These homemade heart shaped pretzels using a bread machine are simple, fun and perfect for Valentines day! With only 4 ingredients, you can whip these fun pretzels up in no time.
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These homemade heart shaped pretzels using a bread machine are the perfect treat for Valentines day, or even just to show someone you love them. Who doesn’t love fun shaped pretzels?
Pretzel dough is easy to make in the bread machine. All we have to do is shape the pretzels and bake them in the oven! Easy, right?
For this recipe I took one of favorite soft pretzel rolls recipe & made it into heart shapes instead of the pretzel bites. I think it was even a little easier to make the heart shape vs. so many small pretzel bites.
If you don’t know by now, I am a sucker for my bread machine. I basically use it to make everything dough and bread. I’ve made hamburger buns, pizza dough, dinner rolls and so much more.
INGREDIENTS
You likely have everything in your kitchen to make these heart shaped pretzels.
- Flour – either all purpose or bread flour will work, scroll down to see the difference.
- Brown sugar
- Warm Water
- Instant yeast
- Baking soda
Optional:
- Coarse salt, kosher salt, pretzel salt, etc. – Any salt will do in a pinch.
- 1 egg – for an egg wash, totally optional
- Melted Butter – to brush on your pretzels.
TOOLS YOU MAY NEED
- Bread Maker
- Dough cutter
- Large pot
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment paper
TIPS
- Instead of salt, roll these heart shaped pretzels in sugar and cinnamon for an even sweeter version of this sweet, love day snack!
- Use this same recipe to make regular shaped pretzels, or even pretzel bites.
- Some people use a tablespoon of vegetable oil in their baking soda solution bath for extra chewiness.
- Use a Cheese sauce for dipping, so good.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE HEART SHAPED PRETZELS USING A BREAD MACHINE
Place all of your ingredients inside the pan of your bread machine in the following order:
Pss…dry ingredients go last!
- 1 1/8 cup of warm water – My measuring cup didn’t have a 1/8 cup option, so incase yours doesn’t either, 1/8 cup is equal to 2 tbsp.
- 3 cups flour
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
Select the ‘dough’ setting on your bread machine.
When the dough cycle is complete, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 6-8 equal pieces. 6 for larger pretzels or 8 for smaller pretzels.
Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a heart shape. To make the heart, you twist the ends, and shape them inwards.
BAKING SODA WATER BATH
- 2 quarts (8 cups) HOT water or boiling water. I did boiling water for this recipe, but I did hot water for my pretzel bites. I didn’t notice a difference between the two.
- 1/2 cup baking soda.
- Mix together.
Preheat oven to 350.
Place each pretzel dough into the hot water for 10-15 seconds. Using a large slotted spoon, place the pretzel on to your prepared baking sheet.
After, brush each of the homemade soft pretzels with 1 beaten egg (optional: an egg wash will give you that golden brown crust when baking) and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Place in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
Serve warm: Finally, brush the tops of the baked heart shaped pretzels with melted butter and serve warm with a dipping sauce.
FAQ
SHOULD I USE ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR OR BREAD FLOUR TO MAKE THESE PRETZELS? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
You can’t go wrong with either type of flour for these pretzels but, Bread flour will make it easier to hold shape, which we’d like since we are making these pretzels into a heart shape.
Simply put, if you have bread flour on hand, I’d use it. If not, no big deal. Pretzels and pretzel bites can be made perfectly with all purpose flour or bread flour, you choose.
CAN YOU FREEZE THESE FOR LATER?
Yes! If you want to save them longer, freeze the homemade pretzels wrapped in plastic wrap in a freezer bag for up to four months. The night before you serve your frozen pretzels, thaw them in the refrigerator. You can also make the dough ahead of time and freeze it. Just thaw the frozen dough before using it.
WHAT IS A BAKING SODA WATER BATH? WHY DO THE PRETZELS NEED THIS?
Putting your soft pretzel dough into a water and baking soda bath before cooking will give the pretzels that chewy texture that we all love so much. Essentially, baking soda water makes them soft and chewy. This is such an important step, you do not want to skip it.
HOW TO SERVE HOMEMADE HEART SHAPED PRETZELS
Serve these heart shaped pretzels as a sweet valentines day snack, after school snacks, make them for a special loved one, or just make it a fun way to get the kids involved in the kitchen. Make these heart pretzels during the month of February or not! Either way, the kids love making their food into the fun shape of hearts.
They are best when served warm with a dipping sauce like a mustard sauce or this cheddar cheese dipping sauce!
CAN I MAKE THESE HEART SHAPED PRETZELS WITHOUT A BREAD MACHINE?
Of course! If you do not have a bread machine, You could use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, or use a large bowl with an electric or hand mixer. You could also knead by hand after you let the dough rise. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for details on how to make these pretzels without a bread machine.
HOW TO STORE PRETZELS
You can store your leftover pretzels in the fridge for five days in an airtight container or ziplock baggie. To reheat, put them in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.
MORE BREAD MACHINE RECIPES:
- Homemade Pizza Dough in the Bread Machine
- Soft pretzel bites using a bread machine
- Jalapeño cheddar buns using the bread machine
- Soft and buttery dinner rolls in the bread machine
- Small batch hamburger buns using the bread machine
- Bread machine Flour Tortillas
If you tried these bread machine heart shaped pretzels, let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you. Tag me over on instagram @ourlittlebluehomestead so I can check out your fun pretzels. Happy Homemaking!
PIN FOR LATER
Heart shaped Pretzels using the Bread Machine
Ingredients
- 1 1/8 cup warm water
- 3 cup bread flour all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
baking soda water bath
- 2 quarts HOT or boiling water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
optional: egg wash
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed above. Dry ingredients go last.
- Set the bread machine to the 'dough' setting.
- Once dough is finished, pour dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 sections.
- Roll each section into a long rope, at least 1 inch thick.
- Cut each rope into 1-2 inch pieces for your pretzel bites. Set Aside.
baking soda water bath
- Pour HOT or boiling water into a bowl.
- Add in your baking soda. Mix together.
- Using a large slotted spoon, dip the pretzel dough shapes into the water bath for 10-15 seconds. Using your spoon, place the pretzel on to your parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- brush each of the pretzels with 1 beaten egg + 1 tbsp of water (optional, an egg wash will give you that golden brown crust when baking) and sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Finally, brush the tops of the baked pretzels with melted butter and serve warm with dipping sauce.
Making pretzels with a stand mixer or by hand
- Whisk the warm water and yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. It should get nice and bubbly.
- To the bowl of the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the flour and brown sugar.
- Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Alternatively, you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes.
- Place the dough in a large mixing bowl that has been lightly greased.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or a wet tea towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Continue with the same steps as mentioned in the bread machine recipe from here.