These soft pretzel bites are exactly like regular homemade soft pretzels, but shaped into smaller pieces. The dough requires just 6 ingredients and there’s hardly any rise time, so this is a wonderful recipe for yeast beginners. Have fun shaping the bites (they don’t need to be perfect!) and enjoy warm flavorful homemade pretzels within an hour. Serve plain, cinnamon sugar style, or with your favorite dip such as spicy cheese sauce or stone ground mustard.
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more success tips. This recipe previously called for an egg wash before topping with salt, but that step is now optional as the pretzels can be salted while they are still wet from the boiling step. The written recipe below reflects that small change.
I’m writing this over 7 years after this recipe was first published and say with 100% honesty that kids and adults alike FLOCK to these pretzel bites. They’re always a massive hit, a favorite party snack, and the fact that they’re surprisingly easy is music to the ears!
One reader, Ali, commented: “Made these for the Super Bowl. I was nervous because I have very little experience with yeast and my last attempt at a yeast recipe turned out terribly. Much to my relief, these were so easy and turned out DELICIOUS! I will absolutely be making them again. I especially loved how short the rise time was… no need to start the process the night before or even hours before. Thank you! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Connie, commented: “So easy and delicious! I put off making these because I thought they would be more involved, but they were so simple! I made half with salt and half with cinnamon sugar, and these will be on all my party menus! ★★★★★”
Tell Me About These Soft Pretzel Bites
- Flavor: If you enjoy soft pretzels, you’ll love these smaller bites. They’re completely homemade, so unlike store-bought frozen soft pretzels, each has that soft, warm, and fresh-from-the-oven taste and texture. You can keep the pretzels traditional with a sprinkling of coarse salt or try the cinnamon sugar version detailed in the recipe notes.
- Texture: The difference between bread and soft pretzels/soft pretzel bites is an alkaline bath. Do you know what that is? I promise it’s a very easy step. This is when shaped soft pretzel dough takes a dip in boiling water and baking soda, a quick step that provides the iconic chewy pretzel texture and adds a deeper, richer color to the baked pretzels. The boiling water also locks in the shape so the pretzels don’t over-puff in the oven. (Without the baking soda bath, you lose texture, that deep brown color, and flavor. So, basically, you will have bite-size bread instead of pretzels.) We do this key step when making regular soft pretzels, soft pretzel rolls, jalapeño cheddar soft pretzels and soft pretzel knots, too.
- Ease: Have you ever made my recipe for regular homemade soft pretzels? It was one of the first recipes I ever published, only to be republished with step-by-step photos a few years later. It’s become a “famous” & popular recipe on this website because the pretzels are relatively quick, extremely easy, and deliver great taste. Same story with these pretzel bites! Though the recipe requires yeast, I always say that this pretzel dough is a terrific starting point for yeast beginners because there’s very little rise time. And shaping the dough into bite-size pieces is easier than shaping into pretzels. Lots of perks about today’s recipe!
Dough for Soft Pretzel Bites
I never stray from my original soft pretzel dough, so that’s what you’ll use for these pretzel bites. You need just 6 basic ingredients to get started including warm water, yeast, a little sugar to feed the yeast, melted butter, salt, and all-purpose flour. (If you have it, the same amount of bread flour works too!). You can use either instant (quick rise) or active dry yeast in this dough. I usually use Platinum Yeast from Red Star, which is an instant yeast.
The dough doesn’t require extended rise time and the baking soda bath is pretty quick, so besides the baking step, the longest stretch of time this recipe requires is shaping.
Baking with Yeast Guide
Reference this Baking with Yeast Guide whenever you work with baker’s yeast. I include practical answers to all of your common yeast questions.
Step-By-Step Pictures
Whisk the warm water, yeast, and sugar together. Cover and let the mixture sit for a few minutes until foamy on top. Waiting for it to foam isn’t totally necessary, but it helps us see that the yeast is ready and active. The right photo below shows the dough before kneading. Review my How to Knead Dough video tutorial if needed before starting the next step.
