These lower carb soft pretzels are soft, chewy, have that amazing signature pretzel taste and have less than half the carbohydrates of a regular soft pretzel that would be the same size! So what’s the secret? How can this be possible?
The answer is tofu! Tofu takes on the flavors of whatever you add it too and it also happens to be made up of proteins that can easily fill the space of gluten proteins. This allows you to get away with less carbohydrates in the form of gluten or flour.
You can take this to extremes and use vital wheat gluten along with other fiber fillers to get a really low carb pretzel if you want and I have a recipe for that using vital wheat gluten and chickpea flour HERE which is great for really low numbers but in my experience, half tofu, half flour makes for the best combination and you cannot tell the difference in taste, texture or in any way between regular pretzels and these lower carb ones. So that is a total win and game changer for anyone who has to watch their carbohydrates, me included.
This rough nutritional information for this lower carb soft pretzels recipe is below but keep in mind that these amounts will fluctuate slightly depending on the brand and type of tofu or other ingredients used. These are my calculations based on verywellfit.com’s recipe calculator. The total calories are roughly 168 per pretzel with 26.8 net carbs (28.3 grams total carbohydrates which you can minus the 1.5 grams dietary fiber to get the 26.8 grams net carbs). A regular pretzel without the tofu that is roughly the same size has 57 grams of net carbohydrates and is 343 calories.
My kids love these and have no idea they are secretly “healthier” and that they are eating tofu! They love them dipped in cheese sauce or on their own. They are also fabulous dipped in mustard.
I originally made this recipe for a large batch – 16 giant pretzels but I have reduced it by half so it makes 8 pretzels. I felt that was more realistic for most people making it. I have included the original big batch recipe for anyone wanting to make 16, you can find it below the 8 serving size recipe.
What you need to make lower carb soft pretzels:
Makes 8 pretzels
- 8 ounces firm tofu – liquid drained (half a container of tofu)
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon salted butter – melted
- 2 1/4 cups flour – plus more for rolling them out
Water boiling solution:
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a blender add tofu, water, active dry yeast, sugar and salt. Try not to dump salt directly on yeast, add it to the other side of the blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour mixture into a stand mixer with dough hook attachment or mixing bowl.
- Add melted butter and flour.
- Knead with dough hook for 4-5 minutes or by hand for about 7 minutes or until dough feels elastic. Add more flour if needed or dough feels extra sticky, the dough will feel a little sticky but if it isn’t sticking to your hand then it will be fine.
- Grease bowl with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap or a baking towel.
- Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until dough is nearly doubled in size.
- Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and dived into 8 individual pieces. If you want exact precision then weigh the dough and divide by 8 to get the grams needed per piece. I just do my best to get them all roughly the same size.
- Roll dough into long ropes, about 24 inches.
- Take the two open ends, twist one full twist with ends and lay ends down on the bottom center of the loop, gently press down to secure the dough to the bottom.
- Place each pretzel on parchment paper until you are finished rolling and twisting each one.
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Add water and baking soda to a large pot and bring solution to a boil.
- While the water is boiling, whisk egg yolk and water together in a small bowl.
- Once water is boiling, add two pretzels at a time into boiling solution. Let them boil for about 15 seconds on each side, 30 seconds total. Don’t let them over boil or they will take on too much baking soda water and it won’t taste great.
- Remove with a slotted spatula or strainer and place back onto the parchment paper.
- Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the pretzels turn brown.
- Remove from oven and try to wait for them to cool slightly before devouring them with cheese sauce or mustard.
Large 16 lower carb soft pretzels RECIPE HERE
Makes 16 soft pretzels
- 16 ounces firm tofu – liquid drained (one container of tofu)
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoon salted butter – melted
- 4 1/4 – 4 1/2 cups flour – plus more for rolling them out
Water boiling solution:
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a blender add tofu, water, active dry yeast, sugar and salt. Try not to dump salt directly on yeast, add it to the other side of the blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour mixture into a stand mixer with dough hook attachment or mixing bowl.
- Add melted butter and flour.
- Knead with dough hook for 4-5 minutes or by hand for about 7 minutes or until dough feels elastic. Add more flour if needed or dough feels extra sticky, the dough will feel a little sticky but if it isn’t sticking to your hand then it will be fine.
- Grease bowl with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap or a baking towel.
- Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until dough is nearly doubled in size.
- Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and dived into 8 individual pieces. If you want exact precision then weigh the dough and divide by 8 to get the grams needed per piece. I just do my best to get them all roughly the same size.
- Roll dough into long ropes, about 24 inches.
- Take the two open ends, twist one full twist with ends and lay ends down on the bottom center of the loop, gently press down to secure the dough to the bottom.
- Place each pretzel on parchment paper until you are finished rolling and twisting each one.
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Add water and baking soda to a large pot and bring solution to a boil.
- While the water is boiling, whisk egg yolk and water together in a small bowl.
- Once water is boiling, add two pretzels at a time into boiling solution. Let them boil for about 15 seconds on each side, 30 seconds total. Don’t let them over boil or they will take on too much baking soda water and it won’t taste great.
- Remove with a slotted spatula or strainer and place back onto the parchment paper.
- Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the pretzels turn brown.
- Remove from oven and try to wait for them to cool slightly before devouring them with cheese sauce or mustard.
Here are a few recipe you may love:
- Low Carb Pumpernickel Quick Bread RECIPE HERE
- Low Carb Blueberry Muffins RECIPE HERE
- Low Carb Dutch Baby RECIPE HERE
- You can find many more by searching low carb in my recipe archives HERE
Lower Carb Soft Pretzel
Ingredients
- 8 ounces firm tofu – liquid drained half a container of tofu
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon salted butter – melted
- 2 1/4 cups flour – plus more for rolling them out
- Water boiling solution:
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- Egg Wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a blender add tofu, water, active dry yeast, sugar and salt. Try not to dump salt directly on yeast, add it to the other side of the blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour mixture into a stand mixer with dough hook attachment or mixing bowl.
- Add melted butter and flour.
- Knead with dough hook for 4-5 minutes or by hand for about 7 minutes or until dough feels elastic. Add more flour if needed or dough feels extra sticky, the dough will feel a little sticky but if it isn’t sticking to your hand then it will be fine.
- Grease bowl with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap or a baking towel.
- Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until dough is nearly doubled in size.
- Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and dived into 8 individual pieces. If you want exact precision then weigh the dough and divide by 8 to get the grams needed per piece. I just do my best to get them all roughly the same size.
- Roll dough into long ropes, about 24 inches.
- Take the two open ends, twist one full twist with ends and lay ends down on the bottom center of the loop, gently press down to secure the dough to the bottom.
- Place each pretzel on parchment paper until you are finished rolling and twisting each one.
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Add water and baking soda to a large pot and bring solution to a boil.
- While the water is boiling, whisk egg yolk and water together in a small bowl.
- Once water is boiling, add two pretzels at a time into boiling solution. Let them boil for about 15 seconds on each side, 30 seconds total. Don’t let them over boil or they will take on too much baking soda water and it won’t taste great.
- Remove with a slotted spatula or strainer and place back onto the parchment paper.
- Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the pretzels turn brown.
- Remove from oven and try to wait for them to cool slightly before devouring them with cheese sauce or mustard.