These pumpkin spice soft pretzels are fluffy and full of all the cozy autumn spices both inside and out. Fun to make and really fun to eat, these soft pretzels are the perfect fall treat!
If you love pumpkin and spice, make sure to check out all of my fall recipes, including: pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars, pumpkin banana muffins (so easy!), spiced pumpkin scones, cinnamon sugar cream cheese muffins, and more!
And if you love soft pretzels, be sure to check out my easy soft pretzel recipe. Easy because boiling is optional! I know the pretzel purists will come for me, but I almost never boil mine. It is such a hassle and I find I don't miss it and even like them better without that step. I have given instructions if you want to boil and if you don't.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Texture and Flavor! These are the softest pumpkin soft pretzels. The dough reminds me very much of a cinnamon roll dough and they stay soft and tender for days! And the flavor is just all the best things about fall baking. The pumpkin is not too strong, it just lends moisture, softness, and color to the dough. But the pumpkin spice in the dough and again in the buttery cinnamon sugar coating is out of this world and so flavorful.
Quick and Easy! The neat thing about soft pretzels is they only rise once. After you shape them they go right into the oven. And like I wrote above, I don't bother boiling but feel free to do so if that is your preference. If I ever write a recipe for an authentic Bavarian style pretzel, I promise to boil them!
Ingredients You'll Need for Pumpkin Spice Soft Pretzels
Yeast: I use active dry, but you can use instant. If you use instant you do not need to bloom the yeast in step 1 of the recipe.
Brown Sugar: Light or dark both work for this soft pretzel recipe.
Milk: I always use whole cow's milk, but feel free to sub in your favorite milk.
Vanilla Extract: A little splash just to elevate the flavor - trust me it is so good!
Canned Pumpkin Puree: Not pumpkin pie filling. I find the brand really doesn't matter.
All Purpose Flour: I always use unbleached and often organic.
Butter: For the dough as well as brushing on the pretzels. I almost always use salted butter, but unsalted works fine.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: This is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves. You can buy it premade or make your own.
Salt: I test all of my recipes with Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you use a fine table or sea salt you will want to use about half of what the recipe calls for.
How to make pumpkin spice soft pretzels:
Here are some step-by-step photos of the process. I did not include photos of the optional boiling step but it is pretty straight-forward. Feel free to check out this video at the 2:11 mark for boiling instructions.
Pumpkin Soft Pretzel Storage Tips
Storing at room temperature: Store the cooled, naked pretzels in an airtight container or bag at room temperature - do not butter or sugar them until you are close to serving them as sugar pulls moisture from the dough and from the air and they will become very wet. See reheating instructions below.
Freezing: The un-coated pumpkin soft pretzels can be stored in the freezer tightly wrapped in foil and placed in an airtight container or bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and coating.
Reheating: Un-coated pretzels can be warmed in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes before proceeding with butter and spiced sugar. Leftover pretzels that are already coated can be warmed in the oven as well or just pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. If the coating gets wet or sticky they are still delicious, but if you want to freshen them up, you can toss them in the sugar mixture again.
Soft Pretzel FAQs
Boiling pretzels before baking gives the exterior a chewier, darker texture and appearance. I choose not to boil these pumpkin soft pretzels because the butter and spiced sugar coating adheres better without the boiling step and I really don't miss it!
Soft pretzels have a shorter baking time and are more of a doughy, bread-like pastry. Hard pretzels are often thinner and smaller than soft pretzels and are baked much longer to essentially dehydrate the dough and become very crunchy as a result.
If you don't boil pretzel dough before baking you will not have a chewy, dark exterior. Your pretzel will be softer, more like a cinnamon roll dough - which is perfect for these pumpkin spice soft pretzels.
Pumpkin Spice Soft Pretzels
These pumpkin spice soft pretzels are soft, fluffy, and full of all the cozy autumn spices both inside and out. Fun to make and really fun to eat, these soft pretzels are the perfect fall treat!
