Carrageenan Free Classic Pretzel Rolls
Chewy on the outside, pillowy in the middle, and finished with a generous shower of coarse salt — these pretzel rolls deliver everything you love about a classic soft pretzel in a handheld roll format. The real magic here is the baking soda bath: baking the baking soda first intensifies its alkalinity, giving each roll that signature deep mahogany crust and unmistakable pretzel tang without any specialty additives. Every single ingredient in this recipe is straightforward pantry staple territory — flour, butter, yeast, egg, salt — so there's nothing hidden to second-guess. That matters a lot when you're avoiding carrageenan, a thickener and stabilizer that sneaks into plenty of store-bought breads, rolls, and even some dairy products under vague labeling. Making these from scratch puts you fully in control of what goes into the dough and the bath. The shaping and boiling steps feel a little project-y in the best way, making these rolls genuinely satisfying to bake on a weekend afternoon. Serve them warm alongside soup, pile on sandwich fillings, or just tear one open with a little butter — they're hard to resist straight off the cooling rack.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
For the dough
- 1 cup warm water (105–110°f / 40–43°c)
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
For the boiling bath
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 8 cups water
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
For finishing
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp water
- 1–2 tbsp coarse pretzel salt or flaky sea salt
Instructions
- 1
Combine the warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand until the surface is foamy and the mixture smells yeasty, about 5–8 minutes. If the yeast does not foam, it is not active — start over with fresh yeast.
- 2
Add the flour, fine salt, and softened butter to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until the flour is incorporated, then increase to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth, slightly tacky, and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl, about 6–8 minutes. The dough should spring back slowly when poked.
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