Gluten-Free Soft Pretzels

Traditional soft pretzels with a pleasant chew.

By
Elizabeth Barbone
Elizabeth Barbone: Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Elizabeth Barbone
Elizabeth Barbone develops delicious and creative recipes for the food allergic and gluten-free communities through her site Gluten-Free Baking. Author of three cookbooks: Easy Gluten-Free Baking (2009), How to Cook Gluten-Free (2012), and The World's Easiest Paleo Baking (2016).
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Updated March 06, 2025
Three large gluten-free soft pretzels shingled on a plate, flanked by a spreader and a jar of mustard.

Serious Eats / Elizabeth Barbone

Soft pretzels are just about perfect. They're chewy, salty and great with everything from a beer to a salad. The thing is: they're chewy. And gluten-free flour doesn't do chewy well.

But this year I decided I didn't want to go through another football season or Oktoberfest without one. So I started tinkering with a soft pretzel recipe. Since gluten, the protein found in wheat and other grains, is responsible for the distinctive soft pretzel chew, I began by focusing on the flour blend.

First, Flour Testing

Since the flavor of pretzels is rather subtle, I first used white rice flour and tapioca starch. I hoped the white rice flour would be bland enough to fade into the background while the tapioca starch, along with a little xanthan gum, provided chew. It worked. Sort of. The white rice flour was so bland that the pretzels tasted flat, and since I only used a little tapioca starch, there was very little chew. One of my first tasters said, "These taste like they want to be soft pretzels but just aren't. They're odd."

Since I didn't want bland (or odd!) pretzels, I replaced the white rice flour with brown rice flour. While the flavor was better, the pretzels were unappetizingly grainy. Combining the white rice flour and brown rice flour solved this problem.

During testing, I increased the amount of tapioca starch, but I knew that too much tapioca starch could make them gummy. I added it cautiously, and one day, after using three-quarters of a cup of tapioca starch, I pulled the pretzel apart. There was some resistance and the crumb had the tight appearance of wheat-based soft pretzels.

Finally, a Chewy and Golden-Brown Pretzel!

Taking a bite, the pretzel felt chewy. Finally! A gluten-free soft pretzel that was chewy and flavorful.

But texture isn't the only characteristic unique to soft pretzels. They should also be brown and shiny. Commercial bakers achieve this by boiling the pretzels in water with a little food-grade lye, a powerful alkaline. The solution turns the dough slightly yellow during boiling and aides the Maillard reaction during baking, causing the pretzels to darken. If you don't have lye on hand, baking soda is another alkaline that should do the trick.

September 2012

Recipe Details

Gluten-Free Soft Pretzels

Prep 30 mins
Cook 25 mins
Active About 90 mins
Rising Time 90 mins
Total 2 hrs 25 mins
Makes 12 pretzels
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Ingredients

  • 2 cups (8 ounces) white rice flour

  • 1 cup (5 ounces) brown rice flour

  • 3/4 cup (3 ounces) tapioca starch

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 cup warm water plus 2 tablespoons

  • 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

  • 1 large egg

  • 3 tablespoons light corn syrup

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the Water Bath:

  • 4 quarts water

  • 1/4 cup baking soda

  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the Topping:

  • Kosher salt or pretzel salt

Directions

  1. In bowl of stand mixer, combine white rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, xanthan gum, and baking powder. Whisk to combine. In small bowl, combine 1 cup warm water and active dry yeast. Stir. Allow to stand for three minutes. Add water-yeast mixture, egg, light corn syrup, and vegetable oil to dry ingredients. Fit stand mixer with paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until dough forms, about 4 minutes. The dough should be firm but not dry. If any dry ingredients remain at the bottom of the bowl or if the dough seems dry, add the additional 2 tablespoons water.

  2. Turn dough out onto lightly white rice-floured counter. Knead dough into a ball until smooth. Take care not to use too much pressure while kneading. Transfer dough to lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until almost doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

  3. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions and preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boiling. Turn dough out onto a very lightly white rice floured countertop. Punch down dough gently to deflate. Cut into 12 pieces. Cover dough with plastic wrap. One at a time, knead each piece of dough until smooth. Then, roll out the dough pieces into 12 to 14-inch logs. (You want little to no white rice flour on the area of the counter where you are rolling the dough. If there is too much flour on the outside of the dough, the pretzel dough won't stick to itself when you go to shape it.)

  4. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Working one log at a time, form the dough into a into "u". Twist each end together and then press the rope into the bottom of the "u". You want to press the dough firmly to ensure the ends stick to the "u" or the pretzel can unravel during boiling. Place shaped pretzels on prepared baking sheet.

  5. Add the baking soda and granulated sugar to the boiling water. One at a time, boil the pretzels. If the pretzel floats, boil for about five seconds. If the pretzel sinks, wait for it to float to the top of the water and then remove. Return boiled pretzels to the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle generously with kosher or pretzel salt.

  6. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway during baking. Remove and allow pretzels to cool. Pretzels are best served the day they're made. If desired, freeze once cooled and reheat in a warm oven.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
2283 Calories
40g Fat
448g Carbs
34g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories 2283
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 40g 51%
Saturated Fat 7g 37%
Cholesterol 186mg 62%
Sodium 32868mg 1,429%
Total Carbohydrate 448g 163%
Dietary Fiber 15g 54%
Total Sugars 79g
Protein 34g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 362mg 28%
Iron 6mg 36%
Potassium 752mg 16%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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