Vegan beer pretzels - these delicious vegan pretzels are made with (optional) beer to give them extra flavour. They are super soft, flavourful and easier to make than you might think!
A long time ago I blogged a recipe for beer pretzel hot dog buns. I had forgotten about the post until I stumbled across it while doing some site maintenence and decided it was high time I veganised the recipe and made actual pretzel shaped pretzels.
These vegan beer pretzels are super soft with a chewy crust and that distinctive, delicious pretzel flavour. Regular pretzels are amazing but the beer in these ones makes them even more flavourful!
They taste so good that I will happily just eat them on their own, especially when they are still slightly warm fresh from the oven and brushed with melted butter.
They are also delicious spread with butter, served with dips, or as a side with soup.
What Are Pretzels?:
Pretzels, or Bretzel, are one of the most famous German baked goods, though they are also popular in Alsace (France), Austria and Switzerland. They have become hugely popular in the US, where hard pretzels were invented (the little crunchy, crisp-like ones).
Traditional pretzels are a soft baked bread that is shaped into a knot. They can be savoury or sweet but are most commonly sprinkled with crunchy salt.
Traditionally, pretzels are dipped in a lye solution before baking which is what gives them their distinctive flavour and colour. Lye can be quite dangerous to work with however, so like most other home bakers I use a bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) bath instead.
The results aren't quite the same as lye, but it is pretty darn close and is easier and safer to do.
How To Make Vegan Beer Pretzels:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together bread flour, fast action yeast, salt and dark brown soft sugar.
Add beer, lukewarm milk and melted vegan butter and mix to form a rough dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside to rise until it is doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours at warm room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
Punch down the risen dough and give it a very brief knead to knock out the air then divide it into eight even pieces, I use a scale for accuracy. Shape each piece into a ball then cover them with a clean tea towel and let them rest for 10 minutes before shaping.
How To Shape Pretzels:
While they may look complicated, pretzels are actually really easy to shape.
Start by rolling out one of the balls of dough with your hands into a long rope, about 40cm/16in. You want there to be a fat section in the middle which tapers off into thin arms on either side.
Place the rope into a U shape with the fat section facing you. Form the arms into a cross about half way along their length, with the right hand one crossed over the left.
Cross the right hand rope over the left again so that you have a double twist. Pick up the two ends and fold them over towards you, press the ends onto the fat section gently to seal.
Grease two baking sheets. Pick up the shaped pretzel by the top two holes and place it on the greased baking sheet, re-shaping it as necessary. Repeat with the rest of the balls of dough.
Leave the trays of pretzels to rise for about 30 minutes until they are puffy but don't cover them! You want the surface of the dough to dry out and form a skin. Preheat the oven while they are rising.
Now comes the slightly tricky part - the bicarb bath.
Heat 2 litres of water in a large pan until it comes to the boil then turn down the heat so that it is not even simmering and stir in 5 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).
Transfer one of the pretzels into the pan of water. The easiest way to do this is to pick it up by the top two holes and carefully lower it into the water.
Poach the pretzel for 30 seconds, using a ladle to gently pour the bicarb solution over the top the whole time. Use a large fish slice to carefully lift it out and place it on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. I have a pancake flipper which is perfect for this job as it is wider than a regular fish slice or spatula.
Repeat with the rest of the pretzels then use a lame or a very sharp knife to cut a deep slash across the fat section of each pretzel. (My slashing needs work! Mine weren't deep enough).
Sprinkle each pretzel with some pretzel salt or flaky sea salt and bake for 15-20 minutes until they are deep brown. Don't take them out of the oven too early, you want them to be dark rather than light brown.
For the best flavour, brush them with plenty of melted butter when they come out of the oven!
Top Tips:
For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
The bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) bath is a necessary step to make your pretzels taste like, well, pretzels. Don't skip it.
Brushing the pretzels with melted (vegan) butter when they come out of the oven is optional, but highly, highly recommended.
Bread flour will give you the best texture; but you can use plain (all-purpose) flour instead if you don't have any.
The dark brown sugar helps to give the pretzels their dark colouring and also contributes to the flavour; as well as feeding the yeast to help the dough rise. Don't omit it.
Not all beers are vegan friendly so do check the label just in case. I used Brewdog Dead Pony Club. Any kind of beer will work though I would pick ale over lager and avoid using anything too dark (such as stout or porter).
If you don't want to use beer then you can just use an equal quantity of water instead, the pretzels will still taste great.
