gluten free pretzels

<p><em data-rich-text-format-boundary="true">These super easy homemade vegan soft pretzels are super chewy, salty, and buttery! With an easy gluten free option and naturally dairy free, these vegan pretzels make a perfect game day snack or holiday appetizer!</em></p>

Homemade Vegan Soft Pretzels Recipe

yeast

hot water, 110F

tsp coconut sugar

4–4 1/4 cups all purpose or bread flour,

tbsp arrowroot powder

tsp sea salt

cup dairy free yogurt, room temperature

tbsp vegan butter, melted, 2 tsp coarse sea salt

cup arrowroot powder

tbsp baking powder

In a large bowl, mix the water, coconut sugar, and 1 tbsp of flour. Add in the yeast, and use a wooden spoon to mix. Cover with a towel and place in a warm area to activate for 10 minutes. It should start to bubble/foam and smell yeast-like.

Once the yeast is activated, add in the remaining of the 4 cups of flour (you can add more at the end if the dough is too sticky/tacky), arrowroot powder, sea salt, and dairy free yogurt. Use either a dough paddle on a stand mixer or knead the dough on a clean surface with extra flour with your hands. Whether or not you use the stand mixer, you’ll finish knead the dough once it’s mixed. You want to get the dough to a point where it isn’t very sticky and can easily peel off of your hands without leaving any dough (about 5 minutes). You can add more flour here if it’s still too sticky, kneading it lightly. 

Grease a clean bowl with olive oil and lightly grease the dough, place the dough ball into the bowl, and cover with a clean dish towel. Place in a very warm place (at least 85F) for 30-40 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly punch down the dough and divide it into 8 even sections using a pastry cutter or large knife. Roll each section into a long strip (about 20-22&#8243; long). Take the two ends of the and twist them twice together (see photos in the blog post). Bring them towards yourself and press down into the dough to form the pretzel shape.  Place the pretzel dough onto a parchment paper and repeat for the remaining pretzels. Cover the pretzels with a clean dish towel on the parchment paper.

While the dough is rising for a second time, bring a large pot with 4 cups of water with 1/4 cup baking soda to a boil. Preheat the oven to 425F.

Once the water is boiling, use a spatula or large spoon with holes to carefully transfer one pretzel into the water. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, then transfer back to the parchment paper. You can add up to 2 pretzels at a time to the pot, cooking for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. 

Once all pretzels have been boiled and transferred to the baking sheet, lightly brush the bagels with melted vegan butter and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Place the pretzels into the oven to bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops of the pretzels are golden. 

Remove from the oven and allow the pretzels to cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Before making the dough, start to bring a large pot with 4 cups fo water to a boil with 1/4 cup baking soda. The water will start to boil as you finish making the dough.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder, and sea salt. Add in the water and dairy free yogurt, and mix until the dough is thick and not sticky. If it’s still too sticky, you can add in the additional oat flour.

Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Then divide the dough into 8 even sections and roll each section into a ball. Roll each section into a long strip (about 20-22&#8243; long). Take the two ends of the and twist them twice together (see photos in the blog post). Bring them towards yourself and press down into the dough to form the pretzel shape. Place the pretzel dough onto a parchment paper and repeat for the remaining pretzels.

Once all pretzels have been boiled and transferred to the baking sheet, lightly brush with vegan butter and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Place the pretzels into the oven to bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops of the pretzels are lightly golden. 

These gluten free soft pretzels are simply PERFECT: wonderfully soft and deliciously chewy, they have that classic, mouth-watering pretzel flavour, and they’re also incredibly easy to make! As the recipe doesn’t require any proofing, they’re ready in less than an hour. And the dough is a joy to work with: you can actually knead it and shape the pretzels without having to worry about them tearing. You’d honestly never guess that they’re gluten free!

Easy Gluten Free Soft Pretzels

g (3½ tbsp) light brown soft sugar, divided

640 g (2⅔ cups) warm water, divided

280 g (2⅓ cups + 2 tbsp) tapioca starch

240 g (1¾ cups) millet flour,

80 g (½ cup + 2 tbsp) sorghum flour

g (2 tbsp) xanthan gum

g (2 tsp) salt

baking soda

US large/UK medium egg, whisked ((for egg wash))

Activate the yeast: In a bowl, mix together the yeast, 10g (about 1 tablespoon) sugar and 320g (1⅓ cups) warm water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture starts frothing.Tip: If using instant yeast, you don’t need to activate it. Instead, just add it straight to the dry ingredients along with the sugar. Add the water that would be used in activating the active dry yeast to the dry ingredients along with the psyllium gel.