Knead the dough, divide into 6 sections, and then roll into six 20-inch ropes. The video tutorial located in the recipe shows these steps as well. Cut each rope into 1.5 – 2 inch pieces to make bites. I like to use a (affiliate links) pizza cutter or bench scraper for cutting this dough, but a sharp knife works perfectly fine too. Use what you have.
The photo above shows the pretzel bites after the baking soda bath. At this point, they are ready to bake.
Try Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites
Immediately after the baking soda bath while the soft pretzel bites are still wet, sprinkle with coarse salt. Or if you’d like a different topping, skip the coarse salt and try the cinnamon sugar version. Bake the pretzels completely plain without salt. Once done and still warm out of the oven, brush with melted butter then dip into a mix of cinnamon and granulated sugar. See specific instructions in the Notes below.
By the way, you can have fun with even more toppings such as everything bagels seasoning instead of coarse salt. Heavily sprinkle on the pretzels while they’re still wet from the baking soda bath before baking.
For a larger version, try these soft pretzel rolls. Great for sandwiches!
Make-Ahead Tip
If you are making pretzel bites in advance, do not top them with coarse salt before baking. The salt draws the moisture out of the pretzels, and once you’ve placed the baked and cooled pretzel bites in an airtight container or bag, it doesn’t take long before you’ll notice water droplets forming inside and the pretzel bites become soggy and wrinkled. Yuck!
If you won’t be serving the pretzel bites the same day you bake them, omit the salt-topping step. Bake as directed, then allow to cool completely before placing them in an airtight container, and store at room temperature. When you are ready to serve them, place the pretzel bites on a baking sheet and brush them lightly with water, then sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake them in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 5 minutes, or until warmed through.
Same goes for freezing homemade soft pretzel bites: wait to top with salt until you’re ready to serve them. Cool the unsalted baked pretzel bites completely, then freeze in an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, brush frozen pretzel bites (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for 10 minutes or until warmed through.
More Appetizers & Snacks
- Pepperoni Pizza Dip
- Garlic & Bacon Spinach Dip
- Sweet Potato Skins
- Honey Mustard Pretzel Pieces
- Crab Dip
- Homemade Artisan Crackers
- Bacon Wrapped Cheesy Stuffed Jalapeños
- Honey BBQ Popcorn Chicken
- Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball
Soft Pretzel Bites
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 5 dozen
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft pretzel bites are always a crowd favorite! The easy dough requires just 6 ingredients and there’s hardly any rise time, so this is a wonderful recipe for yeast beginners. Have fun shaping the bites (they don’t need to be perfect!) and enjoy warm flavorful homemade pretzels within an hour. Review recipe notes and watch the video tutorial before starting.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360g/ml) warm water (lukewarm; around 100°F (38°C) is great)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 and 3/4–4 cups (469–500g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- topping: coarse salt/coarse sea salt
Baking Soda Bath
- 1/2 cup (120g) baking soda
- 9 cups (2.1L) water
Optional for Serving
- spicy cheese sauce or your favorite mustard
Instructions
- Make the dough: Whisk warm water, yeast, and sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle or dough hook attachment. (If you do not have a stand mixer, just use a regular large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.) Cover yeast mixture and allow to sit for 5 minutes or until foamy on top. Add salt, melted butter, and 3 cups (375g) of flour. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if needed, then add 3/4 cup (95g) of flour. Beat on low speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. If dough is extremely sticky after 1 minute of mixing, add remaining 1/4 cup (30g) of flour and continue to beat for 1 more minute. (You can see in the video that I add the remaining flour.)
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rest for 10-30 minutes. (Meanwhile, I like to get the water + baking soda boiling as instructed in step 5.)
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Silicone baking mats are highly recommended over parchment paper. If using parchment paper, lightly spray with nonstick spray or grease with butter. Set aside.
- Shape: With a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or bench scraper, cut dough into 6 equal pieces (just eyeball it, doesn’t have to be perfect). Sprinkle work surface very lightly with flour. (Tip: The heavier you flour the work surface, the harder it is to roll the dough. A little stickiness actually helps. You only need *a very light* dusting of flour.) Roll each piece of dough into a 20-inch rope. If the ropes keep shrinking and stretching the dough becomes difficult, stop what you’re doing, lightly cover all of the dough, and let it rest for 10 minutes so the gluten can relax. Then, return to rolling it into ropes. Cut each rope into 1.5–2-inch pieces to make bites.
