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This Soft Pretzel Bites Recipe make a great afternoon snack or party appetizer, especially when they’re dipped in cheese sauce. Your guests will be impressed that you made homemade pretzel bites.

Pretzel Bites with a bowl of cheese dipping sauce
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The soft buttery texture make them irresistible snack anytime of the day. We like making them for our game day parties. They are even great to take to your next holiday get-together.

Dough for Soft Pretzels Bites

The dough for the soft pretzels may look like a long list of ingredients but really it is a simple process. You are going to be amazed as to how easy it is and that you probably have all the ingredients.

The longest part is letting your dough rise. But I use this time to clean-up and prepare my area to roll the dough.

What are Pretzel Bites?

Basically, it is everything you love about a soft pretzel, only in a bite-sized form. Which pretty much means that there isn’t all the work in shaping your pretzel, you just cut them and cook them! And let’s just face it, bite-sized snacks are much more fun.

I made these Homemade Pretzel Bites for our New Year’s Eve gathering and they were a hit.  Personally, I think you have to dunk them in this delicious cheese sauce. But you should really find out for yourself!

Ingredients

Pretzel Bites ingredients brown sugar, active dry yeast, butter, warm water, salt, flour, canola oil, water, baking soda, egg, sea salt
  • Light Brown Sugar
  • Active Dry Yeast
  • Unsalted Butter, melted
  • Warm Water
  • Kosher Salt
  • All-Purpose Flour
  • Canola Oil
  • Water (about 8 cups of water)
  • Baking Soda
  • Egg, beaten
  • Coarse sea salt

Now, that is a long list of ingredients, but you probably have most, if not all, of these on hand already. Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you. For the full recipe, scroll to the recipe card.

Variations Ideas

These Pretzel Bites are customizable. Feel free to change things up and add some variety.

  • Add in Seasoning – You can sprinkle in some Everything but the bagel seasoning, ranch seasoning, or some cajun seasoning to give it a little spice.
  • Cheese – Adding in some parmesan cheese or asiago cheese would be so good.
  • Gluten Free – You can even make them gluten free with gluten free flour.
  • Whole Wheat Flour – If you want a healthy version, you can also use whole wheat flour.

How to Make Pretzel Bites

There are the steps you’ll need to follow precisely to get these right, but trust me, anyone can do it.

Combining yeast, brown sugar, water and butter in a bowl

Step 1 – Mix brown sugar, yeast, melted butter, and warm water together in a bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Make sure you get all ingredients from the side of the bowl.

Add in salt, flour into yeast mixture to make dough with the dough hook

Step 2 – Add in salt and add in flour and knead the dough with the dough hook for about 3 minutes.

Dough doubled in size in a bowl

Step 3 – Oil a glass large bowl and place dough inside of bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand for about an hour (or until doubled in size).

Rolling the dough on a cutting board and cutting into bite size pieces

Step 4 – Preheat oven to 425°F. Bring water to boil in a large pot, then add baking soda. Break off pieces of dough, roll into a “snake”. Chop dough into bite-size pieces

Cooking the pretzel bites in a large pot of baking soda wter

Step 5 – Add pieces to boiling baking soda water. Remove with a slotted spoon after about 30 seconds (do NOT leave these in too long). This is an important step to making pretzels at home. Boiling them gives them a chewy texture and the baking soda gives them that brown crust.

Placing the cooked dough pieces on a baking sheet

Step 6 – Place on a well-greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Repeat until all of the dough is gone. Brush egg wash over pretzel bites, then sprinkle with coarse sea salt or pretzel salt. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes (or until a nice pretzel-y color or golden brown). Serve warm and enjoy.

Recipe Tips

  • If you want to change things up from the traditional pretzel flavor, before you bake these you can sprinkle with garlic salt or even Parmesan cheese instead of the coarse sea salt.
  • The pretzel dough should stick together. If it is to sticky, just add in a little more flour at a time.
  • I like forming it to long strands, then cutting into small size bites.
  • Try not to boil to many pretzel dough at a time. I try to keep it around 10 to prevent from sticking to each other.
Pretzel Bites on a white plate with a bowl of cheese sauce

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites

Do you want to turn your pretzel bites into a sweet treat? You can try them with Cinnamon and Sugar. After you bake them, you can brush them with melted butter and then roll them in a cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Changing a few ingredients can easily change these pretzel bites. We love it with cinnamon and sugar.

Pretzel bites on a white plate with a bowl of cheese

Great Party Snack

This is the perfect party snack. I always make them for the kids as they are perfect to grab and go. I like set out different dipping sauces for everyone to try.

  • Warm Cheese Dip
  • Queso Dip
  • Pizza Dip
  • Honey Mustard Sauce

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Store Leftovers

It doesn’t happen very often that you will end up with left over pretzel bite. If you need to you can store the leftover homemade soft pretzel bites at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

How do you keep pretzel bites warm?

After baking your pretzels, you can keep them warm by lowering your oven temperature to about 150°F, or the lowest it will go. I wouldn’t leave them in there longer than about 30 minutes to an hour, otherwise, they will end up drying out.

How to freeze

This recipe does make quite a few homemade pretzels bites. If you find that you have way more than you need at once, you can freeze them. Make sure they cool completely after being baked, then place them in a freezer bag.

More Easy Snack Recipes

We love to hear from you. If you make these soft pretzel bites recipe, please leave us a comment or a star review.

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Homemade Pretzel Bites

5 from 6 votes
Try these homemade pretzel bites next time you are throwing a party or want a fun snack. They taste better than the store bought pretzels.
Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 12
Cuisine American
Course Appetizer
Calories 210

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 packet Active Dry Yeast
  • 3 Tbsp Butter (melted)
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 3 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 4 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • Canola Oil
  • 3 quarts water
  • 1/2 cup Baking Soda
  • 1 Egg (beaten)
  • 1/4 cup coarse sea salt

Instructions

  • Mix brown sugar, yeast, melted butter, and warm water together in a stand mixer with a dough hook.
  • Add in salt and flour and mix with dough hook on low until well combined. Mix for another 3-4 minutes or until dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • Oil a glass bowl. Pull the dough out of the mixer bowl and form into a ball. Place dough inside the oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand for about an hour (or until doubled in size).
  • Preheat oven to 425 F.
  • Bring 3 quarts of water to boil in a stock pot, then add baking soda. Break off pieces of dough, roll into a “snake”, then chop into bite size pieces. Add the cut pieces to boiling water. Remove the pieces after about 30 seconds (the pieces will initially sink, but then start to float when they are ready).
  • Place on a well greased cookie sheet, making sure pieces are not touching. Repeat until all of the dough is gone. I filled up 2 big cookie sheets.
  • Brush egg wash over the pretzel bites, then sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes (or until a nice pretzel-y color).
  • Remove to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy.

Recipe Notes

If you want to change things up from the traditional pretzel flavor, before you bake these you can sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or garlic salt or even Parmesan cheese instead of the coarse sea salt.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 210kcal, Carbohydrates 38g, Protein 5g, Fat 3g, Saturated Fat 2g, Cholesterol 21mg, Sodium 4351mg, Potassium 60mg, Fiber 1g, Sugar 2g, Vitamin A 110IU, Calcium 20mg, Iron 2.3mg

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About the Author

Hi, I’m Carrie. Welcome to Eating on a Dime!

I’m on a mission to help you cook delicious meals without busting your budget. Together we are going to cook real food… for real families!

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  1. Can you use frozen bread dough instead of making the dough?What kind of cheese would you dip the pretzels in.

  2. 5 stars
    My family esp my Grandsons loved helping to make the snakes and especially enjoyed the end product! Definately making again!