Make the psyllium gel: In a separate bowl, mix together the psyllium husk and the remaining 320g (1⅓ cups) water. After about 30-45 seconds, a gel will form.

For the following steps, I recommend using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. You can also make the dough by hand, but the mixer makes it much easier and results in a smoother dough.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, whisk together the tapioca starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, xanthan gum, salt, and the remaining sugar.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the yeast mixture and psyllium gel.

Knead the dough until smooth and all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Use a rubber spatula to occasionally scrape along the sides and bottom of the bowl to prevent any dry patches of unmixed flour.

The final dough will be soft and sticky to the touch – that’s okay, you’ll be working on a lightly floured surface so it shouldn’t be a problem. Resist the temptation to add more flour to the dough, as that can make the final pretzels too dense and dry.

Making the gluten free pretzel dough:

While you&#39;re shaping the pretzels, start pre-heating the oven. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat the oven to 450ºF (230ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment/baking paper.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and give it a gentle knead.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (each piece should weigh about 112g).Tip: I recommend using a digital food scale to get all pieces the same weight, as that will ensure that they all bake at the same rate.

Roll out a piece of dough into a rope about 16-18 inches/40-46cm long.Tip 1: How long you roll out the dough &quot;ropes&quot; will affect the final appearance of the baked pretzels. Shorter ropes, about 16 inches/40cm in length, result in quite “chubby” pretzels with small-ish holes. Longer ropes, about 18 inches/46cm in length, give thinner pretzels with more pronounced openings.Tip 2: Keep in mind that the longer you make the ropes, the trickier they will be to handle and transfer, especially if it’s your first time making this recipe.

Form the dough rope into a U-shape.

Cross the ends of the U-shape by placing one over the other and then twist them around each other.

Bring the twisted ends down, creating the classic pretzel shape. Gently press down on the ends to make sure that they stick. (Also check out the blog post for step-by-step photos of the shaping process.)

Carefully transfer the shaped pretzel onto a large lined baking sheet. Tip: Be careful and gentle when you handle and transfer the shaped pretzels, as gluten free dough is a bit softer and more delicate than “regular” dough made with wheat flour. You can use a bench scraper to help transfer the shaped pretzels onto the baking sheet.

Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces.

Ideally, you should arrange the 12 pretzels on two large lined baking sheets, six on each. While you&#39;re dipping the pretzels of one baking sheet into the baking soda bath (see next steps), it&#39;s best to keep the other baking sheet in the fridge to slow down any yeast action and proofing.

Shaping the pretzels:

The exact amounts of water and baking soda you&#39;ll need can depend on the volume of your pot and on how many pretzels you want to dip into it simultaneously (the larger the pot, the larger the volume of the baking soda solution that you&#39;ll need). But while the amount of water and therefore of the baking soda solution can vary you always have to use the same proportion of baking soda to water (that is, keep the concentration of baking soda in the solution constant). Use 16g (about 1 tablespoon) of baking soda per 240g (1 cup) of water. I used a medium-sized pot/saucepan for dipping one pretzel at a time, so I used 80g (5 tablespoons) of baking soda and 1,200g (5 cups) of water.

To make the baking soda bath, bring a pot/saucepan of water to a gentle boil. Add the baking soda and mix well until dissolved. The solution will bubble and froth a bit as some carbon dioxide is released due to the heat.

When you&#39;re ready to start dipping the pretzels, make sure that your baking soda bath is very hot and close to boiling, but not actually actively boiling.Tip: If your solution starts boiling, it can bubble up and start foaming quite violently when you drop in your pretzels. This isn’t really dangerous, but it can flood your stovetop and is best avoided.

Gently drop a pretzel into the baking soda bath, being careful not to splash yourself with the hot liquid.

Keep the pretzel in the hot baking soda bath for 20-30 seconds. You can gently press down on the pretzel to keep it fully submerged in the baking soda bath.Tip: Keeping the pretzels in the baking soda bath for too long can give them a slightly metallic flavour.

Use a slotted spoon to gently lift the boiled pretzel out of the bath, and allow any excess water to drip away. Then, transfer it back onto the lined baking sheet.

Repeat with the rest of the pretzels on the first baking sheet.