You can buy specific pretzel salt which will give you authentic looking pretzels and it is non-melting so won't dissolve. But as it is a little expensive and not commonly available (in the UK at least), I just use flaky sea salt (Maldon) instead. It does dissolve into the bread after a while but they still taste great!
The recipe makes 8 large pretzels but you can make 10 smaller ones if you prefer.
How To Store Vegan Beer Pretzels:
These vegan beer pretzels really are best served on the day they are baked, the fresher the better.
They will keep in an airtight container for a day or so but I recommend warming them through in a low oven to refresh them before serving. They also freeze well (see below).
Can I Freeze Them?:
Yes. Freeze the pretzels on the day that they are baked to preserve freshness but make sure that they have cooled completely first.
Freeze them in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Allow to defrost at room temperature then refresh them in a low oven before serving.
More Vegan Bread Recipes:
Sea salt and rosemary focaccia
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Vegan Beer Pretzels
Ingredients
Dough:
- 500 g (4 cups) white bread flour
- 7 g (1 sachet/2 tsp) fast action/instant yeast
- 1 rounded tsp salt
- 1 heaped Tbsp dark brown soft sugar
- 200 ml (½ + ⅓ cup) beer (or water)
- 110 ml (⅓ cup + 2 Tbsp) lukewarm unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 40 g (scant 3 Tbsp) melted vegan butter/margarine
Bicarb Bath:
- 2 liters (8 cups) water
- 5 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- flaky sea salt or pretzel salt for sprinkling
- 30 g (2 Tbsp) melted vegan butter/margarine for brushing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar.
- Add the beer, lukewarm milk and melted vegan butter and mix to form a rough dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside to rise until it is doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours at warm room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
- Punch down the risen dough and give it a very brief knead to knock out the air then divide it into eight even pieces, I use a scale for accuracy. Shape each piece into a ball then cover them with a clean tea towel and let them rest for 10 minutes before shaping.
- Start by rolling out one of the balls of dough with your hands into a long rope, about 40cm/16in. You want there to be a fat section in the middle which tapers off into thin arms on either side.
- Place the rope into a U shape with the fat section facing you. Form the arms into a cross about half way along their length, with the right hand one crossed over the left.
- Cross the right hand rope over the left again so that you have a double twist. Pick up the two ends and fold them over towards you, press the ends onto the fat section gently to seal. (See the step-by-step photos above).
- Grease two baking sheets. Pick up the shaped pretzel by the top two holes and place it on the greased baking sheet, re-shaping it as necessary. Repeat with the rest of the balls of dough.
- Leave the trays of pretzels to rise for about 30 minutes until they are puffy but don't cover them! You want the surface of the dough to dry out and form a skin.
- Preheat the oven while they are rising to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
- Heat the 2 litres of water in a large pan until it comes to the boil then turn down the heat so that it is not even simmering and stir in the 5 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).
- Transfer one of the pretzels into the pan of water. The easiest way to do this is to pick it up by the top two holes and carefully lower it into the water.
- Poach the pretzel for 30 seconds, using a ladle to gently pour the bicarb solution over the top of the pretzel the whole time. Use a large fish slice to carefully lift it out and place it on the prepared baking tray.
- Repeat with the rest of the pretzels then use a lame or a very sharp knife to cut a deep slash across the fat section of each pretzel.
- Sprinkle each pretzel with some pretzel salt or flaky sea salt and bake for 15-20 minutes until they are deep brown. Don't take them out of the oven too early, you want them to be dark rather than light brown.
- When the pretzels come out of the oven, brush them generously with melted vegan butter then transfer them to a wire rack to cool a little before serving.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- Bread flour will give you the best texture; but you can use plain (all-purpose) flour instead if you don't have any.
- Not all beers are vegan friendly so do check the label just in case. I used Brewdog Dead Pony Club. Any kind of beer will work though I would pick ale over lager and avoid using anything too dark (such as stout or porter).
- If you don't want to use beer then you can just use an equal quantity of water instead, the pretzels will still taste great.
- The recipe makes 8 large pretzels but you can make 10 smaller ones if you prefer.
Anne Atkinson
Would olive oil work instead of vegan butter?
Hannah
Hi Anne, I haven't tried them with oil but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Jojo
Worked beautifully - as has everything else I've tried off the website so far! - rose VERY well in the heatwave. I don't taper the ends (just personal preference, I like when they rise and close up the holes a bit like a bread roll) - love to find a vegan nut-free recipe that works so well