Xanthan Gum Free Soft Pretzels with Salt
Soft, chewy, and deeply bronzed, these homemade pretzels deliver that iconic bakery experience right out of your own oven. The ingredient list is refreshingly straightforward — just flour, yeast, butter, and a few pantry staples — so there's no need to hunt down specialty binders or worry about hidden additives sneaking into your snack. The real magic here is the baking soda bath, which gives each pretzel that signature chewy crust and rich, dark color without any shortcuts. A generous brush of egg wash before baking locks in a glossy, crackly finish, and the coarse salt on top makes every bite genuinely satisfying. Many store-bought and even restaurant pretzels rely on dough conditioners and stabilizers that can be hard to track down on a label, so making them from scratch puts you fully in control of what goes in. These are best served warm, ideally with a dipping sauce on the side, and they disappear fast — so consider doubling the batch.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
For the dough
- 1 ½ cups warm water (110°f / 43°c)
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For the baking soda bath
- 10 cups water
- ⅔ cup baking soda
For finishing
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp coarse pretzel salt or flaky sea salt
Instructions
- 1
Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy and fragrant.
- 2
Add the fine salt, melted butter, and flour to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until the flour is incorporated, then increase to medium speed and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl, and springs back when poked.
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