Soft Pretzels Recipe

These soft pretzels are a great, take-along snack to have on hand!

Clean Eating Soft Pretzels Recipe

Once upon a time, there was a little mouse, who lived in a little house by the edge of the sea.

He loved bread with all his heart, and his morning would not start,
until with a baguette from the house he could part.

But this small little mouse with the large baguette, was often vexed and beset. For  when he ran low and needed more, he’d often have trouble squeezing baguettes through his door.

Until one day to his delight, he discovered a pretzel. Such a beautiful sight! With the greatest of ease, it slipped through the door, and now our little mouse, is vexed no more. He nibbles his pretzel and sips his tea, that tiny little mouse, in the house by the sea.

– By Tiffany McCauley and Mini Chef

Mini Chef  was begging me for some pretzels. I don’t keep them in the house because I can never find any store-bought pretzels that are clean. So instead, I did a quick google search for whole wheat pretzels and found a wonderful recipe that needed very little tweaking to make it clean.

Now, whenever Mini Chef and I bake together, I always make sure that I give him his own piece of dough to knead and play with. Because inevitably, it will end up on the floor and I don’t want that to be the fate of the entire batch of dough. So he always gets his own.

While he was kneading his dough, he was telling me a wild and crazy story concerning spaceships, hammers and his commission. I’m still not sure what that story was about, but somehow, he ended his story with a mouse in a house. The whole thing spiraled out from there, and the result is the little story you just read above.

As for this recipe, it’s is a keeper for sure! The pretzels turned out very soft and tender and the flavor is warm and inviting like most whole grain products are when they are fresh out of the oven. The kitchen smelled like an old fashion bakery!

These are actually more like a soft dinner roll. I love them! The possibilities with this recipe are endless really.

And if the idea of making bread scares you, don’t let it. This is very simple to make. And just for the record, these are also definitely Mini Chef approved!

More Healthy Bread Recipes

Soft Pretzels Recipe

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Clean Eating Soft Pretzels Recipe

Soft Pretzels

Delicious, soft and bready pretzels.
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Course: Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American, German
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Rise Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings: 13 pretzels
Calories: 178kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 packet rapid rise yeast
  • 3 tbsp. honey
  • 1 ½ cups warm water (between 105-115 degrees F.)
  • 4 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour (affiliate link)
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 tbsp. oil (any light flavored oil will work)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. water
  • seeds (any of your choosing for topping the pretzels – I used chia)

Instructions

  • Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • Combine the warm water and honey in a medium bowl and stir until honey is dissolved.
  • Pour in the yeast, stir very briefly just to incorporate, and set aside so it can foam.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
  • Add the oil and the foamy yeast to the flour bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until it becomes to thick to continue.
  • Knead by hand for about 10 minutes. The dough will be very sticky, but after kneading for about 3-4 minutes, it should become a nice, smooth dough. It will still be sticky, but should not leave any dough behind on your hands. (You may need to stop and wash your hands first and then continue kneading to be sure.) If the dough continues to stick to your hands, add 1 tbsp. of flour more to the dough. Knead well. Repeat if necessary.
  • Now you can shape your dough as shown. The cord of dough in picture 1 is approximately 1/2 inch thick and approximately 14 inches long.
    Clean Eating Soft Pretzels
  • Once you have all of your pretzels formed and on the cookie sheets, cover the sheets with a towel and let them sit for 1 hour. When you come back, they should be nice a “fluffy” (doubled in size).
  • Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Now you can brush on the egg wash, sprinkle them with seeds and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Allow to cool and serve.

Notes

Please note that the nutrition data below is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.

Nutrition

Serving: 1pretzel | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 81mg | Potassium: 161mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1.6mg

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61 Comments

  1. Autumn Sage says:

    I love making pretzels, but I’m trying to bake clean and do I thought I’d try these. I’m a little confused though, normal pretzels are boiled in baking soda water before you bake them. This gives them their tangy and soft outside. These seem like rolls shaped like pretzels. Is baking soda not allowed in clean recipes?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Autumn – Yes, baking soda is fine. You can probably dunk these in boiling water (I didn’t try), and yes, these were more like a dinner roll consistency.

  2. I made these last night, they are absolutely amazing!! I ate half the batch, I couldn’t stop!
    I put chia seeds on these ones and they were fabulous, next time i was thinking of maybe sprinkling some cheese on top and baking them.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Carolyn – Sounds like some wonderful toppings! Glad you enjoyed them. 🙂

  3. made these this weekend too and they were a HIT! kids ate the entire batch and wanted more… needless to say this is a keeper

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Melissa – Fantastic!

  4. My husband and I made this recipe together last night and were disappointed. I like some of your other recipes I’ve tried but these just didn’t taste like a pretzel. I’ve used another whole wheat pretzel recipe before that made them bite sized and boiled them and they tasted just like a pretzel should. It looks like I’ll have to go back to that recipe as these just tasted like cooked dough with seasonings on top.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jazzmin – I’m sorry you didn’t care for them! I did notate that they are closer to a dinner roll. They are soft. I am working on a recipe for the ones that you boil, however. Hopefully you’ll enjoy that one more. 🙂

  5. Hi there! Could I use regular active dry yeast vs. rapid rise yeast? If so, what modifications do I need to make? Thanks!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Ashtyn – You can, without making any adjustments. 🙂