by Maya Last Updated on 42 Comments
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These Paleo Pretzels are the real deal! Soft, chewy, and salty they’re perfect dunked into grainy mustard for a fun snack. You can even make mini ones as an awesome appetizer!
How perfect would these pretzels be for tailgating or as a game-day snack?!
These came to be after we reached out to Otto’s Naturals a few weeks ago about trying their cassava flour in a few recipes. They graciously sent us some to try and I swear IT TASTES JUST LIKE REGULAR FLOUR! Insane.
While I’ll still use almond flour in some recipes. I’m really going to start using the cassava in much more than just pancakes and pretzels. It’s actually most cost effective too since a 1lb bag of almond flour costs 11.99 and a 2 lb bag of Otto’s is only $18. We’re all for a cheaper grocery bill.
Football season is officially here and I can guarantee that these pretzels would be the hit of your get togethers. You can take the route we did and make them as big as your head (in which case you’ll get about 8) or you can make little fun size bites. The bites are much easier to work with but we love the look of the regular shaped pretzels. Your choice.
The hardest part about this recipe is transferring the pretzels into the boiling baking soda-water bath and then removing them and transferring to a parchment lined baking sheet. If you make the pretzels into the big size you’ll need a large spatula to help transfer them. For some reason we only have small spatulas (which is SO weird since A. we have a spatula addiction, and B. our blog name is WICKED SPATULA) so I ended up juggling three spatulas to lift the pretzels off the counter and lower into the water. Don’t make my mistake, just get a large spatula.
After that it’s just a few short minutes in the oven until you have soft chewy pretzels in your hands.
We’ll be honest here and say that we totally planned on putting some jalapeños in the dough (you can just press slices into the dough before shocking them in the water bath) but got caught up in the pretzel making moment and forgot. So if you try anything fancy let us know how it turns out! We plan to make them again very soon so we’ll be sure to update the recipe notes when we try it. For now though we promise these pretzels will be your new favorite snack food!
OH! and P.S, a a sprinkle of cinnamon and coconut sugar in place of the salt would make a fabulous dessert style pretzel too!
RECIPE CARD
Paleo Pretzels
These Paleo Pretzels are the real deal! Soft, chewy, and salty they’re perfect dunked into grainy mustard for a fun snack.
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword party, traditional
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Author Maya Krampf from WickedSpatula.com
Servings 4 servings
★ Review Print
Ingredients
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- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/4-oz package active yeast
- 14 ounces cassava flour
- 8 ounces tapioca flour
- 2 ounces ghee melted
- 1 large egg + 1 tbsp water
- Pretzel salt or sea salt
Water Bath
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
Click to convert between US & metric measurements:
Instructions
More TIPS about this paleo recipe in the post above!
Make the Dough: In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchenaid bowl so I can use the dough hook to mix easily) combine the 1.5 cups warm water, coconut sugar, and salt. Sprinle the yeast over the top and let stand 5 minutes until it is foamy. Pour in the cassava flour, tapioca, and the melted ghee. Fit your mixer with the dough hook and set the speed to low. When the dough is formed into a ball remove and divide into 8 little balls. Grease the bowl with a bit of olive oil (no more than a teaspoon) and place the dough balls back into the bowl. Cover with a cloth and set somewhere warm for at least 20 minutes.
Roll and Boil: At this point you'll want to line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Preheat the oven to 450° and bring the 10 cups of water and 2/3 cup of baking soda to a boil in a large pot. Working one ball at a time roll out the dough with your hands to about 15-20 inches depending on how large you want your pretzels to be. Make a U shape with the dough and holding the ends, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U to form a pretzel. **It may help to kneed the dough once or twice if it's breaking when rolling. Place into the boiling water for 30 seconds using a large spatula. Transfer to the baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
Egg Wash, Salt, and Bake: Whisk the egg and 1 tablespoon of water together. Brush over the pretzels and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 450° for 13-16 minutes until golden brown.
Recipe Notes
These keep well for the first day. After storing they become a bit hard like bagels. If you have some left you can warm them up in the oven and top with eggs and bacon for a breakfast pretzel bagel sandwich!
