These soft, chewy and irresistibly salty pretzel bread bowls are the perfect vessels for serving soup all season long.

My family is a family of pretzel lovers. From giant Bavarian-style pretzels to teeny-tiny pretzel nuggets, we’ve never met a pretzel we didn’t like. That’s why it seems like it was only a matter of time before we started serving our favorite soup recipes in pretzel bread bowls. These bread bowls are soft and pillowy on the inside with a chewy, deep-brown crust that’s salted to perfection.

If you’ve never baked homemade soft pretzels before, this recipe is a great starting point. The dough is mixed entirely in a stand mixer and is very forgiving for beginners. The trickiest part to master is boiling them in a baking soda bath. Luckily, we’ve broken down the process step by step, so you can bake with confidence. Fill these bread bowls with any soup recipe your family enjoys. Broccoli cheese soup is usually our go-to, but a piping hot batch of beer cheese soup, spicy Montana chili or a creamy baked potato soup would all taste great in the pretzel bread bowls.

Ingredients for Pretzel Bread Bowls

• Warm water: When baking bread, ensure your water is at the proper temperature to maximize the activity of your yeast. Water that’s too hot may kill the yeast, while water that’s too cold will not activate it fully.
• Light brown sugar: A touch of brown sugar gives the yeast a little extra food to munch on during fermentation, so the pretzels achieve a nice, high rise.
• Instant yeast: This type of yeast makes baking a breeze. It can be added right in with the other dough ingredients, without the need to activate it first with warm water.
• German-style beer: Beer gives the pretzels flavor, while also creating a softer, tender, chewy bread with a thicker crust. The beer also helps improve the rise of the pretzel bread bowls. For the best taste, choose a type of beer with a smooth, rich malt or wheat flavor. A hefeweizen or amber lager are great options.
• Unsalted butter: A few tablespoons of butter enrich the dough with a bit of extra fat, yielding a soft, tender pretzel.
• Salt: Salt is important when baking bread because it imparts flavor while also controlling yeast fermentation and strengthening the gluten strands in the dough.
• All-purpose flour: For the best pretzel bread bowls, choose a high-quality all-purpose flour with a higher protein content. You could also substitute an equal amount of bread flour for all-purpose flour to yield pretzels with a slightly more chewy texture.
• Pretzel bath: Boiling the dough in a mixture of water and baking soda is key to giving pretzels that signature taste and color. For a more robust taste and color, try using baked baking soda.
• Egg wash: To get a bakery-quality sheen on each bowl, brush the tops and sides of the dough with an egg wash made from beaten egg and cold water just before baking.
• Pretzel salt: You can typically find pretzel salt (or coarse sea salt) in the baking aisle of your supermarket. You can also purchase pretzel salt online if it’s not available locally.
• Broccoli cheese soup: Thick, creamy soups rich with cheese, like this copycat Panera broccoli cheese soup, are some of our favorites to eat from freshly-baked pretzel bread bowls.

Directions

Step 1: Mix and knead the dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the warm water, instant yeast and brown sugar. Add the flour, beer, melted butter and salt.

On your mixer’s lowest setting, stir the dough until it’s moist, about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer to medium-low speed, and mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: If you’re unsure whether your dough is kneaded enough, perform the windowpane test. Take a small piece of the dough and attempt to stretch it with your fingers. You should be able to stretch it thin enough to almost see through before it tears. If the dough tears immediately, the gluten has not developed enough, and you should continue kneading the dough.

Step 2: Proof the dough

Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a ball. Place it into a lightly oiled bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough proof for one hour in a warm spot.

Meanwhile, cut out four 6-inch squares of parchment paper. Set them aside.

Step 3: Divide, shape and proof the dough again

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Divide the pretzel dough into four equal pieces and shape each into a smooth, round ball.

Place each ball on a square of parchment paper and cover them with a clean towel. Let them rise for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, add 10 cups of water to a large, deep pot or Dutch oven. Bring the water to a boil, then stir in the baking soda.

Editor’s Tip: The pretzel dough pieces should weigh about 195 grams each.

Step 4: Boil the loaves in a baking soda bath

Once the dough has finished rising, carefully lift and flip the dough balls paper side-up into the boiling water, one at a time. Boil the pretzel loaf for 30 seconds, then remove the parchment paper, flip and then boil it for an additional 30 seconds. Carefully use a slotted spoon or spider strainer to remove the boiled pretzel from the water. Let it drain, then gently place on a greased baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining dough balls.

Editor’s Tip: Avoid moving the boiled pretzels too much once they have been placed on the baking sheet. Try to place them where you wish to bake them, as handling them at this stage can cause them to deflate, and they will not rise as nicely in the oven.

Step 5: Score, egg-wash and salt the loaves

In a small bowl, beat together egg and water. Lightly brush the top of each pretzel with the egg wash and sprinkle them generously with pretzel salt. Finally, use a sharp knife or bread lame to slash a shallow “X” into the top of each pretzel bread bowl.

