Pretzel Bites
These Pretzel Bites are amazing! Brush with butter and sprinkle with salt or cinnamon sugar, then dip in cheese sauce or cream cheese glaze—so good!
Servings: 45 pretzel bites
Cost: $4.12
Equipment
- Large sheet pan (15" x 21") 15 x 21-inch
- Silicone baking mat or parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup warm milk whole milk recommended
- 2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry—see note 1
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 up to 4 cups bread flour plus more for dusting surface, see note 2
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 to 7 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- Cooking spray
Baking Soda Bath
- 8 cups water
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt or make cinnamon-sugar pretzels with cream cheese sauce—see notes 3 and 4
- Cheese sauce optional, for serving, see note 5
Instructions
- Quick Tip: It may be helpful to watch the tutorial video in this recipe post before starting!In a medium bowl, whisk the warm water, warm milk (see note 6), yeast, and honey; let sit 5–10 minutes. It should look creamy/foamy after 5 minutes (see photo). If not, your yeast didn’t work, and you’ll need to begin again. (Either the yeast is dead or the water/milk was too hot.)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl), combine 3 cups bread flour and salt. Stir to combine, then make a well in the middle. Pour in 1 tablespoon melted and cooled butter. Use a spatula to scrape every bit of the yeast mixture on top. Attach paddle or dough hook and beat on low speed, scraping the sides as needed with a rubber spatula, until combined. Increase speed, and if needed (see note 7), add up to 3/4 cup more flour, adding 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together on the dough hook and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. After mixing for about 2 minutes, if the dough is still sticking to sides of the bowl instead of around hook, add the last 1/4 cup flour.
- Once dough is gathering around the hook, knead on low speed for 5 minutes or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface. Knead and shape dough into a ball. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray, turn the ball to coat in the oil, then cover the bowl with a towel and let rise in a draft-free, warm (70°F) environment for 1 hour 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line an extra-large (15x21-inch) sheet pan (or 2 smaller pans) with silicone baking mats (preferred) or parchment paper (lightly grease with cooking spray). Punch down the dough and dump onto a lightly floured surface. Cut dough into 6 equal pieces (just eyeball it). Take 1 piece, covering the other 5 pieces with a towel. Use your hands to roll the piece into an even, long rope, about 20–22 inches in length. Cut the rope into 1.5-inch pieces. Place pieces on prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is cut into pieces.
- While cutting out the last 3 ropes, bring 8 cups water in a large pot to boil. Once boiling, add baking soda and whisk until completely dissolved. Take 8 pretzel bites at a time in both hands and gently place (at the same time) in the boiling water. Count to 10, then use a large slotted spoon to lift the pretzel bites, tapping against the pot edge to allow excess water to drip off. Place the bites back on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat until all bites have gone in the boiling water (if the water gets foamy, reduce heat). Make sure bites are well spaced out, not overlapping, but they can be relatively close together (see picture above).
- Melt 4 tablespoons butter and use a pastry brush to brush butter generously over all the pretzel bites (should use all or most of it). Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake 12–18 minutes or until golden brown on top, lightly browned on bottom, and baked through. (If you don’t bake the entire batch of pretzels at once, bake time will be quicker). Remove from oven. Optional: for extra buttery bites, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter and brush on bites right out of the oven, adding a touch more salt if desired. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
Note 1: I prefer instant yeast, but active dry will work. Just note the rise time is typically longer!
Note 2: Bread flour’s higher protein gives these Pretzel Bites a better chew and texture. All-purpose flour works too, but the result is a bit less pretzel-like.
Note 3: Cinnamon sugar coating: Bake Pretzel Bites plain (no butter or salt). Melt 4 tbsp unsalted butter and set aside. In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon. When pretzels are done and still warm, brush each with butter, then dip in cinnamon sugar, and place on a cooling rack. Best served warm, as they’ll get soggy after a few hours.
Note 4: Cream cheese sauce: In a large bowl, beat 4 oz softened cream cheese with 2 tbsp butter until smooth. Add 1 cup powdered sugar, a dash of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and 2 tbsp heavy cream; mix until smooth.
Note 5: Optional Cheese Sauce:
Note 5: Optional Cheese Sauce:
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt and paprika
- 1/4 tsp pepper and garlic powder
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 2 cups sharp (or extra sharp) freshly shredded Cheddar cheese (6 oz. cheese)
- For more flavor/some heat: add hot sauce or ground cayenne pepper (add slowly to taste)
- Dough should gather around the paddle, not stick to the bowl sides.
- It will be slightly sticky, smooth, and tacky.
- Your finger should feel slight resistance without sticking.
- Add flour gradually to maintain dough softness.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 46kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 43IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.1mg