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Reader Interactions
Julie
ReplyFull disclosure, I did not use the same brand of cassava flour, but like many other commenters, after weighing out my dough and adding water mixture and mixing in my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook on low for at least 5 minutes, the dough was completely crumbly. I added water and the consistency turned very gummy. In an attempt to save it, I added almond flour to give it more texture than just gummy and added more water and some psyllium husk powder. Baked at 425° for 20 min. They turned out okay. Still a little gummy for my liking but my kids loved them.
Sylvia Kline
ReplyThis recipe was great! Anyone who hadn’t cooked grain free or gluten free before should know it is definitely normal for doughs to be a little crumbly and need some extra care to stay together. This dough actually didn’t need much it was great! If it was too gooey in the middle I’d say longer boiling or cooking as well. Mine was fluffy and only slightly sticky just like a normal pretzel! My one question is… Do you think you could freeze these and reheat in some way? If so how would you try? I’m going to try it, I made bagels with them and topped with cheddar and they’re delicious toasted! There are just too many to keep fresh… If you have an idea let me know otherwise I’d be happy to let you know if it works or not haha.
Jessica
ReplyI wanted to love this recipe. Sadly, I had the same results others reported:
-my dough never formed; I had to add an extra CUP of water to get it to stick together to make balls
-when I went to roll, it crumbled. I ended up squeezing together some dough into sticks instead of trying to make pretzel shapes.
-they baked up brown and beautiful, but were spongy on the outside and a texture that could only be described as gluey on the inside.I measured and weighed all my ingredients with a scale in the kitchen.
Tina
ReplyWe tried twice, gummy insides. All things measured and weighed. also had to slowly add water to get the dough to stick together. Maybe too much tapioca flour called for in recipe?
Nadia
ReplyThese kept breaking apart while forming even after kneading them. Not sure what happened.
Sara
ReplyI tried to make these. I decided to do a half batch because I am unfamiliar with cassava flour and just got my first bag of Otto’s. These turned out delicious on the outside and what I can only describe as rubber cement on the inside, both in color and texture.
When you say ounces of cassava flour and tapioca starch, did you mean weight instead of volume? If so, it is totally unintuitive as recipes measured by weight are almost always given in grams or at least specifically mention to weigh it… I assumed you meant an awkward volume measurement and did my best to spoon the flours into the measures. I would really appreciate it if you could please make this undeniably clear in your recipe. I pretty much wasted a bunch of ingredients and time, and now highly suspicious about this new cassava flour I now own. (Not sure I want to waste any more ingredients to experiment.) I really do not think I will try this again as it was so gummy I cannot imagine this turning into a bready textured treat.Daniel
ReplyHello! Was wondering if tapioca flour could be used in place of cassava flour as they both are derived from the same plant?
Lauren
ReplyHi Daniel, tapioca is a starch whereas cassava is a flour so the consistency is completely different.
Bethany
ReplyAre you sure 1.5 cups of water is accurate? My dough came out a complete liquid and I followed your directions exactly.
Lauren
ReplyHi Bethany! Yes, positive. Let’s see if we can troubleshoot this…Did you weigh your flours?
Donna
ReplyI made these with my daughter today. They looked great after we baked them and tasted great when I first bit into them, but the inside was too gooey. My kids didn’t seem to mind though.
Lauren
ReplyHi Donna! I’m glad your kiddos enjoyed them! If they were still gooey in the middle they probably needed to be boiled just a bit longer or cooked just a bit longer. Were the outsides golden?
Eli Katz
ReplyIs it possible to replace the yeast with something else? not sure yeast is Paleo…
Lauren
ReplyHi Eli, yeast is Paleo. It’s simply a strand of saccharomyces cerevisiae which is found in kefir and lacto-fermented foods which is incredibly healthy for your gut. There’s no reason to avoid it on a Paleo diet. Unfortunately there’s nothing to replace yeast with in this recipe if you did want to skip it. Hope this helps!
Joan
ReplyHi Lauren
I will have to order the cassava flour as I have not been able to find it yet. Lastly I can’t use extra of one of the other flours in the recipe can I! Thanks again ?
Lauren
ReplyI’m not sure that it’s sold anywhere but online. It’s totally worth it though!
Joan
ReplyHi Lauren
Can you use something else instead of cassava flour?
