Pretzel Cracker Recipe

pretzel crackers on a plate with grapes and cheese

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

This cracker recipe (of course in an on-theme pretzel style) makes the perfect little

Prep Time30

Cook Time26

Chilling Time1

Total Time1 56

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: German

Keyword: Authentic German pretzel recipe, Cracker recipe, German Appetizer Recipe, Homemade crackers, Pretzel crackers

Servings: crackers

Calories: 949kcal

Author: Author: Sophie Sadler

Equipment

Silicone Baking Mats these work best because the pretzel coating makes these crackers stick to parchment paper
Parchment Paper OR spray non-stick spray onto parchment paper to avoid the crackers to stick
Skimmer For dipping crackers in lye solution
Steel or glass bowl For lye solution

Ingredients

Cracker Dough

140 grams all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
40 grams butter cold
1 tablespoon avocado oil or other vegetable oil
60 milliliters water cold

Lye Dip

300 milliliters water cold
12 grams food-grade lye

Toppings

pretzel salt for topping, optional
sesame seeds for topping, optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
140 grams all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt
Grate the cold butter (straight from the fridge, or even better from the freezer) into the dry ingredient mix and stir.
40 grams butter
Stir in the oil and water until the mixture forms a dough.
1 tablespoon avocado oil, 60 milliliters water
The dough should be wet. Wrap up airtight and chill in the fridge for one hour or up to 2 days.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or reusable silicone baking mats.
I find it easiest to work with portions of the dough rather than the entire dough at once. Roll out thinly (around ⅛ of an inch or ¼ cm). You can now either cut out shapes of your choice or circles OR simply cut up the cracker sheet into squares or rectangles.
Cutting up the dough (with a knife or pizza cutter) is definitely much quicker and I will be doing it this way next time.
You could also create a log and cut it into thin crackers (for example, using a wire cheese slicer if you have one).
Prepare your lye solution. In a well ventilated ares (such as under a running vent hood OR ideally outside, add lye granules (be careful not to touch them) into COLD water, not the other way around. Whisk until the granules have dissolved and the solution is clear, about 30 seconds. Using the skimmer, dip your crackers in batches of 5ish crackers for about 5 seconds. Remove using the skimmer as well.
300 milliliters water, 12 grams food-grade lye
Transfer the dipped crackers to a baking sheet that's either been prepped with parchment paper AND sprayed with a non-stick spray OR rubbed with oil.
Alternatively, and this is what I do when baking all my pretzels, you can use reusable silicone baking mats.
Poke holes all over the dough with a toothpick or fork. Sprinkle with some pretzel salt or seeds (I love using sesame seeds).
Bake for 13 min in 2 batches. The crackers should be medium to dark brown.
pretzel salt, sesame seeds
Transfer to a cooling rack until cool before storing in an airtight container at room temperature. The pretzel crackers stay good for one week when stored this way.

Notes

Make ahead of time: You can make the dough for these crackers ahead of time and chill it in the fridge for up to 2 days.

You could also freeze the dough instead of chilling it to save prep time. The day before baking, transfer dough from freezer to fridge and continue with the steps in the recipe.

Nutrition