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These buttery soft pretzel bites are quick and easy to make, customizable with your favorite seasonings, and irresistibly delicious — especially with some hot cheese dip or mustard!
After showing you yesterday how to make my favorite homemade buttery soft pretzels, today I wanted to pop back in with a quick tutorial on how to make soft pretzel bites!
Because as much as I love traditionally-shaped pretzels, I have to say that these cute little pretzel bites are what I tend to make most often in my kitchen. I’m especially partial to these bite-sized shapes because (a) they’re just adorable and perfect for sharing (b) I love that they have more of that crispy golden crust in each bite, and (c) most importantly, they are perfect for dunking in all of your favorite dips!
As I mentioned yesterday, I also love this particular homemade pretzel recipe because it’s easy to make without a stand mixer in just around an hour or so. And bonus, you likely already have all of the ingredients ready to go in your kitchen. That said, feel free to get creative and play around with different toppings if you would like — I especially love making pretzel bites with everything bagel seasoning or some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top — but really, the sky’s the limit when it comes to possible toppings, seasonings, and accompanying dips. You do you. ♡
Ok, let’s make some pretzel bites!
Soft Pretzel Bites Ingredients:
To make this homemade soft pretzel bites recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Milk (or water): I prefer to use cow’s milk as the base of this pretzel dough, which makes it extra tender and adds a subtle touch of sweetness. But if you prefer not to eat dairy, you are welcome to just use water instead.
- Sugar: I used brown sugar, but white granulated sugar or coconut sugar would work too.
- Coarse sea salt: Which we will use in the dough and also sprinkle on top. (Or you are welcome to sprinkle actual pretzel salt on top, if you prefer.)
- Yeast: One packet of active dry yeast.
- Flour: I went traditional with this recipe and used regular all-purpose flour. But you could sub in white whole wheat flour if you would like to make these a touch more healthy.
- Butter: Which we will use in the dough and also brush (extra) on top of the pretzel bites after baking.
- Baking soda: Which we will add to a pot of boiling water to give the pretzel bites a quick dunk before baking.
- Egg: And finally, you will need one egg, which we will whisk together with water to make a quick egg wash to brush on the dough before baking.
Detailed ingredient amounts and full instructions listed in the recipe below.
How To Make Soft Pretzel Bites:
To make this soft pretzel bites recipe, simply…
- Mix and knead the dough. Whisk together the warm water, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer). Then sprinkle the yeast on top and wait about 5 minutes for it to get foamy and activate. Add the flour and melted butter. Then either use a wooden spoon to combine the dough, and knead it by hand for about 4 minutes until smooth. Or if you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook to knead it for about 4 minutes until smooth.
- Let the dough rise. Place the dough in a lightly-oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let it rise until doubled.
- Heat oven. To 450°F, and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Prepare the boiling water solution. Combine the water and baking soda in a stockpot or very large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Form the pretzel bites. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a lightly-oiled work surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into an even 3/4-inch rope. Use a knife to cut the rope into your desired size of pretzel bites (mine were each about 1-inch long).
- Boil the pretzel bites. Very carefully, use a spatula or a large wire strainer to transfer the pretzel bites into the boiling water, about a dozen a time, for about 30 seconds per batch. Use the spatula to transfer the pretzel bites to the parchment-lined pan, and repeat with the remaining pretzel bites.
- Add egg wash and salt. Finally, brush the top of each pretzel bite with the egg wash and sprinkle with the coarse sea salt (or pretzel salt).
- Bake. Bake until the pretzel bites reach your desired level of golden brown color, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- Serve warm. These pretzel bites taste best the day they have been baked, and even better hot out of the oven. So serve warm — brushed with extra melted butter if you would like — and enjoy!
Possible Variations:
Want to customize your homemade pretzel bites? Feel free to…
- Add seasonings: Feel free to sprinkle your pretzel bites with cinnamon sugar or any other seasoning blends that you love (such as everything bagel seasoning, ranch seasoning, Cajun seasoning, etc).
- Add cheese: These pretzel bites would also be delicious sprinkled with some shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese.
- Make them vegan: To make vegan pretzel bites, simply use vegan butter, and water in place of milk.
Dips To Serve With Pretzel Bites:
If you are looking for some stellar dips to serve with your pretzels, consider one of these faves…♡
Description
This delicious homemade soft pretzel bites recipe is easy to make in about 1 hour with ingredients you likely already have on hand. See notes above for possible variations you can make too.
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115°F) milk*
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt*, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 (0.25-ounce) package active dry yeast
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
- 2 tablespoons melted butter, plus extra for brushing
- 9 cups water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1 large egg (whisked with 1 tablespoon water)
Instructions
- Mix the dough. Whisk together the warm water, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer). Sprinkle the yeast on top, and wait 5 minutes for the yeast to activate.
- Knead the dough. Add the flour and melted butter. Then either (a) use a spoon to mix everything in until combined, and then use your hands to knead the dough for about 4 minutes until it is smooth, adding a bit more flour if the dough is too sticky or (b) if using a stand mixer, place the dough hook on the mixer and mix on medium speed for 4 minutes until the dough is smooth, adding a bit more flour if the dough is too sticky.
- Let the dough rise. Transfer the dough to a lightly-oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes in a warm place until it has doubled in size.
- Heat oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, then set aside.
- Prepare the boiling water solution. Combine the water and baking soda in a stockpot or very large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Form the pretzel bites. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a lightly-oiled work surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into even 3/4-inch wide ropes. Use a knife to cut the rope into individual pretzel bites, about 1-inch long each.
- Boil the pretzel bites. Very carefully, use a spatula or large wire strainer to transfer the the bites into the boiling water, about a dozen or so at a time time, for about 30 seconds per batch. Use the spatula to transfer the pretzel bites to the parchment-lined pan, and repeat with the remaining pretzel bites.
- Add egg wash and salt. Finally, brush the top of each pretzel bite with the egg wash and sprinkle with the coarse sea salt.
- Bake. Bake until the pretzel bites reach your desired level of golden brown color, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- (Optional: Brush with extra butter.) If you would like your pretzel bites to taste extra buttery, brush them with extra melted butter just before serving.
- Serve warm. These pretzel bites taste best the day they have been baked, and even better hot out of the oven. So serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Milk: I used 2% cow’s milk for this recipe, but any kind of dairy milk, unsweetened almond milk or oat milk would also work. Or you are also welcome to just make this recipe with water instead of milk.
Salt: I just used basic coarse sea salt in this recipe. But feel free to sprinkle the pretzel bites with actual pretzel salt, if you prefer.
