Everybody loves pizza, and everybody loves soft pretzels. Along with many other baked goods that start off as dough, both pretzels and pizza are very popular in many parts of the world, and both are super easy to make if you know what you’re doing.
The thing is, there are so many different kinds of dough that it’s difficult to know what makes what. Some dough is very wet and sticky for bread like focaccia, whilst some dough is very dry and easy to handle, like bagel dough.
With that said, you might have handled both pizza and pretzel dough and not noticed much difference, so is there any difference at all?
Pizza dough and pretzel dough are very similar component-wise, with only slight differences in hydration. Despite these similarities, they’re both made in different ways, but when speaking technically either can be used to make both pretzels and pizzas.
You’ll find that pretzels quite often contain malt syrup, which adds to the flavor of them, but it’s not essential to make them taste good.
Normal pizza dough is somewhere around 60-65% hydration. Something like a New York-Style pizza dough fits nicely into the pretzel dough category.
Some pizza dough has higher or lower hydration, like Sicilian pizza or Chigaco pizza. Although these may work, they’re not going to give you the same pretzel-like result, so it’s best to stick with basic dough around 60-65% hydration.
Can You Use Pizza Dough To Make Pretzels?
Being able to use pizza dough for pretzels would make anyone’s life a lot easier, especially if you struggle to find pre-made pretzel dough.
Fortunately, making pretzels with pizza dough is very easy. You won’t struggle to find a shop with pre-made pizza dough, so you could be saving a lot of time and you do this.
Since pizza dough is so similar to pretzel dough, it can be used in the same way as regular pretzel dough to give you great, freshly baked pretzels whenever you want them. Both homemade or shop-bought pizza dough will work.
Who wouldn’t want freshly baked pretzels anyway? Instead of having to go out and buy them, you can make them whenever you want to and make them any size you want. You can even top them with absolutely anything. The options for what you can do with pizza dough are almost endless!
How To Use Pizza Dough To Make Pretzels
Since pizza dough is so similar to pretzel dough, you’re able to make pretzels with it in the same way as you would with pretzel dough.
It’s a very simple process that involves shaping the pretzels, allowing them to proof, boiling them, and baking them. Of course, there are timings that come into all this, but a basic pretzel recipe will help you out with that.
Once you’ve done all that, you should be left with beautiful brown and soft pretzels ready for eating. I’m sure they’ll be gone in no time!
Homemade pretzels really are super easy once you know what you’re doing, so it’s really worth using either premade or leftover pizza dough to make them.
Do Pizza Dough Pretzels Taste The Same As Normal Pretzels?
Since pizza dough is made specifically pizza, it may suggest that it’s not going to be as good as real pretzels, but you might be surprised.
Pizza dough pretzels may look the same as the real thing, but do they taste the same?
Assuming that they’re made in the same way, both pizza dough pretzels and regular pretzels will taste pretty similar in most cases, but it all really depends on the dough.
You may have eaten soft pretzels that contain malt syrup, but the majority of pizza dough doesn’t, so you won’t get that signature pretzel taste you might expect, but it’s still a pretzel.
Some pizza dough may contain oil and some might not. One type of dough might be high hydration and another low hydration. Either way, the dough will still work to make pretzels.
Depending on the dough, your pretzels might be lighter or heavier, but you should still be happy with the result.
If you’re eating a pizza dough pretzel and a regular pretzel together, you will most likely notice a difference, but they’re still both going to be great.
If you make too much, remember you can always freeze pretzel dough.
Why You Should Be Making Pretzels With Pizza Dough
Okay, so pizza dough pretzels aren’t completely identical to the real things, especially if you use shop-bought pizza dough, but they’re still the perfect alternative for super easy pretzels.
Once you start making pretzels with store bought pizza dough, you’ll realise that you never need to go through the making pretzel dough again.
Here’s why making pretzels with pizza dough is so great.
They’re Extremely Easy And Convenient
If you’re not a fan of spending the time and effort on making actual dough, the next best thing is to buy some pizza dough next time you go to the store and have pretzels in as little as an hour or two.
Whenever you’re squeezed for time when feeding friends, family, or just yourself, you can quickly bake pretzels without any unnecessary effort.
If you’ve got kids, this is a super simple way of letting them have some fun. It won’t make too much mess, be too much effort, or difficult at all. It’s a great way to teach them how to bake basic things and they’ll love being able to eat their own fresh pretzels.
They Make Great Appetizers
Say it’s thanksgiving, someone’s birthday, or any kind of special occassion, you’ll be able to add these to your list of food to make for your friends and family.
Before you serve the main food, you can put some simple pizza dough pretzels out for people to snack on.
Nobody wants to spend too much time on extra food when they’re already preparing a lot, so you’ll easily be able to find the time for pretzels since they don’t take much time to make at all.
They Don’t Hurt The Bank
Fortunately, you can find pre-made pizza dough at pretty low prices if you go to the right place, so you won’t be spending much if you do make them.
Unlike pretzels you get from bakeries, which can actually start to add up in price once you get a few, the cost per pretzel is very low with shop-bought dough and even lower with homemade dough.
You can have easy and fresh pretzels for very cheap if you find the right dough.