Quick Bread Machine Pretzel Dough for Perfect Buns or Rolls
Sneak Preview: Whip up easy bread machine pretzel dough for versatile creations—buns, rolls, or traditional pretzels! These fluffy, chewy bites are perfect as sandwich buns or solo with mustard.
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Craving soft pretzel buns without the stress of twisting traditional pretzels? These chewy, golden rolls are easier than you’d think—especially with the help of a bread machine.
If you’ve tried my Chewy Bread Machine Bagels with Step-by-Step Video, you’ll recognize the technique. The shaping is even easier here, but the end result is just as satisfying.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Step-by-Step for Making Bread Machine Pretzel Dough
⬇️ Jump to the recipe below for exact amounts and detailed instructions.
Make the Dough
Shape & Bake
Tips That Make a Difference
- Flatten rolls after resting to help them bake into buns rather than tall rounds.
- If dough resists flattening, let it rest uncovered for 10–15 minutes to relax the gluten.
- Refrigerate the dough overnight for fresh-baked rolls the next day—just bring to room temp before shaping.
- Freeze extras the day you bake them to keep the crust chewy and the inside soft.
Quick Bread Machine Pretzel Dough for Buns or Rolls
Video
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (241 g) water
- 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon salt table or sea salt
- 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoon instant yeast
Water Bath
- 2 quarts (1892 ml) water
- ¼ cup (30 g) baking soda
- 1 tablespoon salt
- coarse salt for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Add Dough Ingredients to Bread Machine: Add 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (241 g) water, 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon salt, 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour, and 1¼ teaspoon instant yeast to the bread machine pan in the order given.
- Select the DOUGH Cycle and Check Dough: Select the DOUGH cycle and press START.Check after 1 minute to confirm the paddles are engaged and dough is clumping.Check again at 15 minutes:• Too wet? Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time.• Too dry? Add liquid 1 tablespoon at a time.The dough should stick briefly to the sides, then pull away cleanly.
- Remove and Divide Dough: When the cycle ends, transfer the dough to a floured surface.Divide into 8 equal pieces. Shape into smooth balls by pulling dough underneath and pinching the seam.
- Rest and Preheat Oven: Cover dough balls and let rest for 15 minutes.Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Prepare Baking Soda Water Bath: In a large pot, combine 2 quarts (1892 ml) water with ¼ cup (30 g) baking soda and 1 tablespoon salt.Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
- Shape and Boil the Rolls: Gently flatten each ball into a bun shape.Boil 2–3 rolls at a time for 30 seconds per side.Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Slash and Salt: Use a sharp knife or lame to cut an “X” about ½ inch deep on each roll. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake and Cool: Bake for 20–24 minutes until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 195–200°F (88–90°C on a quick-read thermometer.Cool on a rack before serving.
Notes
1️⃣ Add ingredients to the bowl in the listed order.
2️⃣ Mix on LOW until moistened, then knead on speed 2 or 3 with a dough hook for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
3️⃣ Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
4️⃣ Gently deflate and shape as directed in the recipe. ? By Hand:
1️⃣ Mix all ingredients into a shaggy dough ball in a large bowl.
2️⃣ Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 10-20 minutes until smooth and elastic.
3️⃣ Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled.
4️⃣ Gently deflate and shape as directed. ? Yeast Tip: Using active dry yeast? Increase by ¼ teaspoon. It no longer requires dissolving, but you can if preferred.
Equipment
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
FAQ
Can I make traditional pretzels with this dough?
Yes! Twist into classic shapes after portioning. Check YouTube for shaping demos.
Is pretzel dough good for pizza?
Absolutely—use it for a chewy, pretzel-style crust. However, I’m partial to my tried-and-true pizza dough recipe made with a bread machine.
Can I skip the baking soda bath?
You can, but the crust won’t have the classic chewy bite or the deep golden-brown color. The baking soda bath is what gives pretzels their signature look and flavor.
Why do my pretzel rolls look wrinkled after boiling?
That’s completely normal! The wrinkling smooths out somewhat during baking. It’s a sign that the alkaline bath is doing its job.
Final Thoughts
For a fun project with kids or grandkids, try shaping this dough into classic ballpark pretzels. I haven’t included a tutorial, but YouTube has plenty of helpful videos. While they can be a bit tricky, I’d happily make them with my grandkids!
If you enjoy making burger buns, have a look at some of my other bun recipes: Bread Machine Whole Wheat Rolls: Good for Slider Buns, Too, Perfected Potato Hamburger Buns (Mixed in a Bread Machine), and Impressive 7-Grain Bread Recipe for Burger Buns (Bread Machine).
