These soft & buttery pretzel bites are the BEST homemade snack! With an easy dough & no boiling required, these can be made in 1 hour without special tools or ingredients!
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Why I Love These Soft Pretzel Bites
- Soft & tender: if you love soft pretzels from Auntie Anne's, you'll love the soft, buttery, and chewy texture of these.
- Under 1 hour: Unlike a lot of bread recipes, these homemade pretzels don’t take hours to rise. You can make them from start to finish in just around 1 hour!
- No mixer needed: You can mix these entirely by hand; no electric mixer required!
- No bread flour needed: These pretzel bites use all-purpose flour, so you don't need any fancy bread flours.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Active Dry Yeast: Make sure that your yeast is not expired. If it doesn't foam, discard it and start over. You can also use instant yeast if that's what you have on hand. Using expired yeast will result in a dense texture rather than soft and tender bread.
- Baking Soda: Dipping the pretzel dough in a baking soda bath gives you that iconic pretzel taste and a golden color. While some recipes require you to dip them in boiling water, I find it too messy and prefer to just use warm water.
- Salted Butter: While I typically use unsalted butter for baking, using salted butter will make these taste like mall pretzels.
How to Make These Easy Pretzel Bites
Step 1: Activate Yeast
- In a medium-sized bowl or measuring cup, stir together warm water (1 cup), active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (2 tablespoons). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet – no need to heat it up more.
- Let sit for 10 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.
Tip: If your mixture doesn’t foam or bubble after 10-20 minutes, your yeast is likely dead and you need to start over with fresh yeast.
Step 2: Mix Dough
- While the yeast is proofing, mix together all-purpose flour (3 cups) and salt (1 teaspoon) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture. After the 10 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture.
- Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
Tip: If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough.
Step 3: Let Dough Raise
Grease the bowl with oil and place the dough ball back into the bowl, coating the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean kitchen towel) and let sit for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
Step 4: Roll Into Balls
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and use your hands to roll each section into a long strip. Use a knife, kitchen scissors, or pizza cutter to cut into pieces, then roll into balls.
- In a medium bowl, mix together warm water (1 cup) and baking soda (1 tablespoon). Be sure to use a tablespoon and not a teaspoon!
- Dip each bite in the baking soda mixture and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt or pretzel salt, if desired.
Step 5: Bake
Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown. Use a pastry brush or spoon to brush warm pretzels with melted salted butter. This is what truly gives it that mall pretzel taste – don't skip the salted butter!
Step 6: Enjoy!
Dip the buttery soft pretzel bites in cheese sauce for the ultimate homemade mall pretzel. You can also dip these into beer cheese dip or honey mustard dip. The perfect perfect party food or game day snack!
Tips & Variations
- Don't add too much flour: You only want to add flour until it's no longer sticky to the touch. If your dough is no longer sticky but there's still flour in the bowl, don't force it into the dough. Adding too much flour will result in drier and less tender pretzels.
- Use salted butter: Where I normally use unsalted butter in baking, these need salted butter for dipping. Unsalted just doesn’t taste good here!
- Switch up the flavor: for cinnamon sugar pretzel bites, coat the freshly baked pretzels in butter and then toss them in a cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve with a vanilla icing or cream cheese dip. You can also top these with everything bagel seasoning instead of the salt!
Storage & Freezing
- Storage: These homemade pretzel bites are best enjoyed fresh, but they can also be stored in an airtight container or bag for 1-2 days. To reheat, run them under water quickly, then heat for 2-3 minutes in an air fryer or 5-10 minutes in a 350-degree oven.
- Freezing: While they're best fresh, you can freeze these pretzel bites by letting them cool and then placing them in an airtight bag (for up to 1-2 months). To regain their freshness, bake them at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes until heated through."
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, these will work with instant yeast. While instant yeast doesn’t require it to be bloomed, I still recommend following the instructions as written.
I am not an expert on gluten-free baking but I haven’t had luck making GF breads. If you want to make these, I would suggest finding a different gluten-free pretzel recipe and then following the instructions here to cut into bites.
Yes, you can use either all-purpose or bread flour in these. Bread flour will result in a slightly chewier pretzel which is never a bad thing!
I usually just use jarred cheese like Tostitos Medium queso. My family also likes the Nacho cheese from Sam's Club (that comes in a tub).
Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
Pretzel Dough
- 1 cup warm water (not hot!)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast one (0.25 oz.) Packet
- 2 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Water Bath
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda (not teaspoons!)
For Topping & Dipping (Optional)
- coarse pretzel or sea salt
- salted butter for brushing on top
Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl or measuring cup, stir together warm water (1 cup), active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (2 tablespoons). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet - no need to heat it up more. Let sit for 10 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.*See notes below if your mixture doesn't foam or bubble.
- While the yeast is proofing, mix together all-purpose flour (3 cups) and salt (1 teaspoon) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture.After the 10 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture and pour into the crater you created in the flour bowl.
- Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
- Grease the bowl with oil and place the dough ball back into the bowl, coating the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean dish towel) and let sit for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and use your hands to roll each section into a long strip. Use a knife, kitchen scissors, or pizza cutter to cut into pieces, then roll into balls.
- In a medium bowl, mix together warm water (1 cup) and baking soda (1 tablespoon). Be sure to use a tablespoon and not a teaspoon!
- Dip each bite in the baking soda mixture and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt or pretzel salt, if desired.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown.
- Use a pastry brush or spoon to brush warm pretzels with melted salted butter. This is what truly gives it that mall pretzel taste - don't skip the salted butter!
- Enjoy warm with cheese sauce!
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Casey Jones says
My husband and 2 boysloved them. They demolished them in 30 minutes. About to go make some more for them actually. They were delicious. Tossed them in some cinnamon sugar for them.
Melissa says
So glad to hear that! Thank you so much for leaving a review, Casey!
Casey says
Your welcome. My husband just requested just asked what I had to do so you will make some more. It's currently waiting for them to rise. So they can enjoy some more.
Abigail says
This is my 3rd time making these and omg EVERY TIME they come out incredible absolutely delicious. I used this recipe for the Super Bowl for mini pigs in a blanket and they turned out incredible. I’ve also done regular hotdogs wrapped in bacon with this pretzel dough wrapped around them and OMG my family and I were in heaven. This recipe is so versatile I love it thank you.
Melissa says
So happy to hear you and the fam you enjoyed this recipe, Abigail! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it!
Emma says
I made these last year for the super bowl & am already planning on doubling the recipe to make it again this year! Very easy to make & user friendly. Simple ingredients that really make a fantastic snack. I dip in store bought jar queso to make it easy. 10/10 recommend ! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
Melissa says
So happy to hear you enjoy this recipe so much, Emma! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it!
Codi says
These look so yummy! I was wondering, can I used dark brown sugar instead is I don’t have light brown sugar?
Melissa says
Yes!
Vale says
The recipe was good, it was fun to make.
Melissa says
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Vale!
Jenny Ferreira says
Just made these so awesome would highly recommend!
Melissa says
So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Jenny! Thank you so much for leaving a review!
Steve says
Easy and delicious! Going to use this recipe for pigs in the blanket!! Simply put, they don’t suck and the brushing of the butter at the end is a must!👍👍
Melissa says
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Steve! I really appreciate it!