Sourdough Discard Pretzels

These Sourdough Discard Pretzels are deeply golden and chewy, flavored with the tang of sourdough discard, and sprinkled with salt. This is a must-try sourdough discard recipe for those of you with sourdough starter, but I’ve got an easy substitution for you if you don’t.

So read on for all the detailed tips and tricks for making these sourdough pretzels and other sourdough discard recipes. Or just grab your bag of all-purpose flour, hit that purple Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make this sourdough discard soft pretzel recipe!

Ingredients

The ingredients in this soft pretzel recipe are very similar to my Pretzel Sandwich Bread. While this recipe includes sourdough discard, the leavening is still primarily from commercial yeast. And it’s about 50% hydration, which means the soft pretzel dough is really easy to handle.

Sourdough discard is the unfed portion of your sourdough starter, so it has the sour flavor but your yeast may not be active enough to make these sourdough pretzels rise on their own. If you’re looking for other sourdough discard recipes, check out my sourdough discard biscuits, sourdough discard waffles, sourdough apple muffins, sourdough apple cake, and a sourdough discard sandwich bread.

The two other key ingredients to the flavor in this sourdough pretzel recipe are the malt syrup and salt. Don’t skimp on the salt.

Variations and substitutions

• No sourdough discard? No problem! Replace the 113 grams of discard with 57 grams (a half cup) more flour and 57 grams (a quarter cup) more milk.
• Sub honey or brown sugar for the malt syrup.
• After brushing with the egg wash, sprinkle your sourdough soft pretzels with everything bagel seasoning, cinnamon sugar, or shredded Parmesan cheese.
• Lye Alternative: For a more traditional, darker soft pretzel, swap the baking soda bath for food-grade lye. Just please make sure to use proper precautions when working with lye.

Recipe tips and tricks

In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the flour and yeast. Then add the milk, sourdough discard, melted butter, and malt syrup and stir or use the paddle attachment until combined. There’s no need to scald the milk in this recipe like you do in my chocolate chip brioche or other yeast breads that have milk.

Add the salt and knead the dough for about 8 to 10 minutes by hand or 5 to 7 minutes with your mixer’s dough hook until it is smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the pretzel dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.

The ideal temperature for dough to rise is 75 to 80 degrees. If your house is cool, you can create a cozy place for dough to rise in a microwave by heating a cup of water on high or by warming your oven just a touch – but don’t put your dough in first and remember not to preheat your oven with your pretzel dough there!

Prepare the baking soda bath (or lye, if you are comfortable using it). To make the baking soda bath, combine two or three cups of boiling water with a tablespoon of baking soda per cup of water in a pyrex or baking pan big enough to hold the pretzels one at a time. Stir until the baking soda has dissolved. You don’t need to dip pretzels into water that’s still boiling, I promise!

Divide the pretzel dough into eight roughly equal-sized portions and roll each into a long rope. If the dough is very elastic and springy, set your rope aside to rest and move onto the next. I often cycle through all eight ropes three or four times, extending them a little bit each time, until I get the length that I want.

Aim for these ropes to be 18 to 24 inches long. The shorter length will give you compact, puffy soft pretzels that you can use for sandwiches. Go longer if you want larger, thinner pretzels with large holes.

Shape the ropes into pretzels, following the steps in the image below. Put the shaped pretzels onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. They can be spaced relatively closely, but don’t let them touch.

Working one at a time, dip each pretzel into the baking soda bath, flip it over, and then transfer back to the prepared baking sheet. Cover the pretzels loosely with plastic wrap, and heat your oven to 450°F (230°C) while the pretzels are rising, about 30 minutes.

Brush the sourdough pretzels with the egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse pretzel salt or flaky sea salt – the larger the salt crystals, the saltier the pretzels will taste on your tongue! Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until deep golden brown.

Let your sourdough pretzels cool a bit before eating, but these are definitely best when warm! If there are any, store leftover sourdough discard pretzels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze and reheat in the oven or toaster.

What to serve with these sourdough discard pretzels

These sourdough discard pretzels are perfect on their own or with just a bit of yellow mustard. But you can also create a soft pretzel snack board with this sourdough pretzel recipe:

• Dips – pick a selection of two or three, like campfire sauce, kidney bean hummus, or my canned tuna dip. Or browse my collection of dips for charcuterie boards for more ideas.
• Cheeses, salami, and grapes.
• Other salty snacks like nuts, olives and olive poppers, or mini pie crust shells filled with sauteed mushrooms.

Recipe FAQs

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