Tapioca? Arrowroot? Thank youLauren
ReplyHi Joan! No, I don’t think so. Using all tapioca or arrowroot will give you a very gummy pretzel and I’m not sure it would even make a workable dough. Cassava flour has a 1:1 replacement for regular wheat which is why this recipe works.
Nancie
ReplyThis did not wor for me. I ordered the brand of cassava flour and followed the directions exactly, weighing the ingredients. The dough was so so dry, no way was it going to form a ball. I tried adding some more water, carefully, just to the point that the dough would hang together. I followed the rest of the recipe and everything seemed fine. They look fine on the outside, and I was really excited. But the texture inside is like gummy bears. So disappointed, and the ingredients were expensive.
Lauren
ReplyHi Nancie! I am so sorry these didn’t work for you! By adding the extra water that’s probably why they became gummy in texture. Did you use a stand mixer to beat the dough?
S
ReplyI had Nancie’s same problem. Used Otto’s flour, weighed everything carefully, used a dough hook in my Kitchen-Aid. The dough was so dry that it would not come together no matter how long I let it mix, so I added small amounts of water bit by bit until a ball formed. I boiled the pretzels for the specified amount of time, baked them for 16 minutes, and they were still like gummy candy inside. I’ve got them in the oven at a lower temp now to try to dry them out, so maybe they can be salvaged. I’m disappointed to have wasted half a bag of expensive flour.
Kelly
ReplyI wish I read the comments first this is exactly what happen ends to me. Is there too much tapioca starch? We made them into mins in hopes that would help.
Lauren
ReplyHi Kelly, I’m sorry you had trouble with this recipe! I’ve made them multiple times and they’ve turned out great. I’ll be ordering another bag of Otto’s soon and plan to test out the recipe again to make sure everything comes out right. I’ll let you know if I end up tweaking the recipe.
Bernadette
ReplyHi, I don’t ude butter or ghee. May I use coconut oil instead?
Lauren
ReplyHi Bernadette! I haven’t tested the recipe with coconut oil but I think it will be fine!
Megan @ A Dash of Megnut
ReplyThese look so good! I’m the same way… if something that is gluten-free tastes really good I start freaking out that it’s actually regular flour and that I just glutened myself lol
Lauren
ReplyThanks Megan!! I’m so glad I’m not the only one that thinks that way!!
Nataliya | Not From A Packet Mix
ReplyThese look so good! I’ll have to see whether cassava flour has been tested for FODMAP content… here’s hoping it’s low!
Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago
ReplyI just adore Auntie Ann’s pretzels – one of my favorite “junk” food indulgences! These are a must try – Pinning!!
Shashi at RunninSrilankan
ReplyMy daughter and I adore Aunt Annies Pretzels too and it’s been awhile since we had them as we are trying to be GF so I cannot wait to try this recipe! I haven’t ever experimented with cassava flour – thanks so much for the recipe and inspiration!
Annie @ Annie's Noms
ReplyThese look awesome! I have to admit pretzels kind of scare me, but they look so good I may have to brave it!
Becky Winkler (A Calculated Whisk)
ReplyUM, what?? Now I REALLY need to get my hands on some cassava flour. These look epic!!
Chris @ SimpleFood365
ReplyOh, I love fresh, warm, soft pretzels but I never considered making them at home… until now. Great recipe!
Silvia Ribas (Ribas with Love)
ReplyWow Lauren, this recipe looks fantastic! and I love that you used cassava flour… that’s great. I will have to try your recipe since I love love love pretzels and so do my kids, what a treat!!
peter @feedyoursoultoo
ReplyGreat looking pretzels. I will need to give this recipe a try.
Platter Talk
ReplyJust beautifully done! This is so wonderful for those following that paleo path!
Michelle @ The Complete Savorist
ReplyThese look great and having the course brown mustard as a dipping sauce is just too delicious.
Sara
ReplyThese look amazing, I’ll have to keep an eye out for cassava flour!
Leah @ Grain Changer
ReplyHoly Moley I need these in my life ASAP!
kristy @ the wicked noodle
ReplyI love the mustard pic, it’s my favorite!! I adore soft, warm pretzels – these look great!!
Alisa Fleming
ReplyWow, I’m seriously impressed Lauren, those look incredible!
Ali @ Home & Plate
ReplySuch an easy recipe. I’ve always just purchased pretzels but this looks like a perfect Saturday afternoon with the kids. Love it.
