Homemade Challah Pretzels

Homemade Challah Pretzels are chewy, delicious and won’t last long! Perfect to celebrate Festivus, but just as wonderful for game day, an afternoon snack, or ANY excuse you can think of to make them!

Homemade Pretzels

Do you celebrate Festivus on December 23rd? It’s the secular holiday made famous by the sitcom Seinfeld. It’s Festivus for the rest of us.

It’s what we’re celebrating today with an airing of grievances, feats of strength, the famous aluminum pole, and traditional Festivus dinner. So gripe away while you’re planning your celebration. And be sure to add these chewy, irresistible challah pretzels to your menu.

Pretzels from Scratch

My pretzel-making days go back 15 years to when my youngest was in preschool. One of their craft projects with Mrs. Piccolo was to learn how to make pretzels. From that day onward, I had numerous requests from Nick to bake up a batch of soft pretzels.

When challah came up in our Tuesdays with Dorie queue, I decided to take half that dough to make challah pretzels. I adore an eggy bread and these pretzels were chewy and perfect. Some were sprinkled with coarse sea salt and the rest with sesame seeds.

Bill came home from work and had a nibble off one of these homemade pretzels, then a few minutes later another nibble, till he finally just finished the whole thing. Nick gave them his seal of approval as well. And he took a Ziploc bagful back to campus after Thanksgiving break. I have a feeling they won’t last long.

More Seinfeld Inspired Recipes:

Now check out all the other magnificent Festivus recipes from my lovely friends. Do you remember these Seinfeld episodes? Feel free to leave any grievances in the comments!

• Susan from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen is making Marble Rye from “The Rye”
• Renee from Magnolia Days is making Eggnog Frozen Yogurt from “The Non-Fat Yogurt”
• Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake is making Homemade Challah Pretzels from “The Alternate Side”
• Shanna from Pineapple and Coconut is making Lobster Scrambled Eggs with Wasabi Hollandaise and Crispy Leek and Potato Cakes from “The Hamptons”
• Kelli from Kelli’s Retro Kitchen Arts is making a Big Salad from “The Big Salad”
• Marnely from Cooking with Books is making Apple Pie from “The Pie”
• Diane from Created by Diane is making Black and White Cookies from “The Dinner Party”
• Anita from Hungry Couple is making Chocolate Babka from “The Dinner Party”

Continue to Content

Print

The Recipe:

Challah Pretzels

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Yield 16 pretzels

Chewy Challah Pretzels made with a rich egg bread dough!

Ingredients

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water (about 110°)
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus a pinch
• 4 ounces butter, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons, melted butter
• 1 cup milk (whole milk preferred)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 eggs, at room temperature, plus 1 egg beaten with 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon
• cream to glaze
• 6 cups bread flour, will vary depending on the humidity

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water with the pinch of sugar and let stand until creamy and starting to bubble.
2. Combine the butter pieces and milk in a microwave safe container. Heat in microwave till the butter melts. Stir in the remaining ⅓ cup of sugar, the honey and salt. Let cool slightly (mixture should be lukewarm not hot). Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer and, with the paddle attachment, stir in the dissolved yeast and the 4 eggs.
3. Add 5 cups of the flour and mix till combined. Switch out to your dough hook, and knead for 8-10 minutes, till dough is smooth and elastic (adding as much additional flour as needed so that dough cleans the sides of the bowl).
4. Brush a large bowl generously with some of the melted butter. Transfer the dough to the buttered bowl and brush the top with the remaining melted butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise in a warm location until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
5. Punch down the dough, then cover and let rise until doubled in bulk again,about 1¼ hours.
6. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough in half. Cover one half with plastic wrap and divide the other half into 8 equal pieces Using lightly floured hands, roll each piece into a 12-14-inch rope. Shape into a pretzel shapes by making two loops then crossing one tail across the other. Repeat with remaining dough.
7. Cover and let rise till doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
8. Brush with egg and cream glaze and sprinkle with coarse salt, sesame or poppy seeds.
9. Preheat oven to 375º Bake for 20 minutes, brush with more glaze if desired, then rotate pans and bake for another 10 minutes or till pretzels are golden.

Yield: 16-24 pretzels

Total time: 4 hours

Notes

Adapted from Baking with Julia, a Lauren Groveman recipe.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1 pretzel
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 318Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 92mgSodium: 421mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 9g

HOW MUCH DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest