Pretzels are one of those things thatās almost too easy to enjoy – soft, rich, and wonderfully salty in all the best ways. If you love pretzels as much as we do, you might want to freeze the pretzels at home. But is this possible?
Can You Freeze Pretzels?
Yes, you can freeze pretzels for up to 12 months. To ensure that they stay as good as possible, seal them in a freezer bag or an airtight container, ensuring that thereās as little air in contact with them as possible.
Do Do Pretzels freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Pretzels? Yes
How to Freeze Pretzels
The best way to start freezing pretzels is to consider what you know first and foremost about them – theyāre a snack that gets stale when exposed to oxygen. For that reason, keeping them out of oxygen is for the best.
Here’s the best approach to take when freezing pretzels:
- Bag Up: Place fully cool, room temperature pretzels into clean, dry freezer bags or airtight containers. Weād recommend freezer bags since youāll be able to more easily press air out of the bag than you would be with a container.
- Seal: When the pretzels are in the bag, press as much air as possible and seal the bag shut without allowing air back inside.
- Label: Label the bag of pretzels with the date that youāre going to be freezing them, and youāre good to go!
- Freeze: Place the labelled, bagged pretzels into the freezer, and allow them to freeze for up to twelve months.
Beyond twelve months, the air bubbles within the pretzels will likely have degraded a lot due to freezer burn, which would damage the pretzels themselves.
Pretzel dough can be kept in the freezer for around 3 months. When you need pretzel dough, allow it to thaw fully in the fridge overnight and use it as you normally would. 
3 Tips for Freezing Pretzels
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing pretzels to have the best results:
Avoid Excess Air
Pressing as much air out of the bag as youāre keeping pretzels is vital to avoid freezer burn.Ā Seal the bag up almost completely, then push the air out before quickly sealing the rest of the bag up.
Don’t Be Too Delicate
Pretzels are resilient to physical damage, meaning that if you press them into one another firmly to reduce the air space within the bag, theyāll bounce back once thawed.Ā
Freeze Them Fresh
If you freeze a stale pretzel, the damage has already been done, and the pretzel will remain stale when itās thawed. It will be just as good if you freeze and thaw a fresh pretzel!Ā
How Long Can You Freeze Pretzels?
You can freeze pretzels for up to twelve months, provided that theyāre in an airtight container.
When you freeze any kind of bread-based product like pretzels or rolls, the enemy is the air that is within and around the baked goods.
When the air condenses to liquid and then expands to ice as it freezes, the texture of the baked goods is utterly ruined. Ensure that the pretzels are in an airtight container to slow this process down as much as possible.
How Do You Defrost Pretzels?
The best way to defrost pretzels is to transfer them from the freezer directly to a baking sheet before sprinkling a little room-temperature water over them for the sake of the crust.
If your pretzels have a little ice on them, you likely donāt need to place the water around the baking tray.
However, in that case, the pretzels are likely to be less well-preserved than they could have been, so it might be time to accept defeat and throw them out.
Bake the pretzels at around 180C/350F for around 5 minutes, from frozen, when they’re on the baking sheet. After that time, they should have thawed, with the water you sprinkled over and around them serving to crisp up the outside edges.
Can You Refreeze Pretzels?
Yes, you can refreeze pretzels. This is because pretzels are remarkably resistant to freezer burn and different kinds of damage that food can suffer in a freezer – their thick outer layer of crust forms a great barrier against frost.
The main barrier to refreezing is water and freezer burn damage to the structure of the food youāre trying to freeze. If you make sure to protect against freezer burn here through the use of an airtight bag, youāre sure to be perfectly fine refreezing pretzels!
Do Pretzels Freeze Well?
Yes, pretzels do freeze well – they tend not to be susceptible to freezer burn like so many other baked goods are, thanks to the fact that they have a rigid outer layer that protects them from the cold and frost over time.
This is handy and allows for pretzels to remain as well-textured as great pretzels.
This is in stark contrast to something like sliced bread, where the knife or chopping machine has opened up a path to the little bubbles within the bread, which will likely condense and freeze over time. This is both destructive and less than ideal.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing pretzels or pretzels in general, then these may help:
Yes, chocolate covered pretzels can be frozen for around 12 months. Pop pretzels into a freezer bag, seal and pop into the freezer. You may find that the chocolate coat loses its shine, but it will be perfectly safe and enjoyable to eat.
Although it is possible to freeze salted pretzels, there’s not much point as they have a fairly long shelf life. There’s no point wasting space in the freezer!
Dear Lewis!
I am hoping to start my home bakery,mainly selling all kinds of pretzels.
Can I freeze them,and then after thawing decorate them?Cheese,chocolate,cinnamon etc.topped.Will they be sellable,and soft?Thank you for your help!
Ilona from Canada