Pretzel Buns Recipe

The fragrant aroma and amazing taste of soft pretzels are no longer limited to shopping malls. I'll walk you through each step, from a few simple ingredients to the delicious final result of these German pretzel buns.  Let's get baking!

If you're looking for other delicious savory breads, you'll definitely want to check out these recipes for teleras (Mexican rolls) and pumpkin dinner rolls.

Ingredients

Fortunately, you won't need any fancy ingredients to make these pretzel buns! You may already have all these ingredients in your pantry.

• Bread Flour: It's crucial to use bread flour to get the signature chewiness of pretzels. This type of flour contains more protein than all-purpose, which creates more gluten.
• Yeast: I like to use fast-action (aka instant) because it doesn't require blooming in warm water and sugar before use.
• Poaching Liquid: You'll need 10 cups of water and ⅔ cup of baking soda to poach the pretzels. This important step is what gives the pretzel buns their distinctive dark, chewy crust.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make

1. Pour the bread flour into a bowl and add the salt and yeast on opposite sides of the bowl, then stir each one in with your finger.
2. Mix in the sugar and butter until blended, then add half of the warm milk mixture.  Gradually add more liquid and keep mixing until all the flour is picked up from the bottom of the bowl and a slightly sticky dough has formed.

3. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface and knead by hand for 15-20 minutes.  Not sure if the dough has been kneaded enough?  Break off a good-sized lump of dough and stretch it as thin as you can.  If you can read through it, you're good to go!

4. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a buttered bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to prove until at least doubled in size, about 1 hour.  If you cover the bowl too tightly like I did, the dough might burst through the plastic wrap, creating the unusual spectacle here.

5. Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and punch it down to release pockets of gas.  Divide it into twelve equal pieces, using a kitchen scale for accuracy.

6. Roll each piece of dough into a tight ball and place the balls equally apart on two parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Let the rolls prove at room temperature until the dough just barely springs back when gently poked with a fingertip, about 30-40 minutes.  Then, put the pretzel rolls in the fridge for 30-40 minutes to harden them up.

7. While the rolls are chilling, bring 10 cups (2.4 liters) of tap water to a boil in a 6-quart Dutch oven.  Once the water is boiling, turn it down to a simmer over medium heat and gradually stir in the baking soda until dissolved.  Don't add the baking soda all at once, as it bubbles up when it hits the hot water.

8. Poach the rolls one at a time in the simmering liquid.  Poach the bottom for 15 seconds, then flip over and poach the other side for 15 seconds.  Remove promptly with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining pretzel buns.

Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt (which I forgot to do for the pictures), and cut a cross in each one with a baker's lame or sharp serrated knife.

9. Bake at 400°F for 13-15 minutes, until the pretzel buns are deeply browned and have an internal temperature of 190°F on a meat thermometer.

10. Let the pretzel rolls cool for at least 30 minutes on a wire rack before eating.  This gives them time to finish cooking through.

Recipe FAQs

Serve

Looking for other tasty breads you'll enjoy? Make sure to try our recipes for hearty multigrain bread, Greek olive bread, and pumpernickel bread. You'll also really like our recipe for everything bagel bread.

Store

Leftovers: If you're not going to eat all the buns within 24 hours of baking, it's best to keep these buns in the freezer. Do not store in the fridge because they will go stale.

Soften leftover buns by wrapping them in a damp, but not sopping wet, towel, then baking on a cookie sheet at 200°F for 5-10 minutes. Alternatively, microwave them in 10-second bursts until softened.

Freezing: Seal the baked and cooled pretzel buns in a zip-top freezer bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to 1 month for best freshness. See the question below for defrosting instructions.

Defrost: Bake from frozen at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until defrosted. Alternatively, microwave individual ones for 30-60 seconds, until warm.

Expert Tips

• Use bread flour.  All-purpose flour doesn't have a sufficient protein content to make chewy, high-rising yeast breads.
• Knead thoroughly.  If the dough is under-kneaded, it won't rise very high and will be dense and doughy.  You should be able to stretch a lump of well-kneaded dough until it's paper thin.
• Want to be authentic?  Use food-grade lye instead of baking soda to poach the pretzels.
• Poach the pretzel buns for 15 seconds on each side.  This is a crucial step for making pretzels, ensuring a moist, chewy bun with a thin, dark brown crust.
• Use a thermometer to see if the pretzels are done baking.  Their crusts brown very quickly, so it's hard to tell if they're cooked just by appearance.  They should have an internal temperature of 190ºF on a meat thermometer.

