Buttery Homemade Sourdough Discard Soft Pretzels

Baking these Sourdough Discard Soft Pretzels will make your kitchen smell like heaven. Sourdough discard adds a delicious flavor to these pretzels, while a plush, pillowy crumb and melted butter brushed on the still hot, golden brown crust takes them over the top. Since they are made with commercial yeast, you can bite into a freshly baked pretzel in just over an hour!

Jump to:

• My inspiration for these soft pretzels
• What makes these sourdough soft pretzels unique
• Tips for Success
• Baking with sourdough discard
• Why use commercial yeast with sourdough discard?
• Why use a baking soda bath?
• What you need
• Step-by-step instructions
• How to shape pretzels
• Shaping Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• You may also like
• Sourdough Discard Soft Pretzel Recipe

My inspiration for these soft pretzels

I was inspired to make this discard pretzel recipe after a recent trip to Philadelphia. We visited the Reading Terminal Market to visit Miller’s Twist for their famous soft pretzels.

In a place where pretzels are a street food staple, theirs are some of the best in the city. They are unique because they are based on Amish pretzels, which are much softer, and less chewy than a traditional Philly soft pretzel. Philadelphia is my hometown but this was my first time trying Miller’s Twist pretzels and unsurprisingly, I was immediately obsessed with them!

If you’ve ever had a pretzel at the mall, you probably already know the delicious pleasures of an Amish pretzel. That’s because Anne Beiler who founded Auntie Anne’s grew up in an Amish community. She took over a stall selling Amish pretzels at a farmer’s market in Pennsylvania and grew it into an internationally-recognized brand with thousands of branches worldwide. In fact, the first time I had one was in the Philippines!

So if you’ve enjoyed an Auntie Anne’s pretzel, you’ll be familiar with the buttery taste and fluffy texture of these soft pretzels.

What makes these sourdough soft pretzels unique

Amish pretzels have a tender, fluffy interior with a soft crust drenched in melted butter, in contrast to German pretzels which are chewier, denser and crunchier. These pretzels also have a lighter, crisp crust compared to the crunchy, deep amber-colored crust of their European counterparts. Both are delicious, just different.

These soft pretzels take their inspiration from Amish pretzels and are made with dough that’s enriched with butter and milk. This gives the pretzels a plush brioche-like texture and a much richer flavor that’s even more intensified by sourdough discard.

Want to make chewy, soft German-style pretzels instead? Check out my Sourdough Pretzels Recipe. 

Tips for Success

Use high-protein bread flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps dough develop a stronger gluten structure. This helps the dough both stretch, which makes shaping easier, and hold its shape, which results in plumper pretzels. 
Knead the dough until smooth: A strong gluten network is essential for stretching pretzel dough into long ropes. Your dough will start out as a sticky, shaggy mass. As you knead, it will gradually become smoother and less tacky, the makings of a strong, well-organized gluten network. For the best results, get your dough as smooth as possible. 
Do not overproof your dough: This pretzel dough only needs one short proofing period. What may seem like a normal proofing period for other types of bread is too long for pretzel dough. Over-proofed pretzels will become puffy, dull, and at times excessively chewy. 
Give the dough time to rest: If your dough snaps back as you shape it, let it rest for a few minutes before continuing. Do not force your dough to stretch by pulling, this will cause it to tear. 
Freeze shaped dough for 15 minutes: Freezing your shaped pretzel dough will help them retain their form and make the baking soda bath much easier.  
Brush the pretzels with butter after baking: This is what makes Amish pretzels extra special. Brushing butter on the freshly-baked pretzels will soften the crust and impart an irresistible buttery flavor.

Baking with sourdough discard

These pretzels are quick to make because they use instant yeast as the main leavener instead of an active sourdough starter. Sourdough discard imparts a deep, nuanced taste to these sourdough soft pretzels, since it’s only being used to add flavor to the dough, it doesn’t need to be activated and you can use it directly from the refrigerator. 

If you’re using sourdough that’s been in the fridge for weeks it will add more flavor, which you won’t get when using a freshly fed starter. Both will work for this recipe but you’ll get different results. 

Why use commercial yeast with sourdough discard?

