Pretzel Buns, they make great hamburger style buns!
I took my favorite pretzel recipe which my sister shared in a post called Soft Pretzel Bites. They make amazing buns! I have seen Pretzel Buns on the shelves of grocery stores & in restaurants the past couple of years. I was recently at Publix pushing my shopping cart past their bakery/bread section & I thought the pretzel buns looked good. I also thought why haven’t I ever made them before? I came home, used my sister’s best recipe for pretzels and made pretzel buns! The only thing that really differs between the two recipes is boiling the buns in baking soda water right before baking in the oven.
Recipe makes soft Pretzel Buns.
I stored the Pretzel Buns in the refrigerator & pulled them out as needed because it’s hot & humid where I live & I didn’t want them to get stale. After 5 days I was still eating them & they tasted great. You can slice the buns & toast them. I was also microwaving them to make them nice & warm & then tearing them into pieces & dipping in mustard.
- 1 cup warm milk (microwave for 30-45 seconds)
- 2¼ teaspoons or 1 packet of rapid rise yeast (I use quick rise active dry yeast)
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Soda Bath Dip:
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 2 quarts water
- -Coarse Salt for topping- (I used coarse kosher salt)
- -One egg for egg wash-
- Add all the Pretzel ingredients, milk, yeast, brown sugar, flour, butter and salt in you bread machine in that order. Use regular dough setting. Let it knead for 10-15 minutes. Check dough a few mins. after you start it. If it's too dry add a tablespoon or 2 of water if too dry, do the same only with flour. Dough should form into a ball. IF NOT using a bread machine, knead using your preferred method, by hand or with a stand mixer for about 10 minutes.
- Let dough rise covered for 10 minutes.
- Divide dough into pieces on a lightly floured surface, I made 7-8 rolls. Roll each piece into a ball & place onto a cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.
- Let rise 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan on the stove top, remove from heat, add ¼ baking soda. Add back to the heat & using a slotted spoon place 2 roll into boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds on one side then flip them over with spoon & boil 30 more seconds. Remove from water & place back on cookie sheet. Continue until they have all been boiled.
- Take a knife or scissors & cut a criss-cross across the top of buns. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with the coarse salt.
- Bake at 425 for 14-16 minutes.
Tips*:If it is summer aka hot & humid reduce the amount of milk a little. Flour absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, which makes it “wetter” during the summer so you don’t need to add quite as much.
*Tip: To make the egg wash just crack the egg into a small bowl, whisk it up using a fork, then use a brush to brush the tops of the buns. This gives them a nice shiny, browned look after they bake.
Tip: I use King Arthur’s All-Purpose Flour
Tip: A baking mat or parchment paper is very helpful for this recipe because pretzels tend to stick to the cookie sheets really bad. (Contains amazon affiliate links)
Tip: You can knead the dough for this recipe by hand, with a stand mixer using a dough hook, or with a bread machine. I used my bread machine for this recipe by adding all the ingredients in, hitting the dough cycle button & letting it knead for 10-15 minutes then unplugging it.
I love making pretzel buns – although, I haven’t in awhile! Can’t wait to try your recipe :)
Excellent recipe. Will be using it again.
Hi Angela, So glad you liked the Pretzel Bun recipe. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.