- Easy
- 20–30 minutes
- No glue
- about 4.3 × 3.7 in (10.9 × 9.5 cm)
Golden-brown twisted dough, little white salt specks, and rosy cheeks make this soft pretzel paper squishy look fresh out of a kawaii bakery oven. Grab the free printable template below in US Letter or A4—it comes with 3 versions: full color, a ready-to-color outline, and a blank design. Pair it with our cinnamon roll squishy or croissant paper squishy to build your own cute pastry shop collection.
What you need
How to make it, step by step
1Print the template
Print the soft pretzel template at 100% scale on plain printer paper (turn off “fit to page”). Check that the scale line in the top corner measures exactly 2 inches (50 mm on A4). If you picked the coloring page, shade the twisted dough in warm golden browns, leave the salt dots white, and let marker ink dry completely before taping.
2Tape the pieces
Cover only the front and back pretzel pieces with wide clear packing tape instead of taping the whole sheet. Smooth each strip from the center of the pretzel out toward the curved loops without pulling or stretching—stretched tape will wrinkle later. The tape gives your baked treat a glossy finish and a strong, extra squishy surface.
3Cut out both pieces
Cut out the front and back pieces right along the solid outer line, keeping the narrow white border intact. Take your time around the top dip between the upper pretzel loops and the gentle curves along the bottom knots so both halves match cleanly.
4Add a tape border to the back
Lay the back pretzel piece printed side down on strips of regular clear tape with the sticky side facing up. Cut the tape about 1 cm (½ inch) past the paper edge, then snip this sticky border every 2 cm (1 inch) right up to the paper around the curved loops and top dip. Those little flaps will hold your squishy together.
5Join front and back
Put the smiling front pretzel on top of the back piece, white sides together. Fold the sticky tape flaps over the front edge one by one and press them down smoothly around the curves. Leave a 4.5 cm (1¾ in) gap open along the side (the pink line in the picture shows where) as your gap for the stuffing.
6Stuff it
Tear plastic grocery bags, cotton, or fiberfill into small pieces and push them in through the open gap. Fill the far corners first—tucking stuffing into the rounded upper loops and bottom curves—and stop when the pretzel feels soft and puffy, since too much stuffing makes the seams pop.
7Close the gap
Fold the last tape flaps neatly over the stuffing gap and tape the gap shut with an extra strip of regular clear tape. Run your finger firmly along all the curved pretzel edges to press the tape down well.
8Squish!
Done! Squeeze your kawaii pretzel squishy and watch the puffy dough bounce right back up. Want a slow-rising bakery squishy? Prick one tiny pinhole in the back.
Free Soft Pretzel Squishy Template
- Color
- Coloring page
- Blank, design your own
- Step-by-step guide
One free PDF: the template in three versions (pages 1–3) and the step-by-step guide (pages 4–5). Print the template at 100% on plain printer paper.
Tips for the perfect squish
- My pretzel feels too hard. There is too much stuffing packed inside. Open the side gap, take some filling out, and tape the edge shut again.
- Wrinkles across the pretzel loops. Use shorter strips of packing tape and lay them on gently without pulling as you smooth from the center outward.
- Top dip seam splits open. Put a new short strip of clear tape right across the curved dip between the top loops, overlapping the old ones.
- Brown marker ink smeared. Always let dark brown and tan markers dry fully on the coloring page before taping; printer ink is fine right away.
Questions
Can I use glue instead of tape for a bakery paper squishy?
Not for the edges. Glue doesn’t stick to tape-covered paper so the curved pretzel seams would open, whereas the snipped tape border folded over the edge holds best.
What paper works best for a bakery paper squishy template?
Plain printer paper (80–100 gsm / 20–24 lb) works best. Cardstock makes the pretzel stiff and it won’t squish as nicely.
What can I stuff my pretzel paper squishy with?
Use plastic grocery bags for a crinkly and light feel, cotton balls or fiberfill for a soft plush feel, or small pieces of memory foam for a slow-rising squishy.
Can I print this bakery bread paper squishy template bigger?
Yes! Print the page at a larger scale, for example 120%, and print the front and the back together on the same sheet so they match.
Can I make these with a class or a group?
Yes. Print 1 sheet per person and cut tape strips in advance so kids can color the pretzel coloring page while you help with taping—plan about 30 minutes.
More paper squishies to make
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