Need help troubleshooting? Please email me: Paula at saladinajar.com–photos welcome!
First time to try this recipe. I should have watched the video first, because I flattened them too much. I was making them for hamburgers and wanted them to be large. They turned out wonderful, but too flat! Delicious though!
We used 2 bun for each hamburger, for the top and bottom. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hi Kathy,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for the 5-star review. I’m so glad your rolls were delicious. There are so many variables when making bread (brands and types of flour, ambient temperatures, type of bread machine, ovens, family preferences, etc.) that experimentation is almost always necessary. I look forward to hearing about more of your baking adventures.
Hi Paula! I’m making these and would like to do a cold rise in the fridge overnight. I think your dough would be fine for that, right? I am also going to do the lye/water bath. Thanks!
Hi MJS,
I haven’t tried that but it should work. You are doing the water bath in the morning right before you bake, right? Let me know how it goes.
My first time baking pretzels and it was a great success! So pretty and much easier than many of the pretzel recipes I looked into. A wonderful recipe! Thank you!
Hi Janis,
I’m so glad to hear your pretzels turned out so well! It’s great to know the recipe worked for you, especially on your first try.
I love the way you write recipes. I appreciate being able to scale the ingredients right into my bread machine bucket. I like that your weight measurements are accurate. And I really appreciate being given a final temperature. I did add a little bit of barley malt syrup (which I’d read was good for pretzels). I made this recipe as written (except for the barley malt syrup) and they were excellent. I decided to add 1/3 white whole wheat for the second experiment and I liked them even better. I made these for a friend’s 50th birthday dinner. They were a hit. I plan to make some larger for sandwich rolls or burger buns.
Hello,
What a day-brightener your letter is! Thank you for your kind observations.
Your improvements on the pretzel dough sound marvelous. I haven’t experimented with barley malt syrup, but it sounds like I should. I have used the pretzels as buns. They are good if you don’t mind a little bit of chewiness.
Thanks again for writing.
WOW! These are great! So easy with the bread machine. I made 6 nice size rolls. I used my mini silicone cake pans. They smelled great baking. I loved it so much, I made cheese filled pretzel bites. Took cheese sticks, cut into 4 pieces, froze them and then wrapped the dough around them. Next I want to make peanut butter filled and dip the tops in chocolate. Glad I have friends that will help me eat these!
Can I be your friend and help you eat these? Your variations sound wonderful. Thank you for writing about them. They will surely give other readers some inspiration.
Hi, I’m going to make these tomorrow. I was wondering about the tool you used to smash them for rolls? in the video.
Hi Terry,
That is a burger press. I’ve had it for a long time and couldn’t find it on Amazon. But there are dozens of presses if you search in their search box.
Hope this recipe turns out great for you.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I made these pretzel buns for the first time yesterday and they turned out fantastic. The taste was amazing. They were everything I could have hoped for.
What a great testimonial, Sarah. Thank you for the 5-star rating. Glad they worked out good for you.
Please read this fully…I was VERY disappointed…NOT with the recipe, but with my performance. The dough was PERFECT…the dough balls were PERFECT…the water bath was PERFECT…then I could not find my lame and resorted to a sharp knife. I deflated the poor little buggers and they turned into pretzel cakes about an inch thick. ? BUT I ATE THEM ALL! LOL Question though…should it let them rise a bit again after smashing them into bun size? Perhaps that was my error (and my instinct said to let them rise a bit more to fill out. I will DEFINITELY make these again because the texture is IDENTICAL to those expensive store or bakery bought items! THANK YOU!!! ❤️
Hi Lonnie,
You ate all of them? I guess they weren’t too bad.
It is not necessary to let the balls rise again after you smash them. Maybe next time, don’t smash them quite so flat. I’m assuming the dough had doubled in size when you removed it from the bread machine. Is your kitchen cold? If so, you might want to allow a little longer than 15 minutes before you press down the rolls—up to 30 minutes should be OK.
Hope this helps.
This recipe was super easy to follow and the results were amazing! Pretzel buns always intimidated me but your recipe changed my mind.
*I brushed the tops with melted butter as I pulled them from the oven because… butter ?
Hi Paula, I am going to make these definitely. However, I wanted to watch your video. I clicked on “video” and it went down to it but there was nothing there. Is there a way I can watch this? It would be easier than printing off all of your steps. If not, I can print off all the pictures. Thanks for this great and simple recipe. I love pretzel rolls!!!! I always get them at the German bakery.
Hi Lynda,
Is there any chance you have an ad blocker on your computer? I have sent an inquiry to the company that stores my videos to see if they have any advice. Meanwhile, the video works fine on my computer. Have you tried to look at it on your phone? I’ll get back to you.