- Baking Soda Bath: Mix water and baking soda together in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Place 8–10 pretzel bites into the boiling water for a quick 10–15 seconds. (Any longer and your pretzels could take on a metallic taste.) Using a slotted spatula or spoon, lift the pretzel bites out of the water and allow excess water to drip off. Place bites onto prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt while they are still wet, or leave plain if using cinnamon sugar topping listed in the notes. Repeat baking soda bath with remaining pretzel bites. If needed, you can cover and refrigerate the boiled/unbaked bites for up to 24 hours before baking.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
- Cover and store leftover pretzel bites at room temperature for up to 3 days. They lose a little softness over time. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds or bake in a 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: If planning to freeze baked pretzel bites, do not top them with coarse salt before baking. Cool completely, then freeze in an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, brush frozen pretzel bites (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for 10 minutes or until warmed through, or microwave frozen pretzel bites until warm. The prepared pretzel dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to one day or frozen in an airtight container for 2–3 months. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerated dough can be shaped into pretzel bites while still cold, but allow some extra time, about 1 hour, for the pretzel bites to puff up before continuing with the baking soda bath and baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pizza Cutter or Bench Scraper | Large Pot | Coarse Salt
- Flour: If you have it, the same amount of bread flour works instead of all-purpose flour. Do not use whole wheat flour.
- Cinnamon Sugar: Bake the pretzel bites completely plain without salt in step 7. As the pretzel bites bake, melt 4 Tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter. Set aside. Combine 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Set aside. Once the pretzels are done and still warm out of the oven, brush each with melted butter then generously dip into cinnamon sugar. Cinnamon sugar pretzels are best served that day because the melted butter topping causes them to become soggy after a few hours.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Egg? This recipe used to call for brushing the boiled pretzel bites with a beaten egg before sprinkling with coarse salt. Now you can skip the egg and sprinkle the salt on the pretzels while they are still wet from the boiling step. If you prefer them the old way, feel free to continue brushing with the beaten egg before salting and baking.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I cut back on the sugar? Looking for savory not sweet.
Hi Catherine! These pretzel bites are not sweet. The 1 Tbsp brown sugar in the dough gives us flavor balance and feeds the yeast.
When I baked them, the parchment paper was stuck to it.
Hi Gianna! We’re sorry to hear that. Do you happen to have silicone baking mats? Those will ensure there’s no sticking with these pretzel bites next time.
This recipe is my favorite
Sally, this is the best, softest pretzel dough recipe I have ever made! Thank you for sharing this incredibly easy dough. I’m looking forward to trying Cheddar Jalapeño! A nice line of different hot peppers would be fun. I work at a farmers market and people just flock to anything with hot peppers! How could I keep these warm at a farmers market?
This recipe is our kids’ favorite!! I’m thinking of using them for pretzel dogs… silly questions I suppose but do you think it would work?!
Hi Alyssa, yes! Definitely. You can wrap this dough (our soft pretzel dough) around hot dogs for pretzel dogs.
I also had a similar issue with the dough being too wet, and I used my stand mixer- followed the recipe exactly. I probably added about a half cup more of flour, and my kitchen is 66 degrees.
This recipe is great. I baked them and then put them on the fridge – how long are they ok in there or can I freeze?
Hi LL, the pretzel bites should be fine stored in the fridge for a few days, or you can freeze for up to 3 months. Hope this helps!
I love this recipe! Can I brown my butter instead of just melted butter.
Hi Stephanie, we haven’t tested it but would love to know if you give it a try! Be sure to let your browned butter cool slightly before adding.
Will definitely tell you how it goes! I love browned butter lol.
I will never buy store-bought again! The recipe and directions were so precise and easy to follow, the pretzel bites came out perfect. Thank you for another great recipe.
I will never buy store bought soft pretzels again . The texture and taste were perfect. The recipe and directions are so precise and easy to follow. Thank you for another great recipe.
Hi, would almond flour work for this recipe?
Hi Leah, almond flour would not work for this soft pretzel bites recipe. It has much different baking properties than all purpose flour.
