These pretzel buns made by hand are soft, chewy, and perfectly golden — no stand mixer required. With their rich, deep flavor and signature pretzel crust, they’re the perfect base for burgers, sandwiches, or even enjoyed on their own with a pat of butter. This from-scratch recipe walks you through each step so you can create bakery-quality pretzel buns in your own kitchen, all with simple ingredients and just a bit of elbow grease. Whether you’re new to bread baking or a seasoned pro, you’ll love how approachable and rewarding this recipe is.
What makes these buns so special is their authentic pretzel taste and texture. The dough is kneaded by hand, giving it a tender crumb while still being sturdy enough to hold your favorite fillings. A quick baking soda water bath before baking creates that signature chewy crust and deep brown color, while a sprinkle of coarse salt adds the perfect finishing touch. They’re delicious fresh out of the oven, but they also store well, making them great for meal prep or weekend baking projects.
These homemade pretzel burger buns are incredibly versatile. Use them to upgrade your burgers and sandwiches, slice them for breakfast toast, or serve them alongside soups and stews for dipping. They’re also a great recipe for gatherings — your guests will be impressed when they find out you made them completely by hand. Once you taste these warm, fresh, and flavorful buns, you might never go back to store-bought again.
Pretzel Buns made by hand (No Mixer)
Course: Bread, Dinner, Large Plates, Lunch, Uncategorized8
servings45
minutes15
minutesIngredients
1 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (one individual packet)
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter (cooled)
3 1/2 cups AP flour (reserve 1/2 cup, use as needed)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
Olive oil to grease rising bowl
1/2 cup baking soda for boiling
Coarse sea salt for topping
Directions
- In a bowl, add the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir just to combine and allow to rest for approximately 5 minutes; mixture should foam.
- In a larger bowl, stir the 3 cups of AP flour and the salt together. Then combine the yeast mixture and melted butter in with the flour mix.
- Combine until dough has unified structure, adding some of the reserved 1/2 cup of flour as needed. The dough shouldn’t be sticky wet or crumbly dry when it is ready.
- When I knead dough by hand, I knead for anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes, before it is a nice smooth elastic dough. I push my dough into a square-ish shape and alternate corners, folding them in and pressing down firmly with my palm. **If you have a paddle mixer you can skip this and just mix for 5 minutes.**
- When dough is a nice texture, form a ball with it and place in a bowl, oiled lightly with oil. You want to coat the whole ball in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a cloth and leave in a warm place to rise for one hour. I preheat my oven for a few minutes and switch it off before I make my dough, I then place my dough bowl inside the slightly warm oven to rise.
- Take out from oven and punch down just a bit. Remove dough from bowl and separate into 8 equal chunks.
- Shape into a ball, use the smooth side as the top, and the part with seams as the bottom. Be sure to press them together as well as possible or they may separate while boiling, causing mushy spots once baked.
- Cover dough balls and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
- Combine the baking soda with 4 cups of water in a medium pot and bring to a boil, not too wide as we don’t want our buns touching the bottom. In the pot I used I had about 2 – 2 1/2 in of water with 4 cups.
- At this point, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Buns will boil one at a time for a total of one minute, 30 seconds on each side starting with the top. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, as they come out score the tops with a sharp knife and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Bake buns for 15 minutes and transfer immediately to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- If the water, yeast, and sugar mixture does not foam, check the use by date of yeast and be sure the water is not to hot and try again.
Did you make burgers with these after? I love pretzel buns and these look so good! Thanks!
Burgers go really great on these buns, but they are pretty versatile, pairing excellently with sloppy-joes, pulled-bbq sandwiches, and any meal you need a great pretzel bun for! 🙂