These homemade bretzel rolls remind me of a restaurant we used to frequent years ago when we lived in Las Vegas. Soft, delicious pretzel buns, perfect with dinner or for making sandwiches. That restaurant served dark brown pretzel rolls that I always looked forward to. While these aren’t the smooth crusted dinner rolls that I devoured at Senoma Cellar, they are absolutely delicious and definitely worth making again and again.
I’ve made authentic German pretzels before, but these are different. Homemade pretzels have a harder crust, these bretzel rolls are browned, but soft on the outside.
I made a batch of these bretzel rolls today. A few hours later they were gone. Devoured by eager teenagers just waiting for me to finish taking photos!
These are great with dinner, a bowl of piping hot soup for lunch, or for slider sized sandwiches. Whatever you choose, they won’t last long.
Ingredients you will need for Bretzel Rolls
- 1 1/3 cups warm water, divided
- 2 tablespoons warm milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one envelope)
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- kosher salt
- 2 quarts cold water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
Helpful Kitchen Tools
PRINT THE FULL RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS AT THE END
I hope you found the video helpful and be sure to let me know if you try them. We love them here!
I’ve put together a video for you of the process. If you’ve never made pretzels before, take a minute to watch it, especially for the soda bath. It’s not hard, but if you’ve never done it before it can be a bit surprising!
Bretzel Rolls (Pretzel Sandwich Rolls)
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 1 â…“ cups warm water divided
- 2 tablespoons warm milk
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast one envelope
- â…“ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- kosher salt or pretzel salt
- 2 quarts cold water
- ½ cup baking soda
Before You Begin
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix a 1/3 cup of the warm water (105-115 degrees) with the yeast and let stand until foamy.
- Add the remaining cup of warm water along with milk, sugar & melted butter and swirl to dissolve the sugar.
- Add flour and mix on medium-low speed.
- Remove dough once it forms a nice a firm, pliable dough ball. Add more flour only if necessary.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured table and knead for 2 minutes.
- Separate into 12 even pieces. (Hint: use a kitchen scale to weigh the dough ball then divide by twelve to get the weight you will need for each individual roll.)
- Cover dough with plastic and a damp cloth and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Pat and roll dough into balls and arrange on a lightly floured surface about an inch apart, cover with lightly oiled (cooking spray works fine) plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rest for an additional 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
- In a large stockpot, bring the cold water to a rolling boil.
- Add baking soda (it will bubble up almost violently and then relax, don't be alarmed).
- Drop two rolls into the boiling water upside down. Boil for no more than 30 seconds, turning once after 15 seconds.
- Carefully remove with a slotted spoon and hold above pot to let drain.
- Place on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Repeat with the remaining rolls.
- Bake on the upper and middle racks of the oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until browned all over. You may want to shift pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through, for even baking.
- Let rolls cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published here on February 4, 2009, original source of this recipe – Food.com
Amanda Davis
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B says
For me, these turned out exactly like in the photos and tasted amazing! I made two minor additions: to the flour, I added 1 tsp of salt to balance out the flavours a bit as well as about 1/4 tsp of nutmeg for a hint on nutty flavour. I did use a scale to measure out the dough and got 14 equal rolls. One thing I would reiterrate: for the baking soda bath, a big pot is a must! Adding the baking soda causes a big erruption and a smaller pot simply makes a big mess (found out the hard way). We paired these with a hearty bean and sausage stew. These bretzels are a new favourite at our place. Thanks for a great recipe!
Amanda Formaro says
So glad they turned out! Thanks for sharing :)
W says
Anyone have a pic of them opened up?
Karen says
You mention covering the dough with plastic wrap and a damp cloth. Can you elaborate? Do you press the plastic wrap against the dough, or cover the rim of the bowl? Why a damp cloth? Maybe the damp cloth touches the dough? Oh, I’m confused… :)
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Karen :) Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap, just lay it over the top making sure you don’t have any dough peeking out. No need to press the plastic wrap in place, in fact you don’t want to do that so the dough has room to rise more. The damp towel just gets placed over the top of the plastic wrap to keep the dough from drying out.
Neomi says
Hi … You didn’t mention when to make the slits … Before or after boiling
Many thanks
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Neomi, after you roll out your dough balls is when you will want to make the slits in the bread. Before boiling. :)
Elliot says
I don’t see the recipe source linked here. This recipe is copied word for word from food.com, which you do mention, but don’t have a clickable link to. And food.com recipe does not give bread-machine directions.
you may want to re-write these directions in your own words. and link to them for the recipe source.
Amanda Formaro says
Thanks for pointing out the bread machine error Elliot. I originally posted this recipe in 2009 and recently made the rolls again and took new photos. I had a clickable link in the post and in the printable version of the recipe, but my new recipe card software did not bring over the link. I have removed the mention of the bread machine instructions, they were on Food.com at one point, but they must have removed them over the course of the last 8 years. There’s no need to rewrite instructions for a recipe that I did not adapt, so I won’t be doing that. However, I’m glad you pointed out the link not being clickable, so I have fixed that. As long as the link to the original recipe is present it is considered a syndicated article. That’s what I have done here. Thanks for offering the suggestion however.
Rose says
no where do you explain “BRETZEL” is it a typo? they are pretzel rolls.
Amanda Formaro says
Bretzel and pretzel are basically the same thing. Some people will argue that bretzel came before pretzel, some will say that a bretzel is a Bavarian pretzel. They are the same. But no, it is not a typo ;)
Nie says
How about bretzel stands for pretzel bun or bun made of pretzel.
Wendy Morgan says
These were amazing and easy to make next time would make them smaller
Amanda Formaro says
so glad you enjoyed them Wendy!
W says
Use them for sandwiches!
Denise says
Hello!! I just made these., and they didn’t rise all that much. But they were good. I think when I disolved the yeast I used a steel mixing bowl. My yeast never got frosty. And they I had to run to the store for more flour. I think my promblem was that I should have disolved the yeast and 1/3 water I a glass measuring cup. Can’t to make them again . So they look like the picture.
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Denise! There are a couple of reasons why the yeast may not have become frothy. The steel mixing bowl wouldn’t have anything to do with it unless the bowl was cold enough to lower the temperature of the liquid. The reason we put the yeast into the liquid and watch it get frothy is to make sure the yeast is good. It could have been expired or the temperature of the liquid could have been too hot (will kill the yeast) or too cold (will take a LOT longer for the dough to rise). If you have a kitchen thermometer, check the temp of the liquid before adding the yeast if you have a chance to make these again. Good luck and I am glad you enjoyed them anyway!
cakespy says
I could do some damage to these. They sound / look amazing.