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These everything bagel soft pretzel bites are perfect. Crisp on the outside and soft, chewy, and pillowy on the inside. Plus, they're surprisingly easy to make!
Soft pretzel BITES are where it's at if you've ever wanted to make soft pretzels at home but have been intimidated by all that twisting and twirling.
All the soft pretzel yumminess without any of the fussing. Plus, bite-size nuggets of perfectly baked pretzel dough = LOVE.
These little pretzel bites are delightful to eat and fun to make. Please, please, please don't be intimidated by this recipe. As far as homemade breads go, this one is easy breezy. And my goodness, is it worth it.
These pretzels have the most amazing crisp exterior and the most comforting soft, chewy, pillowy interior. As far as pretzel bites go, these are PERFECT. And that statement carries weight considering the (recovering) perfectionist whose fingertips it's coming from.
I've included lots of step-by-step photos for you below to make the recipe as straightforward and easy-to-follow as possible. If you typically jump straight to the recipe, you may want to swing back around for a glance or two at the process photos if you want a little help.
Alright, let's get started. I'll walk you through the recipe here and offer a few tips, tricks, and insights along the way. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
First thing's first. Prepare your yeast mixture. Whisk together warm water (105F–115F), active yeast, and a teaspoon of pure maple syrup. Then, let it stand for 5 minutes or until a layer of foam develops across the surface like this...
If you're waiting much longer than five minutes and a foam still hasn't developed, your water was either too cold to activate the yeast or too hot and killed the yeast. Your yeast could also be old, but the other two scenarios are more likely. Either way, you'll need to start over with fresh water, yeast, and maple syrup or your dough won't rise.
While the yeast mixture activates, add all-purpose flour and fine sea salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. I've included instructions for hand-kneading the dough in the recipe notes, but I'll outline the mixer version here as that's what I recommend if you have access to one.
Whisk together the flour and salt. Then, add the yeast mixture and two tablespoons grapeseed oil. Turn the mixer on and mix/knead for 8 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Pretzel dough is dense and tough, so I've found that I actually have to pin my mixer down with my hands to prevent it from hopping around on the counter! The last thing anyone needs is a heavy kitchenaid mixer falling onto their floor. Just a tip to keep a close watch!
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm place for one hour.
Just before the dough finishes rising, whisk together water and baking soda (see recipe for amounts) in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a bowl.
Punch down the dough.
Once you've punched down the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface.
Then, cut it into five (nearly) equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 1-inch-thick rope, and slice each rope into 1-inch pieces.
Transfer the dough pieces to a floured baking tray. If you'd like to add some decorative flair to your pretzel bites, I recommend using a sharp knife to make shallow x's across the surface of each. This creates lovely marks while baking.
In a pinch, you can skip this step altogether.
Next, you'll drop several of the dough bites into the boiling baking soda mixture. Boil for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Then, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the dough bites and transfer them to a parchment-lined pan.
Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
This step is absolutely imperative, so don't skip it! This quick parboil in baking soda water is what makes pretzels... well, pretzels. If you skip it, you'll end up with plain old bread balls.
Once you've parboiled all of the dough balls, lightly brush the top of each with a bit of oil.
Next, generously sprinkle with the everything bagel seasoning.
Then, bake the bagel bites for 8 to 14 minutes, or until deep golden brown. The baking time will vary based on your oven, humidity levels, the size of your pretzel bites, etc.
I recommend baking for 8 minutes, checking them, and then continuing to bake and check in two-minute increments.
Also, go with your gut. If you like very light golden soft pretzels, under-bake them a touch. If you like super crispy soft pretzel bites, bake them until they're very deep golden brown.
Personally, I love mine right in the middle. Deep golden brown tops and bottoms, golden around the sides, and soft and pillowy inside.
These soft pretzel bites are best enjoyed warm from the oven, but theycan be stored in an airtight container for a few days as well.
Also, you don't have to bake all of the dough at once. See the recipe notes for tips on freezing portions of the dough to bake at a later time.
I like to serve these pretzel bites with mustard, but they're honestly so, so good all on their own.
I'm sure they'd also be tasty with some sort of nut-based beer "cheese" dip. I'll have to get to work on a recipe for that...
📖 Recipe
3 from 2 votes
Everything Bagel Soft Pretzel Bites
These everything bagel soft pretzel bites are perfect. Crisp on the outside and soft, chewy, and pillowy on the inside. Plus, they're surprisingly easy to make!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword vegan
Prep Time 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes minutes
Total Time 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes
Servings 4 dozen pretzel bites
Author Ashley
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water (105F–115F)
- 1 package yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons expeller-pressed grapeseed oil, plus plenty more for brushing
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- 5 cups water
- â…“ cup baking soda
- ¼ cup Everything Bagel seasoning
Instructions
In a small bowl, gently whisk together the warm water, yeast, and maple syrup. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until a foams develops on the surface.
Meanwhile, add the flour and sea salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk. If you have the kitchenaid mixer with dough hook attachment, I recommend using that. In which case you'll want to add the flour and sea salt to the bowl of the mixer.
Add the yeast mixture and the oil to the mixer or mixing bowl. Knead the mixture in the kitchenaid* for 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic (or 10 to 12 minutes by hand). Pretzel dough is very dense—I find that I have to hold my mixer in place while it kneads so that it doesn't bounce off the counter. If the dough is too soft or loose (read: it doesn't hold its form), add more flour, ¼ cup at a time, and continue kneading until the proper texture is reached.
Transfer the dough to the well-oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Just before the dough finishes rising, add the water and baking soda to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lightly flour a clean work surface and a large baking tray.
Preheat the oven to 450F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Punch down the dough. Turn it out onto the floured surface, and slice into 5 strips***. Roll each strip into a 1-inch-thick rope. Slice each rope into 1-inch segments. Transfer the segments to the floured baking tray. If desired, use a sharp paring knife to cut shallow x's in the top of each dough ball (this adds a decorative mark while baking).
Once the baking soda water is rapidly boiling, drop in several of the dough pieces. Boil for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Then, use a slotted heat-safe spoon to scoop out the dough balls and transfer them to one of the parchment-lined baking sheets. Repeat until all of the dough balls have been parboiled.
Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the parboiled dough with a bit of grapeseed oil. Sprinkle generously with the everything bagel seasoning.
Bake for 8 to 14 minutes****, or until deep golden brown.
Notes
*If you're kneading by hand, very lightly flour a clean work surface. Use a spoon to mix the oil and yeast mixture into the flour. Once you can no longer stir the dough with a spoon, turn it out onto the work surface, and knead for 10 to 15 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
**These soft pretzels are best enjoyed fresh but will last for a few days at room temperature as well. The dough can be made ahead of time (follow all steps through the one-hour rise), then thawed, rolled out, sliced, parboiled, topped, and baked according to instructions above. Since this recipe makes a large batch of soft pretzel bites, I usually save half the dough and freeze it to bake at a later time.
***To make regular pretzels, divide the proofed (risen) dough into 8 pieces, roll into ropes, and form into pretzel twist shapes. Parboil in the baking soda mixture for 45 to 60 seconds. Brush with oil, sprinkle with pretzel salt, and bake at 450F for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.
****I've found the oven in our current home bakes a little slow, so I have to bake these for a full 14 minutes, however, you may find your oven bakes much faster. Keep a watchful eye on them, and check around the 8 minute mark, then every two minutes from then on until desired doneness is reached.
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