Legume Free Classic Pretzel Rolls

Total time2 hr 5 min

Prep time30 min

Cook time20 min

4.6

(29)

Chewy on the outside, pillowy in the middle, and finished with a generous shower of coarse salt — these pretzel rolls deliver that iconic bakery experience straight from your own oven. The secret to their deep mahogany color and bold, slightly bitter pretzel flavor is a two-part trick: baking the baking soda before it ever hits the water bath, then briefly simmering each roll in that alkaline bath before baking. It sounds like extra work, but both steps are genuinely simple and make all the difference between a dinner roll and a real pretzel roll. The entire ingredient list is built around flour, butter, yeast, and salt — nothing hidden, nothing processed, and naturally free of any legume-derived additives or fillers that can sneak into store-bought versions. Shaping them into tight, seam-pinched rounds and scoring the tops before they go into the oven gives you that satisfying crust that crackles when you tear one open. Serve them warm alongside soup, pile on deli mustard, or just eat one plain off the cooling rack — no judgment here.

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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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