Soft pretzels have to be one of my favourite things of all time! So salty and buttery they pretty much make the ultimate snack in my books. I wanted a way to share our families favourite soft pretzel recipe with friends and family and decide to transform them into pretzel bites!
These pretzel bites are perfect for dipping into cheesy Queso or basil & garlic marinara sauce with your guests at your next get together. They also make a great family movie night dinner with some sliced meats on the side! Kind of like a charcuterie board but errrr less fancy and more country fair themed! Which lets be honest is more my speed when it comes to charcuterie boards anyways.
However you are going to serve them these little soft pretzel bites are sure to be a huge hit! You may even want to double the recipe in order to make sure you get a couple.
Pin For Later: Buttery Soft Pretzel Bites Recipe
When it comes to soft pretzels I can be really picky. I have always loved a salt, buttery soft pretzel ever since I can remember. However where I am from, soft pretzels were not served frequently. We didn’t have a lot of sporting events and at the ones we did have no delicious soft pretzels were served.
We did have a little fair come through town once a year but I don’t remember there being any soft pretzels and if there were they must not have been that great. Or I would have remembered.
I had to get my soft pretzel fill when we would visit my Nana and Papa in Kelowna and they would take us to every young girls happy place, the mall.
Their mall had the all important Claire’s accessory shop where my sisters and I would spend hours shopping for earrings.
Buy 3 get one free meant Nana and Papa would be parked patiently out on a bench in the mall waiting for there three Granddaughters to pick some earrings for heavens sake! But it also was the place where I could get a super soft and HUGE pretzel at I believe Wetzels pretzels or something of the sort.
I would almost always choose a savoury topping like garlic and parm and loved every.single.bite.
Todays post is in memory of those simpler days when all I was worried about was finding a cute pair of palm tree fluorescent earrings too go with my new Bootlegger top, AND snagging a soft pretzel with Nana.
How to Make Buttery Soft Pretzel Bites
I have already shared my families favourite soft pretzel recipe here. But today I wanted to share how you can take those soft pretzels to the next level with pretzel bites.
Its true I almost do prefer these little nuggets to their larger twisty family members. There is something about the bite size portions that go great with a dip that just tastes better. Maybe its the fact that they are so small so you can eat more without feeling guilty …
For todays recipe I am going to be topping half my bites with sea salt and the other half with a garlic parm topping like those good ole wetzel pretzels from the mall.
Ingredients:
For this recipe you will need
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tbs unsalted butter,melted
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt (1/2 tsp if using regular salt)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour + up to 3/4 cup more if needed
- 2 cups water
- 4 tbsp baking soda
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees and line a large baking sheet or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine yeast with warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with hook attachment. Once mixture becomes “frothy” your yeast is ready.
Stir in salt and 1 tbs of melted butter. Add flour 1 cup at a time until a dough forms and is no longer sticky. You may need more or less depending on temperature differences.
If you press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it’s ready to knead. Knead dough for 5 more minutes until smooth and pliable. Form dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, prepare baking soda bath.
Boil 2 cups of water in the microwave. I usually nuke mine for 4 min. then in a shallow dish add with 4 tbs of baking soda. Pour in the boiling water and mix with a fork or small risk until the baking soda is dissolved.
If you would like to have some garlic parm pretzel bites you can mix together 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese (I use Costcos shredded parm) with 2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1-2 tsp dried oregano.
After your dough has risen for 15 min.
After your dough has risen for 15 min, take it out of the bowl and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Cut dough into 8 sections. Roll each triangle into a long rope. Cut the dough into approx. 1.5 to 2″ pieces and place in baking soda bath for 1 minute per side.
Once the 2 minutes is up, carefully pick your pretzel bites up and place on your prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the pretzel bites with sea salt or roll them in your garlic parm topping while still wet (optional). Repeat these steps until all 8 pretzels are prepared and on the baking sheet(s).
Bake the pretzel bites for 7-8 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately from the oven, brush (heavily) with 6 tbs of melted butter.
These homemade soft pretzel bites are best served hot and fresh out of the oven but will keep for about 2 days when stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Alternatively you can pop them in the microwave and they will taste as good as new.
I like to serve them with store bought queso or marinara sauce for the garlic parm ones. They are also good plain when pipping hot from the oven and dripping with butter! Yum.
Try some of our other Recipes
Shop our handmade bread boards and charcuterie boards from our shop Revival Goods
Pin For Later: Buttery Soft Pretzel Bites
