Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites are soft and chewy, butter and salty and easy to make! They are just like the ones you love at the mall. This recipe will feed a crowd and is perfect for Game Day parties and any occasion! The best part about this recipe is there is no dunking the pretzel bites in boiling baking soda water!
1tspolive oil or canola oil *for rubbing on the dough after it is mixed
Baking Soda Water Spray (you will need a clean spray bottle, or you can use a basting brush to brush it on)
1cupVERY Hot water
2tbspbaking soda water
Butter/Salt Topping
1/2cupbutter (1 stick)
coarse salt for sprinkling on the pretzels *see notes for alternatives
Optional Dip Suggestions to eat with the Pretzel Bites (suggestions not include in nutritional calculations)
Nacho Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Bleu Cheese Dressing
Ranch Dressing
Marinara/Pizza Sauce
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease a baking sheet. I use my half sheet pan.
In a stand mixer (you can also mix it by hand), using your dough hook, add the warm, sugar and yeast to the mixing bowl. Give it a little stir and then let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast is foamy and bubbly. See the blog post above if you want to see what it should look like.
Next, add in your salt and flour. Start your mixer out on low speed so flour doesn't fly everywhere. Then as it starts to mix in, turn the speed up to medium-high speed. Mix the flour into the dough. The dough should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl as it mixes. See blog post above for photos.
Turn the mixer up to high speed and let the mixer knead the dough for 1-2 minutes or until the dough is soft and smooth.
Remove the dough hook from the bowl and form the dough into a large ball. Place the dough back into the mixing bowl.
Take your teaspoon of olive oil or canola oil and pour it on to the ball of pretzel dough. Rub it all around so the dough ball is covered in the oil.
Take a clean kitchen towel and cover the dough in the mixing bowl. Place the covered bowl in a warm area. I put my bowl of dough right on top of the stove so it can stay warm and raise.
Let the dough raise for one hour. It should double in size at least.
While your pretzel dough is raising, make your Baking Soda mixture to spray (or brush) on the pretzel bites before baking them. Take your hot water and put it in a microwave safe dish or bowl and microwave it for 30 seconds to get it good and hot! Then add in your baking soda and whisk or mix it well. Pour it into your squirt bottle. Set it aside.***The water should be clear and needs to be clear. This means the baking soda is dissolved and will not clog your water bottle or leave a bad taste on the pretzels. If it is not clear, heat it in the microwave for 30 more seconds and stir it. Heat it again if needed until the water is clear.****If you are not using a water bottle to mist the baking soda water on the pretzels, keep it in your dish or bowl and set it aside. You can use a basting brush to brush it on the bites.
Take the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal balls.
Take each dough ball and roll it out into a long 12 inch piece. The measurement does not need to be exact. Roll it out like a long snake. See blog post above for photos.
Then, take a knife or pizza cutter and cut the long piece of dough into 8-10 pretzel bites. Sometimes I get 8 pretzel bites, sometimes I get 10. It doesn't really matter how many you get out of each long piece. Cut them to your liking. You should get anywhere from 60-70 pretzel bites from this recipe.
Next, take all of your pretzel bites and line them up on your baking sheet that is greased or lined with parchment paper. They will be close together and this is just fine. If they bake into each other they will easily break apart after baking.
Spray or baste the soda water on the tops of the pretzel bites.
Put the pretzel bites in to your preheated oven (425°) and let them bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown and to your liking. ***Check the pretzel bites half way through baking. If they are not getting golden brown on top, spray them again with the baking soda water (get them good and covered)! I always spray mine again half way through to get them good and golden on top!
Melt your butter while the pretzel bites are baking.
After the pretzel bites are done baking take the bites and put them in a large bowl.
Pour your melted butter over the pretzel bites, gently tossing them to make sure they are all covered. Alternatively, you can hand dip the pretzel bites in the butter.
Pour the pretzel bites back on to your baking sheet. Some extra butter will pour out! Use that extra butter to dip the pretzels that may not have a lot of butter on them to get them all good and buttery.
Sprinkle the buttered soft pretzel bites with your coarse salt.
Serve the pretzel bites with cheddar cheese sauce, nacho cheese, ranch, bleu cheese dressing, marinara or whatever you like.
Leftovers can be stored in a zip top bag or air tight container and can be reheated in the microwave.
Notes
If you do not want butter and salt you can mix cinnamon and sugar together for sweet pretzel bites and dip them in my Cream Cheese Frosting! Just roll the bites in the cinnamon and sugar after they are buttered.Garlic powder and parmesan cheese are always yummy when added to the tops after the butter is put on them for another savory idea!You do not have to use a squirt bottle to spray the pretzel bites with baking soda water. Just mix the hot water and baking soda and brush the tops of the pretzel bites with a basting brush. Repeat again while they bake if needed.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.