April is National Soft Pretzel Month, and we love a good soft pretzel recipe. Bake a batch of delicious soft pretzels and serve with grainy mustard and beer.

Bake a batch of delicious soft pretzels and serve with grainy mustard and beer.

Want to make smaller, appetizer-size pretzels? See our instructions for pretzel bites in “Variations” of the recipe, below.

Also below are more soft pretzel recipes, from chocolate-stuffed to cheese-coated.

> April 26th is National Pretzel Day.

> July is National Pretzel Month per some sources.*

> October is National Pretzel Month per some sources.*

> The history of pretzels.

> Want to make smaller, appetizer-size pretzels? See our instructions for pretzel bites in the “variations,” below.
 
 
RECIPE: BUTTER BRUSHED SOFT PRETZELS

This recipe is for the soft, chewy kind of pretzel that’s wonderful when warm, but almost as good at room temperature.

Prep time is 20-30 minutes. Bake time is 8-9 minutes. Thanks to King Arthur Flour for the recipe.
 
Ingredients For 8 Large Pretzels

For The Dough

 
For The Topping

 
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†Use the greater amount in the winter, the lesser amount in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is soft dough.
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Preparation

1. PLACE all of the dough ingredients into a bowl, and beat until well combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it’s soft, smooth, and quite slack. Flour the dough and place it in a bag, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

> To make dough with a bread machine: Place all of the dough ingredients into the pan of the bread machine, program the machine for dough or manual, and press Start. Allow the dough to proceed through its kneading cycle (no need to let it rise), then cancel the machine, flour the dough, and give it a rest in a plastic bag, as instructed above.

> To make dough with a food processor: Place the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in the work bowl of a food processor equipped with a steel blade. Process for 5 seconds. Add the water, and process for 7 to 10 seconds, until the dough starts to clear the sides of the bowl. Process a further 45 seconds. Place a handful of flour in a bowl, scoop the slack dough into the bowl, and shape the dough into a ball, coating it with the flour. Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, close the bag loosely, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting…

2. PREPARE the topping. Combine the boiling water and baking soda, stirring until the soda is totally (or almost totally) dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm (or cooler).

3. PREHEAT the oven to 475°F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper. If you’re not using King Arthur Flour, grease the parchment with vegetable oil spray to make double-sure the bites won’t stick.

4. TRANSFER the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces (about 70g, or 2-1/2 ounces, each). Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

5. POUR the baking soda/water into a 9″ square pan. Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28″ to 30″ long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Working with 4 pretzels at a time, place them in the pan with the baking soda/water, spooning the water over their tops. Leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on the baking sheet. This baking soda “bath” will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color.

6. TRANSFER the pretzels to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt, if desired. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

7. BAKE the pretzels for 8 to 9 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.

8. REMOVE the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up. It may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.
 
Variations

To make savory pretzel bites: Roll the six pieces of dough into 10″ ropes. Cut each rope crosswise into 6 to 10 equal pieces. Dip the pieces into the baking soda solution, place on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, and top with pretzel salt or sea salt. Bake in a 400°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and roll the bites in melted butter; about 6 tablespoons should do it.

To make sweet pretzel bites: Roll the six pieces of dough into 10″ ropes. Cut each rope crosswise into 6 to 10 equal pieces. Dip the pieces into the baking soda solution, place on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, and top with pearl sugar, if desired. Bake in a 400°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove them from the oven; if they haven’t been topped with pearl sugar, roll the bites in melted butter (about 6 tablespoons should do it). Then shake in a paper bag with 6 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar.
 
 
MORE SOFT PRETZEL RECIPES

 
 
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*National Day Calendar cites April as National Pretzel Month. National Today cites October as National Pretzel Month. It is not uncommon for the same holiday to appear on two or more dates. The reason can be that the U.S. Congress, different states, and different municipalities all can pass a declaration for a holiday. In these lawless Internet times, any person or company can declare a holiday on social media, without any formal body passing a resolution.

[1] Soft pretzels brushed with butter. The recipe is below (photos #1 and #6 © King Arthur Baking).

[2] Chocolate-stuffed soft pretzels. Here’s the recipe (photo © Beyond Good By Madecasse).

[3] Parmesan pretzels with a parmesan-beer dip. Here’s the recipe (photo © Wisconsin Cheese).

[4] Two Italian treats: prosciutto di Parma (a.k.a. Parma ham) with soft pretzels, the latter first created by monks in northern Italy (photo © Prosciutto di Parma | Facebook).

[5] You can top your soft pretzels with just about anything (photo © Sonia | Pexels).

[6] In addition to mustard, try other condiments, like dips and sour cream (photo © King Arthur Baking).

[7] Food fun? A soft pretzel serves as a very large crouton with a bowl of butternut squash soup (photo © Aleisha Kalina | Unsplash).