Reporting back: Lynda, I was told there is probably an ad blocker causing the problem. You might try using a different browser that, hopefully, would not have an ad blocker installed. My tech people suggested another option–you could tell the ad blocker app to allow my website. I don’t know how to do that, but hopefully, you do.
Since having a school aged grandson living with us, lunches have been a problem – how to spice up a lowly sandwich? This recipe did it! We did ham and cheese and roasted red pepper and spinach. Now need at least two more fillings. But we got rave reviews – so thanks for the recipe. And very easy to make. Grandson is currently using this recipe to make pretzels too!
These rolls were so good! I followed the directions as instructed, except substituting whey from straining yogurt for the water. Fresh out the oven, it was delicious eating it plain with its crispy crust. They were also good after they’d cooled with some bread. I will definitely be making these again and trying some of your other bread recipes!
Thank you for taking the time to write, Allison. I’m so glad you enjoyed these rolls.
Will try this because there simply is no better sandwich bread. Thanks.
Love your website.
Thanks Dagmar. Hope these turned out well for you.
The information regarding the amount of salt is confusing.
The Ingredients list has 1 T salt (3g), yet step 1 in the Dough instructions says 1/2 t (3g).
Also, for the water bath, the ingredient list has 1/2 T (9g), yet step 3 in the Shaping the Dough instructions says 1T salt for the water bath.
Hi Lawrence,
My apologies for not catching this. I’m so grateful you took the time to write. I recently updated this post and somehow got these switched. They are corrected now.
I made these and had them for lunch with cheese and ham on the weekend. My grandchildren especially loved. Fabulous. Thanks Paula.
Hi Stephen,
I’m thrilled to hear these were a hit with your grandchildren. A ham and cheese sandwich sounds yummy. Thanks for writing.
As a full-time RVer, it is often difficult to find recipes that work well in these tiny little ovens. We have a bread machine and an oven that simply doesn’t have much room in it. This recipe was perfect! Thank you so very much!
Hi Mike,
Glad the pretzel recipe turned out for you. It has been a popular recipe this past year. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
I have now made these four times in the last week. My family eats them as fast as I can make them!! We all love them. The first time I made them I did not have unsalted butter so I used to salted. I also used whole milk because I didn’t have any dry milk. They came out fantastic and I’ve made them that way since.
I’m currently making them now and seriously considering hiding a few of them to enjoy later before my family eats them up!
Hi Marla,
This is great news. Sounds like you are now a superstar!! You made good substitutions. I can relate to the hiding idea. I have to do it with my husband occasionally. Thanks so much for writing.
Hello! I’ve not made this recipe but have made Pretzel Buns before using dough from my machine. One thing I’ve learned along the way is that baker’s lye used to be used in the old days in the water bath for a richer color and flavor. It’s no longer available but I’ve been told that you can approximate the effect by baking the baking soda to drive water out and thus concentrate it. Anyone heard of this? I’ll make a batch from the original recipe and one with the altered baking soda and report back.
So glad to have this. The only store around here that carries pretzel buns calls them seasonal so they are only available June to September. Guess I should tell them how awesome they make breakfast egg “McMuffin” sandwiches any time of year! Thanks, Paula, for all you do in bringing us new challenges!
Can’t wait to hear the results of your experiment.
I DID try the baked lye and I think it made the buns a little darker but the work and time involved didn’t seem worth it. I now have heard that adding malt powder to the mix gives the buns a more authentic, perhaps robust flavor, like Oktoberfest!? I ordered the powder so will give it a try and report back.
Hi Vivian,
Please let me know what you think about the powder. I’ve considered ordering that myself.
@Paula,
I now have the diastatic malt powder but haven’t tried it with the bagel recipe. Before I do, I want to use it to make a malted loaf of bread. I buy one here that is called “Manchester Malted” and it is terrific. King Arthur has a recipe but it looks like I need black treacle as well. I wonder if dark molasses will work. Anyway, on with the baking!
Sounds like you are on the right track about black treacle. I got the following from the Spruce: Black Treacle vs. Molasses
Black treacle is often the British counterpart to North America’s molasses. The two are similar in color and viscosity and used in the same way. Black treacle is a blend of cane molasses and invert sugar syrup. Though it’s similar to pure molasses, black treacle is generally described as a slightly burnt, bitter version of molasses. Interestingly, many dictionary entries for black treacle simply list “molasses” as one of the entries.
I was hoping to my rolls more like logs. Suggestions on any changes I’d need to make to do this?
Are you wanting crunchy crispy logs or soft pretzels?