Baking soda bath:

Gently brush the pretzels with the whisked egg.

Sprinkle them generously with flaky sea salt (or pretzel salt, if using).

Egg wash &amp; sprinkling with salt:

Bake the pretzels at 450ºF (230ºC) for 12-14 minutes until puffed up, cracked in places and deep golden brown.

While the first batch of pretzels is in the oven, repeat the process with the second baking sheet of pretzels that you&#39;ve kept in the fridge: dip them into the baking soda bath, egg wash and sprinkle with salt. Then, place them into the oven after you&#39;ve taken out the first batch.

Allow the pretzels to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.

These gluten free soft pretzels are best served warm – that’s when they’re at their softest and fluffiest.

Baking the soft pretzels:

The gluten free soft pretzels are at their very best while still warm or on the day of baking.

However, you can keep them in a closed air-tight container at room temperature until the next day. Then, before serving, reheat them either in the microwave or in the oven. This will return some of their softness – but note that they won’t be quite as soft and delicious as on the first day.

Storage &amp; serving:

This was the first Loopy Whisk recipe I tried, and it is amazing. After years of trial and error with gluten free recipes, Kat is a Godsend! I can now bake wheat-free bread with confidence that when I take it out of the oven it will not only be edible, but that my family will love it.

The Loopy Whisk strikes again!! I just made these and they are delicious!! Thank you for making such good recipes for the gluten free community!

I made those for my (bavarian) boyfriend who has coeliac disease. The expectations were rather low since all previous attempts on gluten free pretzels turned out really bad, but THIS! This recipe is so amazing and the pretzels so delicious we simply could not believe it! He was craving proper pretzels for years and now we make them at least once a week to compensate ^_^ If we are lazy we just make pretzel buns or sticks and all shapes are equally delicious. You made our day, our week, our year! Thank you so much, Kat!

As usual, all Loopy Whisk recipes prove easier than I could've guessed!  I halved the recipe (they're all gone now :) and researched extensively how to use Lye to see if it makes a difference (we'll try baking soda next time).  They were golden brown,  just the right chew, and DELICIOUS!!  We kept saying: Oh my gosh, over and over.   I haven't had something that tasted most like the real thing in 20+ years (except for Loopy Whisk pita - they're also incredible!).  As easy (and tasty!) as these were, they will definitely be made A LOT.    Thank you Kat, again, for all of your hard work and delicious recipes.

Typing this through my tears because I just ate the most delicious gluten free soft pretzels ever ???? I used flake salt for half as directed and for the other half I dipped them in butter and cinnamon sugar after baking. They both turned out great!! It's been so long (YEARS) since I've had a good soft pretzel. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!!

You are the best thing tiktok introduced me to.  I am only a few weeks away from opening a shop in my small city and being able to produce quality gluten free products is so important to me.  I have many celiacs and friends with Crohn's and my theory is that EVERYONE should have quality baked goods accessible and not have to travel out of town.  You have taught me so much.  It took two videos of yours for me to preorder your cookbook.  OK, now I made these pretzels the other day because I'm well known for my regular soft pretzels.  The looks on everyone's faves, gluten free and gluten people, gave me so much joy.  The only thing was my issue.... my commercial oven is MUCH hotter than my home one so they were a little dark but I find GF people "settle" and are happy with treats.  I'm going to change that opinion and set them up to expect quality and never settle for less than perfection and I can do that with your recipes!!!  You're a gem to me.

These are really good gf pretzels - I really like how your recipes turn out and your directions are generally very clear. I keep King Arthur one for one gf flour on hand and that’s what I used in this recipe - just 600 grams of that flour blend. 

If you had a “beer” cheese recipe to go with these, that would be great :)

Hello! I have a family member who has an allergy to Yeast. Do you have any recommended substitutions for yeast?

Thank You!

I just made them and they are delicious, even though I might have messed up with the baking soda water since they didn't brown much. Still, heavenly fluffy and a dream with cream cheese and chives!

I wrote a question about turning this recipe into a bagel one and just discovered that the bagel recipe is in your book! Sorry about that :)

Those were great! And thank you for all your wonderful recipes :) I'm also writing with a question – I'm trying to make New York-style bagels and found information that the dough in both soft pretzels and bagels is very similar, but they are, of course, boiled in different liquids. I know that bagels are also denser - do you have any suggestions on how to modify this recipe to experiment with bagels? :)

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Top 2 gluten free pretzels recipes from across the web

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