These Soft Pretzel bites are a huge favorite at my house! These are perfectly chewy on the outside with a tender interior and just the right sprinkle of saltiness. They will melt in your mouth. They last about 3.2 minutes after they are all baked up and ready serve, I’ll be honest, they don’t even make it to a serving dish before my kids devour them.
These taste great with cheese sauce or mustard or just on their own. You really can’t go wrong with them, any way you serve them.
My oldest daughter is obsessed with soft pretzels and of course pretzel bites. She begs me weekly to take her and grab some at the local soda shop by us, however, they are around $4 a cup and that adds up quickly, especially when you have 4 kids that all want something.
So this recipe was born out of the fact that we love pretzels but also I don’t want to spend a fortune on pretzel bites for my daughter. ha ha! She loves these and they honestly taste better than the soda shop’s version, just saying.
These don’t take a ton of effort but they do take a little time for the dough to rise. It isn’t a full bread dough raising experience though so you are looking at about an hour total of rise time. Which is totally doable. Make the dough, walk away for 30 minutes, come back, roll into ropes, cut, and walk away for another 20-30 minutes and then you can boil them and then bake them.
Why do you boil pretzel dough?
First off, the boiling water gelatinizes the proteins in the flour and gives it that signature chew, bagels are made this way too. Second, if gives it the signature pretzel flavor because the water has baking soda in it. Traditional pretzels would have lye in it but lets make everyone’s life easier by using baking soda.
These then get brushed with an egg wash, this works with the baking soda water to give pretzels the signature brown coloring. Then you sprinkle them with coarse sea salt and after baking toss them in butter and oh my goodness you have heaven in a bite!
Here is how you make these soft pretzel bites: (printable recipe card is below)
Serves ~6 (or 4 hungry and eager kiddos, in my case)
For the soft pretzel dough:
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon dry active yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 3/4 to 3 cups flour – add flour until dough comes together and is just slightly sticky.
The water to boil the pretzel bites in:
- Large pot full of water – roughly 8 cups
- 1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
For the pretzel bites:
- coarse sea salt – to sprinkle on top
- 1 tablespoon melted butter – to toss them in at the end of cooking
Instructions
- In mixing bowl, add the water and dry active yeast and stir together.
- Then add the salt, sugar, melted butter and flour, a cup at a time, add and mix until a soft and slightly sticky dough forms.
- Knead dough for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic feeling.
- Cover dough and let it rise for roughly 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 4 segments and roll into roughly 1 1/2 inch thick ropes, then slice each rope into 1-2 inch pieces.
- Allow segments to rise again for another 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- Prepare the water to boil the pretzels in by adding baking soda to water and bringing to a boil.
- Add the pretzel pieces into the water in groups of about 15 pieces.
- Let them cook for about 30-45 seconds then remove with a slotted spoon or frying spatula and place onto a lined and greased cookie sheet.
- Prepare the egg wash by mixing together the egg and water in a small bowl.
- Brush the tops of the pretzel bites with the egg wash then sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Bake for ~15 minutes or until the pretzel bites turn golden brown.
- Once removed from the oven, you can brush tops with melted butter and add more sea salt if desired.
Here are a few other recipes you may also enjoy:
Raspberry White Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding
Basic Sourdough Bread
Overnight Bagels
Cheddar Jalapeno Babka
Apple Cinnamon Babka
Soft Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
For the pretzel bite dough:
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon dry active yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 3/4 to 3 cups flour – add flour until dough comes together and is just slightly sticky.
For the water to boil the pretzel bites in:
- Large pot full of water – roughly 8 cups
- 1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
For the egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- coarse sea salt
For the pretzel bites topping:
- coarse sea salt – to sprinkle on top
- 1 tablespoon melted butter – to toss them in at the end of cooking
Instructions
- In mixing bowl, add the water and dry active yeast and stir together.
- Then add the salt, sugar, melted butter and flour, a cup at a time, add and mix until a soft and slightly sticky dough forms.
- Knead dough for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic feeling.
- Cover dough and let it rise for roughly 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 4 segments and roll into roughly 1 1/2 inch thick ropes, then slice each rope into 1-2 inch pieces.
- Allow segments to rise again for another 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- Prepare the water to boil the pretzels in by adding baking soda to water and bringing to a boil.
- Add the pretzel pieces into the water in groups of about 15 pieces.
- Let them cook for about 30-45 seconds then remove with a slotted spoon or frying spatula and place onto a lined and greased cookie sheet.
- Prepare the egg wash by mixing together the egg and water in a small bowl.
- Brush the tops of the pretzel bites with the egg wash then sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Bake for ~15 minutes or until the pretzel bites turn golden brown.
- Once removed from the oven, you can brush tops with melted butter and add more sea salt if desired.