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Recipe

Pretzel Buns Recipe

These soft, easy German pretzel buns taste perfect with cheese sauce or beer cheese soup.  Use these homemade rolls for amazing sliders or hamburger buns at your next Super Bowl party.  Your family will gobble them up!

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Bread

Cuisine: German

Prep Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 buns

Calories: 199kcal

Author: Brooke & Emma

Ingredients

 

0.5x1x2x

US ImperialMetric

For the Dough

• ▢ 4 ¼ cups bread flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fast-action yeast
• ▢ 2 teaspoons fine-grained salt
• ▢ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• ▢ ⅔ cup whole milk
• ▢ ⅔ cup filtered water

For the Poaching

• ▢ 10 cups water
• ▢ ⅔ cup baking soda
• ▢ Kosher salt, for sprinkling

Equipment

• ▢
  Cookie sheet
• ▢
  digital thermometer
• ▢
  Dutch oven
• ▢
  skimmer
• ▢
  lame

Instructions

Making the Dough

• Stir together the milk and water, then warm the liquid to 115°F.
• Pour the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl and stir in each one with your hand.  Make sure the salt and yeast don't touch each other directly, as the salt can slow down the yeasts' growth or even kill it.
• Dump in the softened butter and dark brown sugar.  Using the paddle attachment, blend on the mixer's lowest speed, constantly trickling in a thin stream of the milk mixture as the dough is mixed.  Continue adding the liquid until a sticky dough has formed; you may not need all the liquid.
• Once the dough is blended, switch to a dough hook and knead on medium-low speed until the bowl comes clean.  Most importantly, the dough should pass the windowpane test.  Break off a large lump and stretch it between the thumb and forefinger of each of your hands.  It should stretch until it's translucent in areas without breaking.  If it breaks, knead for 30 seconds to a minute longer and check again.
• Shape the dough into a smooth ball, place in a buttered bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Let it prove at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Shaping the Buns

• Line two 9 by 13-inch rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and punch it down all over to knock out the gas pockets. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, using a kitchen scale for accuracy.  Roll each piece into a taut ball and space the buns well apart on the two prepared trays.
• Cover each tray with plastic wrap and let the pretzel buns prove until the they just barely spring back when gently prodded with a fingertip, about 30-45 minutes.
• Put the covered trays in the fridge for 30-40 minutes to allow them to firm up a little.

Poaching & Baking

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Once the buns have proved, pour 10 cups (2.4 liters) of water into a large Dutch oven and bring to a boil.  Gradually add the baking soda, stirring to dissolve.  Don't add the baking soda all at once, because it fizzes up when it hits the boiling water.  Turn the heat down to a simmer.
• Slide a thin metal spatula under one of the buns and gently place the bun in the simmering water.  Allow it to float on one side for 15 seconds, then flip it over carefully and let it poach for another 15 seconds.  Gently remove the bun from the water with a slotted spatula and place on a large wooden cutting board.  Repeat with the other 11 buns.
• Use a thin metal spatula to transfer the pretzel buns from the cutting board to the two parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Slash each bun in a cross shape with a lame or a very sharp serrated knife.  Sprinkle as desired with coarse-grained kosher salt.
• Bake at 400°F for 13-15 minutes, until the pretzel buns are a deep brown and have an internal temperature of 190°F.  Allow the buns to cool for a minute or two on the trays, then peel the buns off the parchment and let them cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Notes

• Use bread flour.  All-purpose flour doesn't have a sufficient protein content to make chewy, high-rising yeast breads.
• Knead thoroughly.  If it's under-kneaded, it won't rise very high and will be dense.  You should be able to stretch a lump of well-kneaded dough until it's paper thin.
• Want to be authentic?  Use food-grade lye instead of baking soda to poach the pretzels.
• Poach the pretzel buns for 15 seconds on each side.  This is a crucial step for making pretzels, ensuring a moist, chewy bun with a thin, dark brown crust.
• Use a thermometer to see if the pretzels are done baking.  Their crusts brown very quickly, so it's hard to tell if they're cooked just by appearance.  They should have an internal temperature of 190 F on a meat thermometer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bunCalories: 199kcal (10%)Carbohydrates: 32g (11%)Protein: 6g (12%)Fat: 5g (8%)Saturated Fat: 3g (19%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 12mg (4%)Sodium: 331mg (14%)Potassium: 73mg (2%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 2g (2%)Vitamin A: 141IU (3%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 26mg (3%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.

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This recipe was originally published on April 26, 2018 and was updated on August 16, 2019 with updated photos and content. It was republished on April 22, 2022 with reformatted content and resized images.