10 Tips For Making Glorious Soft Pretzels From Scratch

Taking a chilly winter afternoon and dedicating it to making homemade soft pretzels sounds like the perfect cold-weather activity to us. Of course, you've heard of plenty of folks making homemade sourdough bread, baking sugar cookies, and other iconic homemade baked goods, but have you considered making homemade soft pretzels? You should, but not without taking a few things into consideration first.

Pennsylvania is host to the "Pretzel Capitol of the World,"  the town of Reading, so when wanting to learn more about making glorious soft pretzels from scratch, it only made sense to speak to someone at a nearby company that lives and breathes soft pretzels: The Philly Pretzel Factory. We spoke to Kristina Eckart, Research and Development Manager at Philly Pretzel Factory corporate, about all things homemade soft pretzels. From the best ways to activate your yeast to creative flavor combinations, here are tips you need before embarking on a soft pretzel-making journey of your own.

Every step in any bread-baking endeavor is vital to having an ideal end product that is soft and risen. "I think probably one of the more important parts of making pretzels is, like when you make bagels, you're boiling water, and you are adding (with pretzels) something to make the water more alkaline," Kristina Eckart stated. If you're unfamiliar, all water has a pH level on the acidic to alkaline scale, with fresh water typically existing right in the middle of that scale. Because it's usually pretty neutral, you have to add an element to your boiling water to make it more alkaline so that your soft pretzels get that nice crust on the outside that you know and love.

"You could use baking soda," Eckart noted. According to her, some commercial operations do use baking soda, but Eckart reports that Philly Pretzel Company uses baker's lye. Per Eckaet, it's "a more traditional — I would say European — way of making pretzels." Another benefit of making your boiling water more alkaline with baker's lye is that the soft pretzels will come out super shiny, just like they would if you got them from a professional bakery.

Now comes the fun part that any friends, family, or kids can have a blast participating in — twisting the pretzels into unique shapes. You can obviously go for the classic, standard soft pretzel shape that looks like your legs look when sitting criss-cross apple sauce. However, there are so, so many shapes out there you can explore.

Are you making this a date night activity? Then why not try making some heart-shaped soft pretzels? Do you prefer the nuggets (or rivets, as they are called at the Philly Pretzel Factory) to the bigger full-sized pretzels? Then, according to Kristina Eckart, they are easy to make. Just stretch and roll out the dough into long, even strips, then cut even-sized nugget pretzel sizes. You can also always follow suit with the pretzel capital of the world and make them Philly style, which looks like a paper clip. The options are limitless, so only your imagination can stop you.

Pretty much every soft pretzel recipe you'll come across has you adding some chunky flaky salt on top of your pretzels. And for the record, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, we love the classic version of soft pretzels. But when you're making them at home, now is the time to put your own spin on things and get funky with them. Instead of just flaky salt, you can try any seasoning you want out there. Go a little bit rogue with pink Himalayan salt, or do a salt and pepper pretzel. Try out some smoky flavors like paprika, or even put some garlic powder on there.

Kristina Eckart suggested potentially the most fun seasoning idea of all, "They're just like with bagels," Eckart said. "There are people that do everything bagels. I mean, we've done everything pretzels." Based on this principle alone, any type of bagel you enjoy, you can turn into a soft pretzel. "When we bake them in our store, in the office, it's like the whole office is definitely making everything pretzels because you can smell the garlic, and it's a really nice smell."

Don't worry, we didn't forget about one of the most popular dips for soft pretzels — cheese dip. While mustard is a hot contender rivaling first place, we figured we'd give a few top tips for making your own cheese dip for soft pretzels, since it's bound to be one of the first things you try to pair them with when making them. "I'm partial to just a plain, American cheese dip, or like a Cooper sharp," Kristina Eckart noted. "I feel like it just gets so creamy and hangs on the pretzel so nicely."

Something else Eckart made a note of, though, is that even when you choose the sharpest cheese you've ever tasted, it will lose at least some of (if not a lot of) its bite when cooked down into the liquid sauce form. So if you're thinking of using your favorite, hard-to-find, bitter, sharp block of cheese as your dip, maybe think twice before doing so.

If you've been reading this article glum about the fact you're gluten-free and can't participate in all the homemade soft pretzel fun, don't despair. It is completely possible to make gluten-free soft pretzels, just like you know it's possible to make delicious gluten-free bread. Kristina Eckart noted that, like any gluten-free dough, it gets a bit stickier and harder to manipulate than regular dough because of the lack of gluten. So if you're working with gluten-free soft pretzel dough, perhaps stick with a simpler shaped pretzel, or just be very patient with yourself to achieve that complicated end result you're looking for.

To make a gluten-free dough, you'd simply swap out the bread flour for a gluten-free iteration, like rice flour or tapioca flour. Plus, since you're making these at home, you have complete control over keeping your environment gluten-free, and you won't have to worry about potential cross-contamination from a bakery you're unsure about.