Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels Kids Can Help Make

What do you enjoy doing on cold winter days? I love staying home, doing a craft with the kids, or baking something yummy. This week we made homemade soft pretzels! My kids had fun trying to make their own pretzel shapes and playing with the dough. After all, pretzel dough is kinda like edible play dough that you bake at 450 degrees to make a delicious snack!

I used a recipe from the Food Network’s Alton Brown to make our homemade soft pretzels. He always offers easy-to-follow instructions for making yummy treats and snacks. I also doubled the homemade pretzel dough recipe and used the following measurements.

Pretzel Dough Ingredients

• 3 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 envelopes active dry yeast
• 8 cups flour
• 4 ounces butter, melted
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• Vegetable oil, for the bowl and pan
• 1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp. water
• Pretzel salt

Make Homemade Pretzel Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm water, sugar and salt and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes.

Mix in the flour and butter. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic. I like to regularly scrape the sides of the bowl as the mixer kneads.

Transfer into another oiled bowl that’s big enough to allow the dough to double in size. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour +. I allowed my dough to sit overnight.

Bake Homemade Pretzels

Set the oven to 450 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bring 10 cups water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in large shallow pan.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide it into small balls. Roll out each piece of dough into a rope. Form the ropes into pretzel shapes.

One by one, place a pretzel in the boiling baking soda water for 30 seconds. Carefully remove it using two spatulas and place it onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat for each pretzel. My pretzels were fairly large so I put them in the boiling water on squares of parchment paper to keep the shapes intact and then I fished out the parchment paper.

Brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
Bake at 450 degrees for 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the homemade soft pretzels to a cooling rack before serving.

The warm water, sugar and salt in homemade pretzel dough will make the yeast get a bit foamy.

Similar to pizza dough, homemade pretzel dough is soft and elastic. You can use small amounts of flour to keep it from getting too sticky when rolling out the dough.

Place the formed pretzels on squares of parchment paper to help them keep their shape when dropping them into the boiling baking soda water. Fish out the parchment paper and boil the pretzels for 30 seconds before gently lifting them out with spatulas. The baking soda water is what gives pretzels their tangy taste.

Bake your homemade soft pretzels for 12-14 minutes at 450 degrees until golden brown. My kids helped make our soft pretzels, so they didn’t look perfect but they were yummy!

Homemade soft pretzels are a great snack to bring to a holiday party or to make for a family movie night. My kids really enjoyed helping to make our yummy soft pretzels! Baking with kids is a great way to teach young children some basic kitchen skills.

You can make traditional soft pretzels with salt or create a sweet treat by drizzling them with chocolate. We made an assortment of homemade pretzels. This holiday-inspired soft pretzel is embellished with white chocolate and pomegranate seeds; perfect for a Christmas celebration or New Year’s Eve party!

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Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!