Description
Soft Pretzel Bites are golden, chewy, and perfectly salty snacks made from scratch with a simple yeast dough, boiled in a baking soda bath, and baked until golden brown. Perfect for serving with mustard or cheese sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups warm water (360ml)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast (7g)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and slightly cool (14g)
- 3 and 3/4 – 4 cups all-purpose flour (469-500g), plus more for hands and work surface
Baking Soda Bath
- 1/2 cup baking soda (120g)
- 9 cups water (2,160ml)
Topping
- Coarse salt or coarse sea salt
Optional for Serving
- Spicy cheese sauce or your favorite mustard
Instructions
- Make the dough: Whisk warm water, yeast, and sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle or dough hook attachment. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Add salt, melted butter, and 3 cups flour. Beat on low for 1 minute. Scrape sides, add 3/4 cup flour, and beat until dough forms and pulls away from sides, about 2 minutes. Add remaining flour if dough is very sticky and beat 1 more minute.
- Knead the dough: Using the dough hook, knead for 5 minutes or knead by hand on a floured surface for 5 minutes. Add a teaspoon of flour if dough is sticky but avoid over-flouring. The dough should be soft and slightly tacky. Perform the windowpane test to check readiness.
- Rest the dough: Cover lightly with a towel and let rest for 10 to 30 minutes while you prepare the baking soda bath.
- Preheat and prepare baking sheets: Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper lightly sprayed or greased and set aside.
- Shape the pretzels: Divide dough into 6 pieces. Lightly flour the work surface and roll each piece into a 20-inch rope. Rest dough for 10 minutes if it keeps shrinking. Cut ropes into 1.5 to 2-inch pieces to form bites.
- Baking soda bath: Boil water and baking soda in a large pot. Place 8-10 pretzel bites into boiling water for 10-15 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon, drain excess water, place on baking sheets, and sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat with remaining bites.
- Bake: Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and serve warm with desired dipping sauces.
- Storage: Store leftovers at room temperature for up to 3 days. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds or bake at 350°F for 5 minutes.
Notes
- If freezing baked pretzel bites, do not add salt before baking. Cool completely then freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat by brushing frozen bites with water, sprinkling salt, and baking at 350°F for 10 minutes or microwaving until warm.
- Prepared pretzel dough can be refrigerated for 1 day or frozen for 2-3 months. Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before shaping.
- Use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour for a chewier texture but do not substitute whole wheat flour.
- For cinnamon sugar bites, bake plain without salt. Melt butter and mix cinnamon with sugar. After baking, brush bites with butter and dip in cinnamon sugar. Best eaten the same day.
- Skipping the egg wash is fine; salt can be sprinkled directly on the wet pretzels after boiling.
- Lightly flour the surface to avoid dough sticking but do not over-flour as it makes rolling difficult.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 bites
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 350 mg
- Fat: 3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