Adding instant yeast and sourdough discard in a recipe combines convenience and flavor. Commercial yeast shortens the rise time of dough since it’s much more efficient at converting starches into sugars and carbon dioxide, which allows fermentation to occur at a much faster rate. For example, the bulk fermentation for this recipe only takes about 20 minutes instead of 3 to 4 hours required for naturally-leavened pretzel dough. 

While you won’t get the intense flavor development of a two-day fermentation, adding sourdough discard to your homemade pretzels will add a more nuanced, intense flavor than just using instant yeast on its own. 

Love quick and easy sourdough recipes that use commercial yeast? Check out my recipes for Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread, Sourdough Discard Focaccia, Sourdough Discard Hot Dog Buns and Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls. 

Why use a baking soda bath?

When mixed with water, baking soda creates an alkaline solution that gelatinizes the outside of the pretzel resulting in a crisp, shiny crust. It also helps constrict oven spring, which prevents the dough from puffing up and keeps the crumb tight. The alkaline bath also imparts a unique flavor that’s signature to pretzels. 
While traditional German pretzels are made using food-grade lye, according to my research Miller’s Twist uses a much milder baking soda bath. This keeps the crust lighter in color and more delicate.

What you need

Bread flour: High protein flour is essential for plump and shiny pretzels, you can substitute all-purpose but yours won’t be able to keep their shape as well. Do not substitute whole wheat. 
Milk: Adds richness and tenderness to the crumb, I used whole milk to develop this recipe. 
Sourdough discard: Imparts a delicious, tangy flavor to these pretzels. You can use your starter directly from the fridge for this recipe. Add 38 grams of water and 38 grams of flour to your dough if you don’t have any sourdough discard on hand. 
Butter: Butter is essential to achieve the pillowy texture and rich flavor of these pretzels. You can substitute your favorite plant-based butter, however, I can’t guarantee your results. 
Instant yeast: You can use active-dry yeast for this recipe, you’ll just need to bloom the yeast before mixing it into your dough. 
Brown sugar: Imparts sweetness, substitute cane sugar or honey if you don’t have any on hand.   
Salt: Use kosher salt or sea salt for the best results. Different types of salts have varying grain sizes so the amount of salt added to the recipe may differ if you use volume measurements.
Pretzel salt: Optional but highly recommended. Pretzel salt is a large-grain salt that does not melt during baking, there’s no substitute for this as even flaky sea salt melts in the oven, feel free to leave this out if you don’t have any on hand.  
Baking soda: You’ll need baking soda to create an alkaline bath. It helps develop a shiny, smooth crust and imparts a flavor that’s signature to pretzels.

Step-by-step instructions

How to shape pretzels

Pretzels are one of the most well-known breads because of their iconic shape. Each different part of a pretzel provides a delicious textural contrast from the chewy arms to the fluffy belly and the pillowy center. 

Shaping Tips

Rolling dough into long ropes can be exceedingly difficult for both newbie and experienced bakers. Shaping is the toughest part of making pretzels, here are some tips for success:

Do not use an excessive amount of flour: Your dough needs to be a little tacky and stick to the work surface in order to stretch, lots of bench flour will cause your dough to slip and slide, which makes shaping exceedingly difficult. 
Don’t let the dough dry out: Make sure any unshaped pieces of dough are covered completely with plastic wrap. If your dough is exposed to air for long periods water evaporates from the surface and forms a skin. If the surface of your dough dries out, the strands will break apart as you try to roll them out. 
Let the dough rest: Dough needs to be kneaded heavily to develop a strong gluten network. On the flip side, this also makes the dough tighter and more resistant to shaping. If you find that your dough is snapping back, let it rest for a short period of time (about 10 minutes) before continuing to shape. The short rest period will allow the gluten bonds to loosen and unwind, making it easier to roll out. 
Apply downward not outward pressure: It may be tempting to try to roll outward, pulling your dough apart to stretch it out faster, but don’t do this! This will cause your dough to tear and break apart. Instead, press down on the dough as you slide your hands gently toward the ends of the rope. This downward pressure will encourage the dough to stretch naturally and it also releases gasses that have built up in the dough, resulting in cleaner more uniform pretzels. 
Work with dry hands: When I first tested this recipe, I resorted to spritzing my dough and hands with water in the hopes of making shaping easier. This produced disastrous results as the surface of my dough broke down and my pretzels became rough and bumpy when I baked them. If you follow my tips you shouldn’t need to resort to this. 

Recipe FAQs

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