Easy Soft Buttery Pretzels

5 from 3 votes

These homemade easy soft buttery pretzels are made with yeast and extra butter. They are topped with pretzel salt and served with spicy nacho cheese sauce.

Prep Time1

Cook Time11

Resting Time1

Total Time2 11

Servings: pretzels

Calories: 529kcal

Author: Stephanie Rutherford

Ingredients

Soft Buttery Pretzels

1 ¼ tablespoon Brown sugar packed light or dark
2 teaspoon Salt
2 ¼ teaspoon Instant yeast the whole packet
4- 4 ¾ cup All-purpose flour
1 ½ cup Warm water heated to 110°F
¼ cup Unsalted butter melted and cooled
½ cup Baking soda for boiling
6-8 cups Water for boiling
Pretzel salt
1 Egg yolk
1 tablespoon Water

Spicy Nacho Cheese Sauce

8 oz Sharp cheddar cheese shredded
¼ cup Unsalted butter
¼ cup All-purpose flour
2 cups Milk
4 dashes Ground red pepper
1 ½ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Soft Buttery Pretzels

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the butter in the microwave for 1 minute or until melted. Let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes to cool down. Also, heat the water in the microwave for 40 seconds- 1 minute until 110°F. The water should be warm but not too hot.
Using a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine flour, brown sugar, yeast, and salt together. Add in the water and melted butter. Mix on low until dough starts to combine.
Then turn to medium and knead for 5 minutes. Halfway through, if the dough is very sticky add the extra ¾ cup of flour. Mix on low at first and then turn back to medium. The dough will be slightly sticky. It will become less sticky when it rises.
Place dough in a slightly greased large mixing bowl (spray with non-stick spray). Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 1 hour until doubled in size.
Before rolling the dough, boil the hot water with the baking soda. Make sure there is plenty of room at the top of the pot because it bubbles a lot. Preheat oven to 450°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
When the dough is ready, divide dough evenly in 12 balls using a kitchen scale. For each ball of dough, roll it out into 22-24 inch rope. It should be even thickness through the entire rope of dough. Make it into a thin U shape. Then twist it twice at the top and fold it over into pretzel shapes. Press the ends firmly into the pretzel. See photos above in post. Place pretzels on the cookie sheet. 6 per cookie sheet.
Place 2 pretzels at a time into the boiling water. Let it boil for 30 seconds. Take them out with a slotted spoon/spatula. Try to get as much water as you can off of the pretzel. Place the boiled pretzels back on cookie sheet. Continue until all pretzels are done.
Mix together the egg yolk and water to create an egg wash. Use a pastry brush to brush each pretzel with egg wash. Top with pretzel salt. As much as you desire.
Bake for 11-14 minutes. The pretzels are done when they are a deep golden color. Let it sit on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Spicy Nacho Cheese Sauce

While the pretzels are baking, start the cheese sauce. Use a sauce pan and melt the butter on medium. Once melted, add the flour and whisk continuously for 1-2 minutes.
Slowly add in the milk while whisking continuously. Cook the sauce for 5 minutes while continuing to whisk. It will thicken. Add in the shredded cheese. Mix until cheese is all melted. Then, add in seasoning. Serve the sauce warm.

Notes

Making this dough without a dough hook- Combine all ingredients and fold it together by hand until dough forms. Place dough on a floured surface. Knead by hand for 10 minutes. If too sticky, add in the extra ¾ cup flour. Proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Flour- make sure flour is spooned and leveled.

Water and butter- they shouldn't be too hot, hot liquids will cause the yeast to slow down and the dough won't rise.

Nacho cheese sauce- if you don't want the sauce too spicy, either add less spices or no hot spices at all. You should still add the salt and pepper.

Nutrition