Homemade Cheesy Pretzel Sticks

In today’s post, I’ll show you a simple recipe for cheesy pretzel sticks. The yeast dough sticks are shaped after the resting period and dipped in lye, which produces the typical brown-shiny surface during baking.

The lye remains only on the dough surface & does not penetrate into the dough. In addition to pretzel sticks, the following recipe also makes it easy to bake pretzel rolls or lye pretzels. Have fun baking!




Cooked/Baked today: Homemade Cheesy Pretzel Sticks
Difficulty: Easy – Medium
Preparation Time: 2 hours (incl. resting time)
Category: Baking Recipes, Bread Recipes
Our Recipe rating:

Homemade Cheesy Pretzel Sticks

Homemade Cheesy Pretzel Sticks

Ingredients for 8 Homemade Cheesy Pretzel Sticks:

• 500 grams flour
• 250 milliliters water
• 50 grams soft butter
• 20 grams fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 125 grams of grated cheese (eg Gouda or Emmentaler)
• Possibly additional flour for the countertop
• 50 grams of soda for the lye

Required kitchen gadgets, helper & preparations:

• High container for the yeast-water mixture
• Whisk
• Mixing bowl
• Mixer/Kitchen machine
• Kitchen towel
• Baking sheet + parchment paper
• Rolling pin
• Large pot for the lye
• Skimmer

Instructions:




…for the dough:

Crumble 20 grams fresh yeast into a high container, add 1 teaspoon sugar & 250 milliliters lukewarm water & stir together with a whisk or fork until yeast & sugar have completely dissolved.

Preparing Dough

Next, in a mixing bowl combine yeast-water mixture along with 500 grams flour, 50 grams soft butter & a teaspoon salt & knead with a kitchen machine or mixer with dough hook for about 4 – 5 minutes until a smooth dough.




Then give the dough a ball shape with your hands, lay it back to the mixing bowl & allow to rest covered with a kitchen towel for about 45 minutes in a warm place.

…for the pretzel sticks:

After 45 minutes thoroughly knead the dough again on a countertop, shape into a ball & then use a knife to cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces. Round each dough piece with circular movements under your palms until you got small balls & then roll out each ball one at a time with a rolling pin until thin & oblong (the worktop may need to be slightly floured if the dough is too sticky here).

Shaping Pretzel Sticks

Then roll up the dough from the long side with your hands, place the dough sticks with a little distance to each other on a lined baking tray & allow to rest for a another 15 minutes covered with a kitchen towel.




…for the cheesy pretzel sticks:

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180°C (top/bottom heat) & also heat up a large pot with 1,5 – 2 liters of water on the stove. As soon as the water simmers (that’s just before cooking), turn off the heat and gradually add 50 grams of soda to the water.

Baking Pretzel Sticks

Next, let the prepared dough sticks slide into the water one after the other & allow them to float for about 30 – 45 seconds, while turning them once. Carefully lift the dough sticks out of the water with the help of 2 spatulas or skimmers and put them back onto the lined baking tray.

Cut the pretzel sticks with a knife several times at an angle, then cover the top with some grated cheese and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes until brown. Get the done pretzel sticks out of the oven, allow to cool slightly and then serve still warm. I wish you lots of fun baking!

Video Tutorial:

Watch the video tutorial to see the recipe and the preparation method precisely (German Audio only, English Subtitles available):