a stand mixer.
Add sourdough starter, water, flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer and bring together to form a shaggy dough.
Allow the dough to rest for around 15 minutes.
Knead the dough (you'll need to use a dough hook for stand mixers) for around 10 minutes until it is smooth and supple.
This is a stiff dough (much like sandwich bread dough) so it won't be super elastic, however it should be smooth and not sticky.
Once the dough is sufficiently kneaded, you'll need to allow it to rise or ferment.
You want the dough to double and be puffy and soft.
Once the dough has risen, you'll need to shape the pretzels. It's quite simple, you just need a little patience.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces weighing 80g each. Shape each piece of dough into a small ball and then roll out into a long, thin strip. Around 45cm is perfect.
Twist each strip into a pretzel (see shaping notes above).
Place the shaped pretzels onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, cover with a dish towel and set aside to proof for a few hours.
Once they are puffy, place them into the freezer for around 30 minutes to set.
While they are setting in the freezer, bring a pot of water with 60g of baking soda added to the boil and preheat your oven to 200C/392F.
When the water is boiling, carefully place 3-4 pretzels into the boiling water at a time. You want to boil them for around 30 seconds each. They should float to the surface and that's when you know to take them out.
Carefully remove the pretzels from the boiling water using a slotted spoon.
Lay the pretzels onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Using a pastry brush, brush on the egg wash mixture and then sprinkle with salt or seeds as desired.
Bake the pretzels for around 20 - 25 minutes at 200C/392F. Remove them from the oven when they are golden brown.
Allow them to cool before you enjoy them!

Notes

Topping Ideas: Pretzels can be topped with a range of different things including - sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flakey sea salt, everything bagel seasoning, parmesan cheese, shredded tasty cheese, cinnamon sugar just to name a few!

Kneading: ideally this recipe should be done in a stand mixer because it is a stiff dough - but you can knead it by hand if you wish.

Using Sourdough Discard - if you are using sourdough discard, you'll need to add up to 7g of yeast. This will mean that the dough will rise much faster than using sourdough starter alone. You will not need to leave them as long to rise in this case.

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