Soft & Chewy St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Pretzels

Bake these fresh, green pretzels for a delightful sweet and salty St. Patrick's Day treat.

Bake up some festive shamrock pretzels for a festive St. Patrick's Day treat!

About two years ago, I signed up my kids for some gymnastics classes at a new gymnastics studio that had just opened up in our local mall. We were moderately new to the area, and to my surprise, the new gymnastics studio was located very nearby to an Auntie Anne's pretzel kiosk. Walking my kids past the wonderful smell every week on their way to class kicked off my creative efforts to craft the perfect homemade pretzel. After trying a half dozen or so Pinterest homemade pretzel recipes and becoming the "pretzel mom" who brought pretzels to every potluck event, here's my St. Patrick's Day Pretzel Shamrock recipe. So if you're feeling lucky, give them a try!

These pretzels are amazing! Did you really make them at home? –Connie R.

This dough is easy to make, can easily become many colors, and proofs in about 1 hour, so I've had some great success with this pretzel dough becoming all kinds of cheerful holiday pretzels. It's also a great play-date activity, as I've made this dough a few times just ahead of my kids' inviting friends over, because then you can just pull out the dough, let the kids make their shapes, and have a fun, inexpensive, homemade snack that allows the kids to be creative in the kitchen.

This recipe [modified in color, shape, and size] is a variant from the original recipe published by JoAnna Gaines' Magnolia Table cookbook.

Shamrock Pretzels Served with a "Pot-o-cheese"

Helpful Tips for Homemade Pretzels

This is a sweet pretzel dough

This recipe is relatively sweet, similar to the pretzels sold at Auntie Anne's pretzel company. The 1/2 cup of sugar, added with the dry ingredients in the dough, can be reduced if you are looking for a more savory pretzel.

Don't skip the step to boil the pretzels in a baking soda bath

Boiling the pretzels is what differentiates a pretzel from a dinner roll; the boiling process creates a soft, fluffy interior and upon baking, the pretzel will then crackle and toast to a golden brown.

Pretzels too puffy?

I've had this happen several times, where I let the dough rise a little too long or for whatever reason the dough is very fluffy after the rising time. If this happens, just squeeze the dough as you are rolling it out and that will help some of the extra air escape so your pretzels aren't overly puffy.

Toppings stick best between boiling and baking

At my son's birthday party, I tested three groups: Pretzel salt only, Sugar only, and a mix. The mixed up sugar and salt pretzels won the most compliments, so try to be a little adventuresome with what you bake on top of these pretzels!

Need to make this ahead of time?

The prepared pretzel dough can be refrigerated up to 24 hours or frozen in an airtight container for 2-3 months. My favorite make-ahead time is just before my kids' friends come over so they can roll out a few pretzels and then have a snack.

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How to Twist a Shamrock Soft Pretzel

Step 1: Make one small leaf

From the right side, curve around to make a small loop.

Step 1: Make One Small Shamrock Leaf

Step 2: Make the center leaf

Make another loop by starting on the right side, and looping counter-clockwise toward the left.

Step 2: Make the center leaf by swirling the dough from the right side and back toward the center.

Step 3: Make the third leaf, and tuck the tail under the center.

Finish the shamrock soft pretzel by making one last loop and the tucking the remaining tail into the center back of the pretzel. PS: Have extra dough? Try to make a 4-leaf clover!

Step 3: Make the third clover leaf, and tuck the end of the dough to the back of the pretzel.

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A plate of green shamrock pretzels served on a plate with melted cheese.

Soft & Chewy St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Soft Pretzels

Ingredients List

• 2 (.25-ounce) packages active dry yeast (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons total)

• 1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 3/4 cup warm water (about 100-110 °F)

• 5 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

• A few drops of green food coloring

• 9 cups of water

• 1/2 cup baking soda

• Course salt, to taste

• Tubinado Cane Sugar, or colored Sugar, to taste

• 1/4 cup melted butter

  
  

Instructions

1. In a glass measuring cup, measure the temperature of the warm water, and then sprinkle the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar on the top. Do no stir. Allow the yeast, sugar, and water to sit together for 10 minutes, at which point the yeast will appear foamy.

   

   Allow the yeast to proof for 10 minutes.

   
   

2. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, stir together the flour, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and the 2 tsp of salt. With the mixer on the lowest setting, slowly add the oil, yeast mixture, and food coloring. Turn the mixer up to medium-low speed and mix for 5 minutes (set a timer for this!). After 5 minutes, the dough should be in a ball and the ingredients fully mixed together. Note: if you want a "swirled" look of color instead of a solid colored bread, add the food coloring for the last minute of mixing time instead of at the same time as the oil and yeast mixture.

   

   Mix the dough for 5 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

   
   

3. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and lightly spray the top of the dough with cooking spray. Turn the dough over and spray again, to grease on all sides.

   

   Turn the dough to grease all sides and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.

   
   

4. Lightly cover and let rest in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

6. Put the 9 cups of water and the baking soda into a pan on the stovetop, and bring to a boil. Stir to make sure the baking soda is dissolved.

7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Note: Lightly is key! Too much flour and the dough won't have any friction and will make rolling out the pretzels harder instead of easier.

8. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces. Note: I make half-size pretzels, which yield smaller pretzels than those you would find in a mall. I find this is a better serving size, but if you want big pretzels, just divide the dough into 12 pieces instead! To do this, I use a bench scraper, but you could do this with a sharp knife if you don't have one.

9. Roll out each piece into a long, thin rope. My goal is for the rope to be 15-18 inches long. Twist each rope into a shamrock shape (see steps above). If you have kids, this is a great time for them to help! Plus, these pretzels taste good no matter what shape they end up in.

   

   3 Shamrock Pretzels lined up ready to be boiled.

   
   

10. Drop 1-2 pretzels into the boiling water for 20-30 seconds. This is another great time to get your kids involved! As an adult puts the pretzels into the boiling water, I like to ask my kids to count to 25, and then when I pull the pretzels out, they sprinkle the salt and/or sugar on top of the pretzels. Repeat until all the pretzels are prepared and lined up on the baking pans.

    

    Pretzels on the baking sheet, ready to bake!

    
    

11. Bake the pretzels in a 425°F oven until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.

    

    Pretzels fresh from the oven!

12. Brush the warm pretzels with melted butter and serve immediately.

This recipe [modified in color, shape, and size] is a variation of the recipe for homemade pretzels originally published in Joanna Gaines' cookbook, Magnolia Table.

Enjoy More Holiday Pretzels!

If you liked this variation of homemade pretzels, please subscribe to my email list (below) for more creative family recipes, and check out my other pretzel variations:

• Red-white-and-blue twist pretzels

• Candy cane pretzels

Did you try this recipe? Please comment below and let me know how yours came out!