- Total Time: about 2 hours
- Yield: 8 large pretzels
Ingredients
Ingredients for pretzel dough
- 1 cup whole milk, warmed to 100-110 degrees F
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar, light or dark
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 4 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 4 ounces (½ stick) butter, soft room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
For boiling (optional)
- 9 cups water
- ½ cup baking soda
For pretzel coating
- ½ cup (1 stick) of butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
Make the pretzel dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add warmed milk, yeast, and brown sugar. Allow to bloom for about 5 minutes. No need to wait if you are using instant yeast.
- Add remaining pretzel ingredients to the mixing bowl. Mix with a dough hook on low for about 3 minutes until a sticky dough begins to form. Increase speed to medium and allow mixer to run for about 7-10 minutes. This will be a sticky dough and will not form a ball in the mixer.
- After 7-10 minutes, remove dough hook and scrape down sides of bowl. If you have anything that has not mixed in, continue mixing for a minute or two.
- Cover bowl and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled. This will take about an hour but could take more if your kitchen is cool. I like to use the proofing setting on my oven, but you can also just turn the oven light on and let the dough rise in the oven with the door closed.
- Once dough has doubled, remove from oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. If you are boiling the pretzels, bring water and baking soda to a boil now. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- After dough has doubled, transfer dough to a very lightly floured surface, press down to release any air pockets, and shape into a round disk. Cut this disk into 8 even wedges for large pretzels or 12 for slightly smaller pretzels.
- Cover dough wedges with a damp towel and working with one wedge at a time, roll into a rope about 24 inches in length - it will shrink back a bit as you shape the pretzel.
- (Photos above in blog post for reference) Make a U shape with the rope and cross the ends over. Twist once or twice depending on your preference and bring the ends down to create the pretzel shape. Place on parchment lined baking tray. Repeat with remaining wedges.
- If not boiling, place pretzels in oven and bake for 18 minutes, rotating trays half way. If boiling, proceed with step 10 before baking in the same manner.
- Optional Boiling step: Carefully place 2 pretzels at a time in boiling baking soda water. Boil for 20 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to allow excess water to drip off before transferring the boiled pretzels back to parchment lined baking tray and repeat with remaining pretzels.
- If serving right away, allow to cool slightly before brushing with melted butter and coating in spiced sugar. If not serving right away do not coat with butter and sugar - see make-ahead/storage options in blog post and in recipe notes.
Notes
Make Ahead (a day or two): Store the cooled, naked pretzels in an airtight container or bag at room temperature - do not butter or sugar them until you are close to serving them as sugar pulls moisture from the dough and from the air and they will become very wet. Reheat and coat just before serving.
Make Ahead (up to 3 months): The un-coated pumpkin soft pretzels can be stored in the freezer tightly wrapped in foil and placed in an airtight container or bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and coating.
Reheating: Un-coated pretzels can be warmed in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes before proceeding with butter and spiced sugar. Leftover pretzels that are already coated can be warmed in the oven as well or just pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. If the coating gets wet or sticky they are still delicious, but if you want to freshen them up, you can toss them in the sugar mixture again.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes plus rising
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: bread, breakfast, dessert, brunch
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Adelaide Miller says
These are seriously SO GOOD! The process is simple and straightfoward, the dough comes together nicely, and I love the option to skip the hot water bath if it's just not that kinda day. I did increase the amount of spice as I like things a bit stronger and I though it was just about perfect. These are not a super sweet pretzel, which made them an awesome snack that was super tasty but not soyingly sweet. They definitely the best right out of the oven with the butter and fresh cinnamon sugar, but they kept just fine...not that they really lasted long. Moral of the story, make these now and you definitely won't regret it bc these are some of the best things I've tasted all year!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Thank you! This comment seriously made my day! Yes, I wanted the actual pretzel part of these to not be too, too sweet and I'm glad you appreciated that! Thank you so much for making these pumpkin pretzels and for the kind comment and review! xoxo