Soft Sourdough discard Beer Pretzels

These dark brown, salty, and slightly bitter sourdough beer pretzels get their tangy flavor from a combination of dark beer and sourdough discard in the dough. Since you can use active starter or discard, I found in testing that they do best with a bit of yeast added as an insurance policy. I love making these sourdough soft pretzels whenever I have some extra discard to use up and am looking for a fun weekend baking project or need a snack for game day TV watching.

BTW — I often serve these with my raspberry honey mustard pretzel dip. The sweet-tart-tangy flavors pair so well with the sour beer flavors of the pretzels!

I usually make these in a classic twisted pretzel shape, but I've used this dough to make all sorts of different pretzel shapes; you really can't go wrong. I've included notes below for how to make different shapes and their different boiling and baking times so you can get creative and make whatever shape of sourdough beer pretzels you like best.

My husband loves a good beer and his all-time favorite snack is pretzels so, for me, this soft sourdough beer pretzels recipe was really about figuring out how to combine two of his favorite things. The combination of the dark beer and sourdough flavor in the dough with the quick baking soda bath before baking gives the pretzel crust just the right amount of pretzel-y bitterness.

I've tested this dough with sourdough starter in all stages of feeding. You can use sourdough discard that hasn't been fed for a few days, or you can use recently fed starter that is at its peak.

A more active sourdough starter will give the pretzels a little more rise, while using unfed discard will produce a stronger sourdough flavor.

I usually use starter that's been fed at least 48-72 hours earlier; past its "peak" but not so old that it's producing hooch (that black liquid that sometimes floats on top).

I start by stirring the sourdough discard and the lukewarm beer together in the bowl of my stand mixer. Then, I add the melted butter, followed by the flour and yeast. I wait to add the salt later.

This is a pretty dense and low-hydration dough, so I like to give the dry ingredients a bit of time to hydrate before I begin kneading. So I mix everything together with the dough hook just until it starts to form a shaggy, messy dough.

It's okay if there's still a little loose flour in the bottom of the bowl, but most of it should be gathered into a messy dough ball. Sometimes I even pause the mixer and use my hands to pack it together.

Then, I cover and let rest for 10 minutes. This is the autolyse stage. This gives the flour time to hydrate and for the starches to begin aligning and forming a gluten network. It is a small step but it makes the dough much more elastic and easy to shape later on.

While the dough is resting, I mix the salt and two tablespoons of water together in a small bowl to dissolve the salt so it incorporates evenly into the dough.

When the autolyse is done, I drizzle the saltwater over the dough and use my hands to pinch and fold the dough over itself until the saltwater is incorporated. It is sloppy and messy and squelchy but just roll with it.

Then I use the dough hook to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic to the touch before letting it rise until just about doubled in size.

Pre-Shaping Makes Rolling Long Ropes Easier

When it comes to shaping pretzels, learning how to make the loop-de-loop twists is just half the process. Rolling a long enough rope of pretzel dough can be harder than it looks!

Cover the pre-shaped logs of dough with a damp paper towel while you shape the other ones.

Letting the dough rest before rolling gives the gluten strands time to relax and get used to this new shape. And covering them with a paper towel prevents the dough from forming a skin which will tear when you try to roll it.

how i Shape Classic Soft Pretzels

Don't let the multiple loop-de-loops and twists of a classic soft pretzel shape intimidate you. It's a lot easier to pull off than you think and definitely less tricky than learning to tie your shoes. I find I get the best pretzel size when I start with the ropes at 25-30" long with tapered ends.

Once the pretzels are shaped, I gently transfer them to the parchment-lined sheet pan I plan to bake them on. I put them on the sheet pan now, though, because the next step involves boiling them, and I don't want to carry each pretzel across my kitchen to the stove. Much easier to carry the whole sheet pan over.

Boiling & Baking SOFT PRETZELS

Boiling pretzels in an alkaline solution is what gives them their signature shiny brown crusts. If you don't dip them in an alkaline solution, they're not pretzels. I'm sorry, that's just the rules.

Professional pretzel-making operations use food-grade lye in their alkaline solutions. But you and I are baking a mere 6 soft sourdough beer pretzels in our home kitchens. We are not going to mess around with food-grade lye. Baking soda is good enough for us!

If you don't boil the pretzels, they won't have the shiny, deeply browned classic pretzel crust. Boiling them in a baking soda bath gelatinizes the crust and creates a chemical reaction that makes pretzels... pretzels.

Once the pretzels are boiled, it's time to add the best part: pretzel salt.

Pretzel salt is a bright white, coarse-grained salt that holds its shape well and is slower to absorb moisture from your baked goods than other types of salt. It's hard to find in the grocery store, I usually buy it online.

You could also top these pretzels with everything bagel seasoning, shredded cheese, or skip the salt and brush them with a mixture of melted cinnamon sugar and butter when they're still warm from the oven instead!

The egg wash doesn't just help the pretzel salt stick. It also helps the pretzel crust brown in the oven. If you skip it, the crust will be more matte in texture and won't have that classic shiny brown pretzel color.

That said, if you have an egg allergy or egg intolerance, you can skip the egg wash and the salt will stick. You just won't get that deep brown pretzel color and shiny crust.

Other Pretzel Shapes

This sourdough beer pretzel dough is very all-purpose in terms of pretzel shapes. You can divide the dough up and make lots of different shapes from one batch, or make one batch with all one shape.

1. Fat pretzel rods: Roll a 16” rope without tapered ends. Cut in half and roll the ends gently to even them out.
2. Pretzel bites or pretzel nuggets: Roll a long rope about 1” thick without tapered ends, cut it in half, then cut each half into halves about 2" long.
3. Thin pretzel rods: Roll a ½” thick rope, split it in half lengthwise and roll each half ¼” thick. Cut each rope in half for pretzels that are about 8-10" long.
4. Pretzel twists: Roll a 16” long rope about ½" thick. Cut it in half. Make an X shape and twist the two ropes from the center out. Pinch the ends together.

The baking temperature remains the same for all of the shapes.

📖 Recipe