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Air Fryer Mozzarella & Garlic Butter Pretzels

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 pretzels on marble serving board with pretzel salt.

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.

RELATED: Air Fryer French Bread Pizzas

Soft and homemade pretzels rolled with mozzarella cheese and brushed with a garlic butter mixture resting on marble stone.

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.

Air fryer pretzels resting on air fryer racks with tongs beside the racks.

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 rack with four garlic mozzarella pretzels.

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! 

Yield: 12 pretzels

Air Fryer Mozzarella & Garlic Butter Pretzels

Air Fryer Mozzarella & Garlic Butter Pretzels

Soft pretzels rolled with mozzarella cheese and brushed with a garlic butter mixture.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 26 minutes

Ingredients

Pretzel Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups warm water
  • 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast, approx. 1 packet
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¾ tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ tsp 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

  1. Add the yeast into the warm water and stir. Allow to sit. It will become bubbly.
  2. Stir in the salt, melted butter, and the brown sugar.
  3. Add in the flour, a little at a time. Keep adding the flour until no longer sticky. Use your hands to mix the dough.
  4. 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.
  5. Flour a clean surface and add the dough on top. Knead for about 5 minutes and roll the dough into a ball.
  6. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a rectangle.
  7. Sprinkle half of the dough with the mozzarella cheese, fold in half, and roll the dough back into a large rectangle.
  8. Cut into 12 strips, pinch the sides of the strips, and shape each strip into a pretzel.
  9. Boil the 8 cups of water and the ½ cup in a medium-sized pot.
  10. Drop the pretzels in the pot and allow to boil for about 20 seconds each.
  11. Remove and place the pretzels onto parchment paper.
  12. In a medium bowl, melt together 1 cup of unsalted butter, and 2 garlic cloves.
  13. Brush the mixture on top of the pretzels and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
  14. Set the air fryer to 330° and 6 minutes.
  15. Place the pretzels into the air fryer being careful not to overcrowd.
  16. Air fry in batches.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 grams

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 307Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 2751mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 6g

Nutrition calculation is a rough estimate and can vary depending on the cooking technique and the exact ingredients used. For informational purposes only.

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Christine

Thursday 29th of December 2022

This looks very good please send me the website thank you

Dana

Thursday 5th of January 2023

Here's the direct link to the recipe :) https://mamaneedscake.com/air-fryer-mozzarella-garlic-butter-pretzels/

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