Step 6: Bake and cool the loaves

Bake the bread bowls for 14 to 17 minutes, or until they’re deeply golden and sound hollow when tapped (the internal temperature should be 200° to 205° when measured with an instant-read thermometer). Remove the loaves promptly and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 7: Fill the pretzel bread bowls with soup

To serve, use a serrated knife to cut the top from each pretzel bread bowl. Hollow out the centers, leaving an edge about 1/2-inch thick. Ladle hot soup into each bowl and serve.

Pretzel Bread Bowl Variations

• Use active dry yeast instead of instant: To bake pretzel bread bowls with active dry yeast, use an equal amount of yeast, but let the water, yeast and brown sugar mixture proof together for 5 to 10 minutes before adding the remaining dough ingredients.
• Add cheese: Homemade pretzels and cheese are always a winning combination. Add up to 1 cup of finely shredded cheese to the dough during the final stage of mixing. Extra sharp cheddar, pepper jack, Gruyere, smoked Gouda, Swiss, Asiago or Parmesan are just a few types of cheese that would pair well with the pretzel bread bowls.
• Other pretzel mix-ins: Add a little pizzazz to your pretzel bread bowls by kneading up to 1/2 cup of finely chopped, well-drained pickled jalapenos or caramelized onions into the dough during the final stages of mixing. You could also knead a few tablespoons of fresh herbs (like chives, basil or oregano) or a pinch of red chili flakes or everything bagel seasoning into the dough.
• Food-grade lye variation: If you’ve prepared pretzels with food-grade lye, then you know the difference it makes in the taste and color of a homemade pretzel. You’ll also know that you need to take care when preparing and handling the lye mixture, because lye can cause burns if splashed onto the skin. For safety, wear protective gloves, long sleeves and safety glasses when handling food-grade lye. To make the pretzel bread bowls with lye, skip the baking soda bath. Instead, combine 1/2 cup of ice-cold water with 1-1/2 teaspoons of food-grade lye in a stainless steel bowl (do not use a glass bowl!) and stir until dissolved. Then, use a silicone pastry brush to gently brush the tops and sides of the dough once it has completed its second rise. Brush the loaves with egg wash, top them with pretzel salt, then bake them as directed. Note that pretzels baked with lye will brown more deeply than those prepared in a baking soda bath.
• Adjust the size of the recipe: Once you’ve perfected the recipe, feel free to get creative. This pretzel dough is versatile and adaptable to any modifications your pretzel-loving heart might desire. Go ahead and double the recipe to make jumbo bread bowls or extra bowls if you’re feeding a crowd.

How to Store Pretzel Bread Bowls

Pretzel bread bowls are best stored in a paper bag at room temperature.

How long do pretzel bread bowls last?

Homemade pretzel bread bowls are best enjoyed the day they are baked. This is because the salt on top of the pretzels attracts moisture from both the air and the pretzel itself. If stored in an airtight container, even just overnight, the salt will dissolve and turn the pretzel soggy and wrinkled.

How can you make pretzel bread bowls ahead?

If you’d like to prepare pretzel bread bowls ahead, skip the salt topping and bake them as directed. Once they’re fully cooled, store them in a brown paper bag for up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to enjoy them, brush the tops with warm water and then add the pretzel salt. Bake them for five to six minutes in a 350º oven. This will crisp the crust and adhere the salt to the surface of the pretzels.

Can you freeze pretzel bread bowls?

Yes! Another make-ahead option is to bake the pretzels without the salt topping and then freeze them. Wrap the pretzel bowls individually in a layer of storage wrap, followed by a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Store them for up to three months. Defrost them overnight at room temperature, then top them with salt and reheat them as directed above.

Pretzel Bread Bowls Tips

Why didn’t the pretzel bread bowls rise?

A few factors can cause bread to not rise. First, always check the expiration date of the yeast. Expired yeast can have less activity than fresh yeast. Second, it’s possible that you didn’t knead or proof the dough long enough, or you may have gone to the other extreme and overproofed or overkneaded your dough. Finally, you may not have measured all the ingredients accurately. Investing in an affordable kitchen scale is one of the best ways to improve your home baking.

What should you do with the scraps from a hollowed bread bowl?

Don’t toss the scraps. Serve the pretzel bowl tops and the inner bread scraps for dipping and dunking. Alternatively, cut them into cubes and turn them into tasty homemade croutons.

What else can you do with pretzel bread bowls?

You can fill bread bowls with countless recipes. These pretzel bread bowls are especially good for serving dips and spreads. Bake this recipe as one or two larger bread bowls and then fill them to the brim with a hot and spicy homemade cheese queso or a rich and creamy spinach dip. Last, if you cut them the right way, these bread bowls also make terrific pretzel buns for jumbo-size burgers or pulled pork sandwiches.

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