Written by Kate Tietje
I love soft pretzels. I don’t love how they are usually made with a whole bunch of white flour.
A while back, when we took a trip to the zoo, I fried some homemade chicken nuggets, cut up carrots and celery sticks, sliced some cheese, and — made these pretzels. It was a perfect and fairly simple lunch. And this recipe made a lot of pretzels, so I had some for another day, which I could (should) have frozen.
Best yet? They’re soaked whole-grain pretzels, meaning they’re pretty nourishing, too. And easy. Did I mention easy?
Soaked Soft Pretzels
Ingredients:
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 cups warm filtered water
- 1 tbsp. yeast
- 2 tsp. sea salt + coarse sea salt for the tops
- Baking soda and water
Directions:
Step 1: Mix the whole wheat flour and water together. Set it in a warm place overnight to soak. It should be a soft dough.
Step 2: In the morning, mix in the yeast and sea salt.
Step 3: Knead the dough for 5 minutes or so until smooth and elastic. Set in a warm place to rise for 1 – 2 hours.
Step 4: Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, then roll each piece into a rope about 1″ thick.
Step 5: Twist it to create a pretzel shape.
Step 6: Continue with all the pretzels. Set them on an ungreased baking sheet.
Step 7: Mix some baking soda and water together. Brush it on all the pretzels, then sprinkle with sea salt.
Step 8: Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.
Anyway, they’re done! Easy! Once cool, these can be stored in a bag on the counter for 2 – 3 days or frozen for longer storage. They could be sliced through the middle (lengthwise) and turned into sandwiches, or you could rip off bites and dip them in grass-fed butter as I did…. 🙂
Soaked Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 cups warm filtered water
- 1 tbsp. yeast
- 2 tsp. sea salt + coarse sea salt for the tops
- Baking soda and water
Instructions
- Mix the whole wheat flour and water together. Set it in a warm place overnight to soak. It should be a soft dough.
- In the morning, mix in the yeast and sea salt.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes or so until smooth and elastic. Set in a warm place to rise for 1 - 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, then roll each piece into a rope about 1" thick.
- Twist it to create a pretzel shape.
- Continue with all the pretzels. Set them on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Mix some baking soda and water together. Brush it on all the pretzels, then sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.
Is there a gluten free version of this? Sounds very yummy, but we can’t do gluten.
I haven’t come up with one…but I’m sure someone has!
Yum!! I LOVE soft pretzels but it’s been years since I’ve had one! Do you know if it’s possible to make crunchy pretzels at home? Cause I love those, too, and confess that I have a bag of them in my pantry right now for snack attacks. 🙂
I’d assume a softer dough or even batter, baked differently, but I’m sure it’s possible! I have not yet tried.
It’s always been my understanding that you have to have an acid medium (acv and water, buttermilk, yogurt, etc) to soak your grains in. Do you have a link/research to share that says differently? Thank you!
Yes. I was looking at Amanda Rose’s White Paper (you can see parts of it online) and it noted that although an acid medium helps, certain grains (including wheat) tend to give up the phytic acid easily and don’t really “require” an acid medium. I’ve gone with that and we haven’t had an issue. You can certainly add some lemon juice though if you prefer.
Thank you for that I’ll definitely give it a look…I can take the sourness of the acid medium but not the kids so this is good news!
Suggestions for a “warm place” for overnight? About what temp would be considered warm? Not crazy about leaving the oven on all night while we sleep. Would regular white flour work, I don’t have any wheat flour. Would like to try these, my family LOVES soft pretzels!
I tried to make these but the dough was so sticky, I ended up just turning it all into mini loaves of bread. I think my kitchen was too warm and was causing the dough to rise very quickly. I tried adding extra flour so I could handle forming it but it just stuck to everything. The loaves turned out great on the other hand 🙂
What does soaked mean in this case? Because usually what I think of when I thinking of something being soaked is that it would be submerged in liquid of some sort. This doesn’t look like it’s the case for your recipe….. Although the recipe does look good!
Soaked, in this case, means to be moistened by the liquid and sit overnight — not actually submerged. It confused me too at first! But I feel it does make a difference for us!
Can instant yeast be used?
Hi Faith,
Yes, I think so. I believe I’ve used both interchangeably.
Any tips on getting it not to be so sticky or explaining why it’s so sticky after soaking? I was trying to make it “smooth and elastic” but it stuck to the spoon, my hands and everything! I kneaded as best I could for the 5 minutes but it still is very sticky. I’m hoping the rising will fix it?