Soft pretzels to have with soup. I’m trying to emulate the pretzel bread they have at Hyde Park Grille for my husband’s birthday
I’m not familiar with that restaurant. Sounds delicious. Did you try rolling the dough in a log shape? I have not experimented with that so I can’t give you advice from my own experience. Happy Birthday to your husband.
Ingredient list is confusing I added the baking soda to the dough. They tasted like soup.
Pretzel soup, eh? I fixed the recipe to be clearer. Thanks for alerting me.
We made these yesterday to have with burgers. I had to add some extra water. My shapes were awful but I can’t blame that on the recipe. They tasted very good but were a little tough. I wonder if it was the extra water that caused that.
i have a 1.5 lb bread machine, could someone please tell me the amounts to make this recipe?? it sounds wonderful and I am so excited to try it. PLEASE Help
Hi Jacqueline,
Thanks for writing. You can use the amounts specified in your machine. No worries. These buns are delicious. Hope you like them.
Hello
I am going to try this recipe tonight. About how big is the diameter after cooked? I want to use them for burger buns.
Thanks!
I’ve made these and they are wonderful!
I just made those. I have to say they have no taste. Very plain. Nice and crispy but no flavour. Next time I have to add sugar and salt in the dough.
Paula…omg thank you thank you thank you. These were awesome. I didn’t have any dry milk so I used 2 T of original coffee creamer instead and they turned out wonderfully. I sprayed the hades out of my cookie sheet with pam and I took them off immediately and they just came right off. They were perfect. My family loved them. I have been trying to wean them off of HFCS and now I have eliminated three more things out of my fams menu with this recipe. I am going to use this recipe for individual pretzel pizzas! omg so good.
Love hearing the success stories. Thanks for writing.
I made these last night to go with beer cheese soup, they were so good!. I think next time I’ll make 4 or 5 and use them as bread bowls. My kids enjoyed them so much that we didn’t have any leftover.
I just wanted to add that I’ve been making these on my stoneware (which I use for most rolls), and have had no issue with them sticking if I spray them stoneware lightly with olive oil before baking. I’ve made these 5 or 6 times in the last couple of weeks and they’ve been a HUGE hit with everyone. I’ve been asked to bring yeast rolls for Thanksgiving, but I’ll be making a few batches of pretzel rolls as well this year 🙂
I baked them on a cookie sheet, covered with sprayed parchment. Didn’t stick at all.
Looks like it worked! Delicious! Thanks for posting!
[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/dabluzeguy/00000%20sale%20stuff/20140831_1418321.jpg[/IMG]
Hi Rich,
I can’t see the picture but I’m so glad you liked them.
Hi Paula
Trying this right now. I went to buy nonfat dry milk, and has a choice between instant and non-instant. I chose the instant.. Hope it was the right choice.. I haven’t used this ingredient before..
Working on these now. Hope they come out well. I only need 4 so gonna use the remainder of dough to make regular pretzels and see how that comes out.
After you make these how should they be stored and how long will they stay fresh. Thank you.
do yo think whole wheat four will work?
Daria,
I have not experimented with whole wheat in this recipe. However, I would recommend that you start by only substituting one cup of whole wheat for white and see what happens. Don’t expect your buns to be as light as they would be with the original recipe. Whole wheat requires some different handling and I recommend it only for the more advanced bread baker. I would also recommend you look for a recipe specifically designed for whole wheat flour. Good luck and thanks for asking.
Love this recipe. Make it once a week it seems. Kids no longer like the pretzel rolls from the store. Only these. Thanks!!
Pretzel Bun – Breadmaker Recipe
Do you know if they freeze well?
I have not tried freezing them. They go fast when I make them and my husband likes to eat them as a snack dipped in mustard so there’s no opportunity. 🙂
Does your recipe for Bread Machine Pretzel Buns, not require sugar???
These look fabulous! They are on the menu for tomorrow night only I’m going to make hot dog buns out of them. Can’t wait!
What a lovely sandwich these pretzel buns make! I bet they are delicious just by themselves though too.
I made these this afternoon — delicious!
Hi Paula, thanks for another yummy recipe. I made your yogurt last night and it is getting so much easier. I can not bring myself to buy yogurt now. Thanks so much and I hope you have a great week. Try to stay cool.
Do you think I could shape and use this for pretzels also? This would be a perfect recipe if so. Thank you. By the way the buns look fabulous!
Hi Cindy,
You bet! A little more trouble to shape them but also delicious.
In step 8, do you bake them on a Silpat-lined tray? Thanks!
Phyllis,
Yes. Or a very well greased cookie sheet. I always use the Silpat myself.
Mmmmm, I have GOT to try this! I have been eating low carb but will make an exception for these.