Fantastic end result and my husband and I devoured all of them. One thing I would say is the kneading directions didn’t work for me as I wasn’t using a stand mixer – the dough was far too wet even after mixing as per the directions to be able to knead it. Solved this by letting it rest for an additional half an hour before kneading, and it was perfectly easy to do then. I nearly gave up on it when I saw true consistency of the dough so this might be helpful to know for anyone else trying to do this without a stand mixer.
Sorry, meant to rate it 5 stars!
So good. SO GOOD!! I’ve never made anything bread-related before, and following this recipe by hand was a breeze! The end result has turned out absolutely delicious! Perfectly soft and slightly chewy with that little crunch. This is the best, best recipe!
I meant to put my name when I first put a comment!! Sorry
I made this, cinnamon sugar pretzels & the spicy nacho cheese! My family and I loved it!! Thanks for the recipe!
These were delicious! We ate some of them with cheesy broccoli soup and some with a homemade honey mustard dip. So good! This recipe is a keeper!
I love this recipe. Have made it many times. Making New Year’s Day brunch for 20 and a double order of this recipe and fondue is a main item
Why does this recipe not call for chilling but your pretzel knots need to be chilled first?
Hi Laura, the soft pretzel knots do not need to be refrigerated before baking; it’s mentioned in the recipe as an option that you can refrigerate them for up to 24 hours before baking if that works better for your schedule.
Wonderful! Crunchy and Savory! Thank you for sharing.
I just made these to snack on during Sunday Football and my husband says they are just as good as Auntie Annes!! One question though? Can i freeze them even if theyve been salted and baked?
Hi Amanda, yes you can, though they may look a little wrinkled when you thaw them, though this doesn’t affect the taste.
Could we use a spatula instead of a stand mixer? Will that have an affect on the dough?
Hi Lumina, absolutely! See step 1 – If you do not have a stand mixer, just use a regular large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Note that you will have to knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes in step 2. If you’re new to bread-baking, this How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.
Hi! I was wondering if you could use bread flour instead?
Definitely!
Hey! I was looking for something easy to make like this (cause i’m a procrastinator and need it by tonight) and i realized i only have salted butter. is that okay to use? thanks!!
Hi Karina, yes it’s fine. Because it’s only 1 T. of butter, no need to alter the salt in the recipe. Enjoy!
Could I switch the flour to gluten free
Hi Deb, we haven’t tested it, but let us know if you do!
My grandson absolutely loved these! I made and took to a party – everyone loved them. These are so good.
ive made this recipe several times before and its turned out perfectly but for some reason i just keep adding flour and my dough isnt coming together
Hi Isabella, A lot of temperature/humidity/climate factors can cause a recipe to need more/less flour. This dough should be slightly sticky, just a bit tacky when you roll it out into ropes, but not so sticky that you can’t knead it. Hope this helps for next time!
Never in my life have I made any kind of dough before, but decided to give these a try for a football pot luck. Directions were straight forward and simple, leading to a great treat that I will be proud to share with our game buddies. Thank you!
Purely delicious!!! I made them for my Oktoberfest party and again a week later as they were a huge hit!
I went heavy on the butter and brown sugar. Try them, you wont regret it!
Love these pretzel bites! Can I double the recipe with the same results…I never have enough to go around!
Hi Bonnie, for best taste and texture, we highly recommend making separate batches of dough rather than doubling the recipe. Glad you enjoy these pretzel bites!
First time making soft pretzels, first time using a stand mixer. Follow the recipe very carefully, everything turned out great except I did not get a pretzel flavor. I did the baking soda bath like you said, but no pretzel flavor. The other thing, which is my fault is I tried to use wax paper and I sprayed it, and every one of the bites stuck to the wax paper. Which is okay because they didn’t taste much like pretzels so I’m not sure how much I was going to keep anyway. Loved this recipe, it was easy and I will try again if I can get a tip on how to get more of the pretzel flavor. Thank you
Hi A., The quick baking soda boil gives the pretzels their traditional flavor and lovely browned color—was the bath time shortened at all? Otherwise they may just need a few additional minutes in the oven. Thank you for giving these a try!