Homemade Hard Pretzel Rods

baked and salted pretzel rods on parchment paper.

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4.85 from 13 votes

Make your own hard pretzels at home!

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Diet Vegetarian

Total Time 3

Servings pretzel rods

Calories 35kcal

Author Tracy

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour 163 g
2 cups bread flour 272 g
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast 10 g
1 tablespoon white sugar 14 g
1 1/4 teaspoon table salt 8 g
1 1/2 cup warm/hot water about 90-110 degrees F
1 tablespoon salted butter melted

Baking Soda Bath

10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda 152 g

Topping

1 egg whisked
1 tablespoon pretzel salt 16 g

Instructions

Prep Baking Soda Bath: Add water to a large pot and add baking soda, whisking to dissolve the baking soda. Place on the stovetop, but do not heat yet.
Prep Baking Trays: Place one baking tray next to the pot. Line the two others with parchment paper and set aside.
Create Dough: Activate yeast by adding water and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer, giving a whisk to dissolve the sugar, and then add the yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast is bubbly.
Add melted butter and salt and give a quick mix with the hook attachment.
Slowly add the flour to the bowl and mix on medium-low until a dough starts to form. Slowly add the rest of the flour until the dough is no longer sticky and begins to pull away from the bowl and then when you give it a poke it bounces back nicely.
Knead Dough: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes until a smooth dough forms.
Heat Baking Soda Bath: Give the water and baking soda another whisk and then heat on high to start to bring the water to a boil.
Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Create Space: Ensure that you have ample workspace, either on a clean counter or table. You will need space to roll out the dough and space for cutting boards or trays to place the dough when rolled out. This recipe creates enough dough that fills 2 large cutting boards or baking trays.
Cut Dough: With a dough cutter, cut the dough in half, then halves in half, and continue until you have 16 pieces. Working one piece at a time, cut it in half and then roll it out into a long thin log (between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick) about 12 inches long. Place the log on a lightly floured large cutting board or clean surface. Repeat until half of the dough is rolled out or your large cutting board/surface is filled with 15 12-inch rods. Then use the dough cutter to cut them all down the middle to create 6 inch rods.
Repeat with all of the dough.
Baking Soda Bath: Once the water is boiling, add 4-5 pretzel rods at a time to the water. Poach for 15-20 seconds and then use a slotted spatula to gently remove rods, shaking off excess liquid, and place on the baking tray without parchment paper.
Reshape and Add to Baking Tray: Some of the rods may bend a bit, so while they are still warm, shake off excess water and then add them to the parchment paper lined tray and gently reshape straight, if needed.
Egg Wash and Salt: Whisk the egg in a small bowl and brush the rods. Sprinkle with pretzel salt.
Bake: Gently cover the tray with aluminum foil leaving space between the foil and the pretzels. Bake for 40 minutes and then uncovered for another 25-35 minutes until the pretzels rods are well browned.
If baking both trays at the same time, bake in the two center racks of the oven and swap after the first 20 minutes of baking. For the final 25-35 uncovered, swap racks again after the first 15 minutes of baking.
Enjoy!

Notes

Storage

Counter: These pretzels will last up to a week in an airtight container.

Freeze the dough: You can create the pretzel dough and then freeze it for up to 2-3 months before using it.

Substitutions

Flour: We prefer the mix between bread and all-purpose, although you can use all of one or the other.

Cut the Recipe in Half

This recipe makes 60-70 pretzels, but you can very easily cut this recipe in half and make a smaller batch. Or make the full dough cut it in half and freeze to save the other half for another time.

Roll Thin

You want to make sure to roll your pretzels thinner than you want them to end up because they will thicken after the baking soda bath. Plus, the thicker they are, the longer it will take to fully cook/dry out in the oven. If they're too thick, then you won't get the same crunch all of the way through and the center of the rod will be a bit softer.

Have Space, Boards, and Trays ready

This recipe can take up quite a bit of space just because of the number of pretzels it makes. Be prepared with plenty of space and cutting boards/trays.

Nutrition