Air Fryer Mozzarella & Garlic Butter Pretzels are soft and homemade. They are rolled with mozzarella cheese and brushed with a garlic butter mixture. These pretzels are made from scratch and made in the Air Fryer!
Homemade Air Fryer Garlic Butter Pretzels
Making homemade pretzels is easy and takes little time when using an Air Fryer! Making the dough is simple and it's unnecessary to let the dough rise.
After adding the yeast to the warm water, give it a stir and allow it to sit while you gather your other ingredients.
The yeast mixture should be foamy, once it is, add the other ingredients to the bowl. I knead pretzel dough with my hands but you can use a mixer with a dough hook if you prefer.
Air Fryer Mozzarella Garlic Butter Pretzels
Once the dough is kneaded and ready to roll out in a rectangle, the shredded mozzarella is added to one side of the dough. The half of the dough that doesn't have any cheese is folded over onto the half that does.
Roll the dough out once again into a large rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 equal-sized strips and pinch the sides to keep any mozzarella cheese from coming out.
Shape the strips of dough into a pretzel by twisting the ends of the rope and bringing it down into the center of the circle. Gently press the ends of the dough into the circle of the pretzel.
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Baking Soda Bath
You don't want to skip this step! Giving these air fryer pretzels a baking soda bath makes the crust shiny, makes the crust a golden brown, and gives the pretzels and distinguishing flavor.
If you do skip this step, your pretzels won't have that soft center that you may be looking for in a pretzel and the crust won't have a crunch to it.
Brushed with Garlic Butter
After these air fryer mozzarella pretzels are bathed in baking soda, remove them and set on parchment paper. Melt the 1 cup of butter and the garlic cloves together and brush the pretzels liberally with the mixture. After the pretzels are brushed then it is time to add the pretzel salt on top.
Don't go overboard with the pretzel salt, you want the flavors of the garlic butter to come through and not for the pretzels to not be overly salty.
Air Fryer Pretzels Settings
To make air fryer pretzels you will need to set your air fryer to these settings:
- Air Fryer temperature set to 330°
- Time setting at 6 minutes
How long it takes to make these pretzels depends on whether you have an oven-type air fryer or a basket air fryer. You can fit more of these pretzels in an oven-style air fryer vs. the basket-style.
Don't overcrowd your pretzels and flip and/or rotate based on which air fryer you own. To make these pretzels, I used my Instant Pot Vortex but they can easily be made in any air fryer!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Mozzarella & Garlic Butter Pretzels
Ingredients
Pretzel Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast approx. 1 packet
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Baking Soda Bath
- 8 cups water
- ½ cup baking soda
Garlic Butter Topping
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Add the yeast into the warm water and stir. Allow to sit. It will become bubbly.
- Stir in the salt, melted butter, and the brown sugar.
- Add in the flour, a little at a time. Keep adding the flour until no longer sticky. Use your hands to mix the dough.
- Check the dough with your finger by pressing into the dough. If it bounces back, continue to the next steps. If not, add more flour and try again.
- Flour a clean surface and add the dough on top. Knead for about 5 minutes and roll the dough into a ball.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a rectangle.
- Sprinkle half of the dough with the mozzarella cheese, fold in half, and roll the dough back into a large rectangle.
- Cut into 12 strips, pinch the sides of the strips, and shape each strip into a pretzel.
- Boil the 8 cups of water and the ½ cup in a medium-sized pot.
- Drop the pretzels in the pot and allow to boil for about 20 seconds each.
- Remove and place the pretzels onto parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, melt together 1 cup of unsalted butter, and 2 garlic cloves.
- Brush the mixture on top of the pretzels and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
- Set the air fryer to 330°F and 6 minutes.
- Place the pretzels into the air fryer being careful not to overcrowd.
- Air fry in batches.
Nutrition
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Dana is an experienced recipe creator who crafts easy and delicious recipes for all levels of home cooks.
Her recipes range from classic comfort foods to healthy and nutritious meals, and she is always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to bring flavor and variety to the table.
Christine says
This looks very good please send me the website thank you
Dana says
Here's the direct link to the recipe 🙂 https://mamaneedscake.com/air-fryer-mozzarella-garlic-butter-pretzels/