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Home » Homemade Pretzels

Homemade Pretzels

August 13, 2013 by Debi 6 Comments

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Delicious little Homemade Pretzels – bites that you’ll absolutely love to snack on! Serve them with a fun candied jalapeno cheese sauce for dipping, and they’re the perfect game day snack.

I first made and posted about these pretzel bites back in 2010, when I made them for a party I hosted.

pretzel bites on a tray, with the title on image

Well, recently we had a small birthday celebration and the birthday boy requested beer and pretzels. It totally reminded me that I had made these and they were awesome!

So, back to make them again!

We appreciate your support

Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.

Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites on a plate

They’re really fun to make too

I made the dough before everyone got to my house for the celebration.

Using the bread machine

I like to use my bread machine for making dough. Makes it easy on me, keeps the cat fur out of the dough, and I can go off and do other things while the machine does the work.

The dough can be made in a bread machine set on the dough setting, just add all ingredients to the machine, and allow the dough cycle to run. Pick up with kneading the dough if made in the bread machine.

Boil the dough

Once everyone was there, we all stood around chatting and boiling pretzel dough.

It was perfect, like dinner theater! Then, a few minutes in the oven, and you have yourself a really fun and really yummy appetizer.

Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites | Life Currents

Pretzel Salt

I have a small jar with pretzel salt in my cupboard.

We used to buy those frozen soft pretzels that you bake up yourself, and they always come with a packet of pretzel salt. I never want my pretzels as salty as they seem to think people want, so I never used the full packet.

Over the years I saved the salt in a jar and now I have a nice little stash of the granules.

If you don’t have pretzel salt already, Amazon sells it: pretzel salt. Or, I bet a well-stocked grocery store might carry it (just look on the bottom shelf).

How to make pretzel bites

Homemade Pretzels - dough

I make the dough in the bread machine. Once the dough cycle is complete, take the dough out, knead it a bit, and place it in an oiled bowl.

Homemade Pretzels - dough covered with towel

Turn the dough over in the bowl so all sides are oiled, and cover with a clean cotton towel or plastic wrap

Homemade Pretzels - roasting pan with baking soda

Prepare a large roasting pan with water and baking soda

Homemade Pretzels - roll the dough into ropes

Roll the dough into ropes on a lightly floured surface. I also place my ruler (see it at the bottom of the picture) by my work area so I can see how long the ropes are.

Homemade Pretzels - cut the ropes into pieces

Cut the ropes into pieces

Homemade Pretzels - lay the pieces on the cookie sheet

Place the cut pieces on a silpat lined cookie or baking sheet so that it’s easy to carry them over to the roasting pan with water and baking soda on the stove

Homemade Pretzels - the egg wash and pretzel salt are ready

Egg wash and pretzel salt are ready to be used

Homemade Pretzels - brush the egg wash on the pretzel pieces

Brush the egg wash onto the pretzel pieces while the pretzel pieces are on the silpat lined cookie or baking sheet

Homemade Pretzels - sprinkle with salt

Sprinkle the egg wash covered pieces with pretzel salt, and into the oven to bake

Homemade Pretzels - baked pretzel bites

Here are the baked pretzel bites, all golden and ready to cool a bit so they can be eaten!

Homemade Pretzels - for an impressive display, load them all up in a big pile!

After allowing to cool on the baking sheets a little bit, remove them from the baking sheet and place them in a big bowl for serving. Or, for an impressive display, pile them up on a pretty serving platter with some dipping sauce in the center.

Serve these Homemade Pretzels with mustard or cheese sauce if desired. But honestly, they are awesome just simply the way they are.

pretzels on a silicone baking mat with the title on image.

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Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites | Life Currents

Homemade Pretzels Recipe

square crop of pretzel bites stacked on a serving plate.

Homemade Pretzels Bites

Debi
Homemade little delicious Pretzels bites that you’ll absolutely love to snack on!
5 from 25 votes
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Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins
Total Time 3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 35 servings
Calories 24 kcal

Ingredients
  

Dough:

  • 1 ½ cups warm water
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons or 1 package active dry yeast
  • 3 ounces or 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
  • 2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 4 ½ to 5 cups all-purpose flour

For cooking/baking:

  • Grapeseed oil or other light tasting high temperature oil
  • 3 quarts water
  • ¾ cup baking soda
  • 1 whole egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
  • Coarse pretzel salt or sea salt

Instructions
 

  • The dough can be made in a bread machine set on the dough setting, just add all of the dough ingredients to the machine, and allow the dough cycle to run. Pick up with kneading the dough, if made in the bread machine.
  • If making by hand:
  • Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or a food processor, and mix until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
  • Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • Once dough is made:
  • Remove the dough from the bowl or the bread machine, place on a lightly floured surface, and knead into a ball with your hands.
  • Lightly oil a bowl, and place the dough in the bowl. Turn the dough to coat the dough with the oil. Cover the bowl with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 425 ° F.
  • Bring the 3 quarts of water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.
  • Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 ¼ to 4 ½ ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring about 22 inches.
  • Cut the dough into approximately one-inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the baking soda-water solution, in batches, about 15 at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds.
  • Remove the boiled pretzel bites from the water with a large slotted spoon, and place pretzel bites on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, making sure the pretzels aren’t touching.
  • Brush the tops with egg wash and season with pretzel salt. Place into oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.
  • Remove to a baking rack and let cool. Devour!

Notes

Recipe Notes For the serving size, I figured roughly 5 pieces per person is a serving. Of course, this will vary if you have hungry people who eat more bites!

Nutrition

Calories: 24kcalCarbohydrates: 1gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 893mgPotassium: 9mgVitamin A: 70IUCalcium: 5mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

Keyword bites, pretzel
Tried this recipe?Mention @LifeCurrents or tag #LifeCurrents!

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Filed Under: Appetizers Tagged With: appetizers, bread, Cooking, Food, homemade, pretzel, recipe, salt, Snacks, appetizers, tailgating, tailgating, vegetarian

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about debi

ABOUT DEBI

Hello! I’m Debi, the girl behind Life Currents where I write about mainly healthy vegetarian dishes. My husband eats meat, so occasionally I share some of his dishes as well. And, I’ll share tasty treats and projects that we do. Read more...

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angel

    August 15, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    5 stars
    These are great. Thanks for the recipe. I really enjoyed it.

  2. Rachel Cotterill

    August 17, 2013 at 3:26 am

    5 stars
    They are amazing, little bitesize mouthfuls of pretzely goodness 🙂

  3. Joanne T Ferguson

    February 15, 2014 at 2:00 am

    5 stars
    G’day! Love pretzels! These were easy to make and so much fun to eat.

  4. Rini

    January 16, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    5 stars
    I love to find recipes that I normally buy from the store. This is a fast and simple recipe that’s really delicious.

  5. Becca

    January 26, 2023 at 2:32 pm

    5 stars
    These are so much fun! We made them, the whole family helped! Then we had a mini feast with these and your nacho cheese! So good!

  6. Laura Ashley Johnson

    January 8, 2024 at 6:54 pm

    5 stars
    Oh these are FOR SURE going on the Super Bowl menu! My family loved them!

5 from 25 votes (19 ratings without comment)

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Hi! I’m Debi, the girl behind Life Currents, where I write about mainly healthy vegetarian dishes with some great desserts and other goodies mixed in! Read More >>>

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