I think it’s safe to say that you are completely set up for success this Easter for a fun, creative, allergen-friendly holiday. From pretzels in the shape of bunnies, almonds that want to be baby chicks, super cute cupcakes, and even toast to take over the egg-dying tradition, you have so many choices to choose from when it comes to your style for celebrating. So let’s send you off with a big BANG and do it right with gluten free soft pretzels (gum free) AND in the shape of bunnies. I know, it just doesn’t get any better than this now does it?
Gluten free (and vegan) soft pretzels were actually a reader request. I had received an email from a dear woman, Laura, who challenged me (ooooohhhh, you know I love me a good challenge!) to create a tasty soft pretzel that is without gluten and eggs. I thought how fun it would be to have them ready for all of you before Easter so I could replicate this bunny twist technique I found online. Just too cute to not slather each ear with a dab of whole grain mustard…
So let’s chat a little about these ingredients, shall we? I am really falling in love with pysllium husk powder for its beautiful, stretchy quality that tends to mimic the role of xanthan gum. This is especially great news if you have a bad reaction to xanthan (you can read more about my thoughts on the gum here). I find that a good tablespoon + 3 tablespoons of warm water (as if using an egg replacer) does the trick typically in replacing a gum. Even my gluten free vegan bread recipe and pita bread recipe are xanthan gum-free, thanks to pysllium husk powder.
Don’t be shy when you see the multiple steps for these soft pretzels, either. This recipe was actually very easy to make! You are just creating a nice dough, forming the shape you want, boiling it, and baking it. That’s it. Easy, right? I can’t hear you… Right? Right. Good. And no, you cannot skip over the boiling part. You see that beautiful brown crust? That is because the pretzels were boiled with baking soda and maple syrup first before they were baked. That is important! It’s what gets such a great hue, so no skipping, ya heard? I’m talking to you in the back.
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Gluten Free Soft Pretzels
- Prep Time: 50 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 6 Soft Pretzels 1x
Ingredients
- 1 c. warm water
- 2 1/4 tsp. dry active yeast
- 1/2 tsp. coconut sugar (or use granulated sugar)
- 1 Tbsp. pysllium husk powder + 3 Tbsp. warm water, sit for 1 minute to thicken
- 3 1/4 c. Cara’s All-Purpose flour blend
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
Water bath:
- 6–8 c. water
- 1/4 c. baking soda
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
Lightly coat with:
- olive oil
- coarse salt
Instructions
- Allow the yeast and sugar to froth in the warm water for 10 minutes.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together until well-combined. Take out about 1 c. of the flour and keep nearby in a measuring cup nearby. Add the yeast mix, oil, maple syrup, and thickened psyllium into the bowl with flour and stir until dough becomes scrappy. Start adding the other half of the flour, 1/4 c. at a time until mixed in and a dough starts to form. Start kneading the dough with your hands for a couple of minutes in the bowl at this time to get it smooth. The dough should be moist but not sticky.
- Divide the dough into six, even and smooth balls.
- Roll each ball out with your hands on a lined flat surface until you have a long 14″ snake-like dough piece. For the bunny shape, cut off 2″ of the dough and set aside. For regular soft pretzel shapes, keep at 14″. Follow the tutorials in the post for how to shape your pretzels. For the bunny, take the remainder 2″ piece, roll it up and fill in the gap for the tail.
- Place on a baking sheet, cover and allow to gently rise for 30 minutes in a non-drafty spot in your kitchen.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Bring your water to a boil in a large pot. Add the baking soda (slowly, it will start to cause your water to rise) and maple syrup.
- Gently place each pretzel in one-by-one with the guidance of a large spatula that will guide each one into the water. Allow to boil for 1 minute on each side, very gently turning over on the other side. Be careful, if done too quickly your pretzels can fall apart.
- Place on a baking sheet (with your spatula), lightly coating the tops with olive oil and sprinkling with coarse sea salt immediately. Repeat for each one.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, turning the baking sheet around after the half-way point of cooking. Bake until a beautiful brown exterior forms. Allow to cool fully on the baking sheet before enjoying.
Notes
These are best if eaten immediately after removing from the oven.
Nutrition
- Calories: 302
- Sugar: 2.5g
- Sodium: 160mg
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 55g
- Fiber: 2.2g
- Protein: 7.6g
The exterior has a hard, crunchy, salty bite but once you sink your teeth into the middle you’ll find a soft, doughy inside. The kitchen gods have smiled upon me and are awaiting to smile upon you once you make these. You will not be disappointed!
I hope these do you justice, Laura, and to the rest of you who make these.
Need help with gluten free flour substitutions? Read this post to give you a good idea on how to approach the subject. If you cannot use any of the ingredients used in my all-purpose mix feel free to sub out what you want, even a store-bought mix you prefer. Just know that I cannot guarantee the same results when you do. It’s the fun with gluten free vegan baking; you never know what you’ll get, hooray!
Now if you excuse me, I have five more pretzels to eat. Okay, alright, four and a half…
First off, you must know I have NEVER felt the need to comment on an online recipe before. I have been 100% gluten free for several years and have been craving big soft hot pretzels. I have printed out recipes but never tried them. I finally tried this one. WOW! My first batch just came out of the oven. They look great. They taste great. I made the recipe exactly as it is written, with one exception. Rather than rolling my dough into 6 balls/pretzels, I turned my one batch of dough into four nice big pretzels, and they turned out beautiful! And tasty! Even a wonderful combination of crunchy and chewy. It’s definitely not the same as a traditional glutinous hot pretzel, but I will happily make these again (and again, and again…) Thanks for sharing!
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Hi, i have an issue with eating grains. I can have pseudo grains like buckwheat, but items like sorghum are a no go.
I cant have oats etc for example but chickpea or tapioca is great.
Can you adivse me how to make a flour base i can use for bread rolls for my lunches or a loaf. I am also a vegan, gf and soy free.
…..disastrous combo I know haha.
Thank yiu in advance
Hi Cara, I have a couple of questions.
What is scrappy dough?
Do you add only enough of the final cup of flour that you need for a dough to form, or do you expect to use the whole thing?
What should the texture of the psyllium husk be when it goes into the flour mixture? I added the water to it, and in less than a minute it formed a solid and would not incorporate into the dough.
Thank you for any help you can give!
I just made a batch of these and would like to address your questions:
I didn’t know what “scrappy” meant either so I just ignored this. Basically, I mixed until the first bit of flour was incorporated, and then I added the rest and mixed it in. In the end, the dough was pleasant to work with, not sticky, but it held together well.
As for the phyllium/water, I did have to add a little more water to mine which after a minute turned it into a very thick gel-like substance. I added this then into the rest of the dough and was able to thoroughly kneed it in with my hands.
Thank you for this! Would Whole psyllium husks work or do I need to make it into a powder? Thanks. My son is going to be excited about being able to eat a soft pretzel!
It needs to be a powder <3 These pretzels are amazing! Hope your son loves them...
Franconian pro tipp: the end of the dough sausage should have half the diameter of the middle. That makes them easier to knot and the result looks just like in Bavaria.
Oh my gosh thank you! Great instructions. I made these last night. I followed your instructions to the word. The only exception being that my local whole foods didn’t have psyllium husk :(. Instead I used – Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer Gluten Free. I chose it because it psyllium husk fiber in it… Seemed to work great. Mine were a bit less stretchy and I did have a few break in their baking soda bath but overall AMAZING. These were my first ever soft pretzels (I have celiac so gluten free and vegan soft pretzels are a tall order most times). I am in love… I made them because my boyfriend adores soft pretzels and I wanted to make something we would both enjoy. He said the taste is about as close to a real (not gluten free or vegan) soft pretzel as you can get!
Photos of the pretzels! – https://www.instagram.com/p/BUqc3TkDSKp/?taken-by=j3di_bunny
I have no clue what I did wrong. I followed this recipe exactly. I am a pretty capable gluten feee vegan cook and baker and yet these didn’t turn out at all. I see a lot of other positive comments so maybe I messed up somewhere, though I don’t know what it could be. They fell apart in the water so I put the remaining ones in the oven to bake as-is without boiling. Better than nothing I guess.
Hello. Cara. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. 🙂
I’m living in Korea so I couldn’t understand “cup”.
I mean you say “1 c(I think it means cup). warm water” in the Ingredients.
There are very different size cups in our kitchen. A paper cup, measuring cup, mug… Which cup should I use to measure?
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Cup is part of the measuring system here in the States. You will need to research what the equivalent is in your country. Hope that helps and good luck! xo
1 cup (US) is 8 fl. oz. (metric)
So impressed with this recipe and the author! We made these for my sons montessori school’s Germany day and they turned out beautifully! Thank you so much : )
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These pretzels were a snap to make and absolutely a delight to eat! We are a family that must avoid 7 of the top 8 allergens and this is a great recipe that really lives up to the “original” not-so-allergy-friendly version. I was low on sorghum flour and subbed in gluten-free oat flour. BTW, the psyllium is the secret ingredient, it really works well here! Thank you 🙂
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It’s like magic, isn’t it? SO happy to hear you and the family enjoyed these. They are one of my favorites!
Another craving ended. Can I say I love you already? Or is it to early 😀
Healthy for The Lazy | Instagram
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These looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it! What are some substitutes for pysllium husk powder?
You can try flax or chia seed meal but it might not yield the same results. Good luck!
These look fantastic, i love the bite size soft pretzels, and it has been quite a while since i had a soft pretzel. Perfect snack!
I am STILL dreaming about these! You will love them, xo.
These look amazing!! I LOOOVE soft pretzels 🙂
I really miss soft pretzels. Can’t wait to try this out!
You are going to LOVE these, Robin!
My kids love pretzels, especially soft ones. What a great looking recipe; especially gum free. Heard about you from Kathy Patalsky.
Yay, so happy you made your way over here (thanks Kathy!) Hope you enjoy making and devouring these 😉
Oh my GOD those bunnies are adorable. Going to have to make these soon, even though Easter is over!
Yes! Easter or not, these pretzels are so worth making every week 🙂
These look awesome…I cannot wait to give them a try!
Hope you enjoy them, Tee Bone!
I’ve made them a couple of times…even once with a bunch of kids in a craft class I conduct. They are so fun to make and delicious! Just in case anyone wants to know, whole wheat flour works well too…we don’t have issues with gluten in this house and living in a small town makes finding things like gf flour not so easy. I changed nothing but I do think 3 cups would work as I really had a hard time kneading in the last 1/4 cup.
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Yes please! I miss pretzels and the bunny shape is very cute!
Thank you so much Eloise.
Oh yes! My boyfriend would love these. Thank you for the recipe!
You got it Nicole! Let me know how they work out for you…
Excellent! I look forward to giving these a go!
They are seriously so good, hope you love them!
So I dropped in to get the full recipe since I am running to the store. Can’t wait to give these a whirl!!!!!
xoxo
Angelina
Hope you love them! Let me know how it works out…xo
Cara, we were just at the mall and smelling that soft pretzel smell….. I said ” I NEED A GLUTEN FREE VEGAN SOFT PRETZEL. And BOOM.. This is your next recipe!!! Thank you
HAHA, Jedi mind tricks 😉
Would it be possible to use chia seeds instead of the pysllium husk?
You can try but I find a certain unique elasticity that psyllium gives over chia seeds. That doesn’t mean it won’t work though so try and let me know!
Is it’s impossible to do this without yeast? Currently can’t do yeast because I’m on the anti-candida diet.
You can try doubling the amount of pysllium in place of the yeast (2 Tbsp. psyllium + 6 Tbsp. water for the gel) but I’m not 100% sure it will come out exactly as the recipe says. Might be best to wait after the diet just because this is very carb-heavy and does require maple syrup? It’s definitely your choice though! xo
Oh my gosh, you are killing me with cuteness! !! Now I want to make these instead of the little chicks!
Love!
Instead?? BOTH!! 😉
You are my recipe Fairy Godmother! <3 XOXO
I am going to have to bedazzle a wand with chocolate now 😉
Look at that beautifully stretchy, pliable dough. Geez, you’re good. I need some of these to help me play the bunny hop (into my mouth). Happy holiday you.
RIGHT?! I’m not sure many people get that geeked out over dough like that unless they know how hard that is create with no gluten or eggs. Happy Easter beautiful woman!
Another genius recipe, Cara! I can’t tolerate xantham gum, and guar gum is ok but I’d prefer not to use it. I’ll be making these this weekend!
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Well then slappy you happy with these gum free pretzels! 🙂 Perfecto. I cannot wait to hear what you think…
Hello, I will love to try it but here in France, we can ´t find sorghum flour. What flour can I use for substitute ? Thank you a lot for sharing 😉
Hi Stephanie! I have a link in my post about how to sub out flours 🙂 I say choose any of the medium flours listed that you have available.
Ooooh, Alex Shegda and I will be making these! Nice touch with the perfect brown mustard!
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Let me know how it goes!!! xo