Learn how to easily make your own soft and buttery easy homemade pretzel bites in just a few steps. This recipe is simple and fun to make, you can even involve your kids!

We love watching football together in the Fall so I am always looking for yummy appetizers to make for my family. Some of our top favorites include Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip, Mom’s Pineapple Onion Cheeseball, these Crispy Hot Wings or these fantastic Cream Cheese Jalapeño Poppers.

Each time my kids have friends over to hang out, they ALWAYS ask me to make a batch of these Homemade Soft Buttered Pretzels. Now that the kids are getting older, the pretzels disappear almost instantly! I realized that I could convert this recipe into pretzel bites, double it and then there would be more than enough to share. I have also tripled the recipe for pretzel bites and ended up with 6 pan’s worth. They still disappeared almost instantly (insert teenage boys), but there were plenty to go around!

Making Easy Homemade Pretzel Bites

These easy homemade pretzel bites are super simple to make, you can even involve your kids! The process simply involves a 4 ingredient dough, allowing it to rise for about 30 minutes, and then rolling into ropes and cutting into pieces. You will then dunk the pieces into a quick baking soda bath, then transfer the bites to a baking sheet and cook for about 8-9 minutes. Nothing beats a salty, buttery pretzel bite right out of the oven!

Equipment needed for Easy Homemade Pretzel Bites

Kitchenaid Mixer– This recipe can easily be mixed by hand, but I really like using my Kitchen Aid mixer to ensure the dough is mixed to a really smooth, elastic texture.

Quality Baking Sheets- baking with quality baking sheets makes ALL the difference in how your baked goods are evenly browned and cooked through.

Parchment baking sheets- I LOVE these baking sheets and always keep a set on hand. They are wonderful for day to day cooking and baking, and I love not having to use non-stick spray.

Bench scraper- This tool is optional but SO helpful for this recipe with sectioning the dough, cutting the bites and also scraping the leftover flour into the trash can with ease. I love it!

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Easy Homemade Pretzel Bites

Print Recipe

Course Appetizer, Snack

Ingredients

1 Cup Warm water
2 1/4 Teaspoon Yeast I love SAF instant yeast
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 1/2 Cups All purpose flour
Course Kosher salt for sprinkling on top

Baking soda water bath

2 Cups Warm water
3 Tablespoons Baking soda

Instructions

I like to use my stand mixer for this recipe, but it can be mixed by hand.
2. Combine water, yeast and sugar. Allow mixture activate for 5 minutes, the yeast should become foamy. Next, add salt and flour, one cup at a time while stirring/mixing. The dough will become dry and shaggy looking if you're stirring by hand. Pour dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead for a few minutes until the dough becomes smooth, springy and well incorporated. Cover your dough with a clean tea towel and allow to rise on the counter for 30 minites.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by adding a parchment paper or spraying with non-stick spray. Cut the risen dough in half, and in half again, and again until you have 8 even pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a rope about 12" long. Cut ropes into bite sized pieces.
4. In a small bowl, combine a 2 cups of water and 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Heat in the microwave for 3 minutes or until very hot.
5. Stir. Carefully and quickly drop the pretzel bites into the bowl of hot water. Use a slotted spoon to remove (20 seconds or less!) and place on 3 layered paper towels to catch water. Quickly transfer bites to a baking sheet. If you leave the dough on the paper towel too long it will stick, so be sure to work quickly here.
6. Spirinkle with kosher salt or a topping of your choice. Cinnamon and sugar, garlic powder, sour cream and onion or ranch powder, anything you love! Pretzels will puff up a bit while the oven heats.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They should be a nice golden brown. I like to brush mine with melted butter and serve warm!
You can easily double or triple this recipe! One batch makes about 2 sheet pans of pretzel bites.

Keyword Pretzel bites, pretzels

Tips for success:

This recipe is simple and pretty much foolproof! Here are two tips to guarantee success:

Be sure your yeast is active. You will see your dough has clearly risen/doubled in size during the 30 minute rest time. If the dough has not risen, your yeast is not activated. Here are some tips on getting yeast right!
Be sure when you drop your pretzel bites into the baking soda bath, that you work quickly in small batches. You do not want your bites to sit too long in the water (more than 20 seconds) or too long on the paper towel when they are draining. Be sure to quickly move them from paper towel to baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Otherwise they may sit too long on the paper towel and stick to it.

Flavor Variations:

What flavor variations can I make with this recipe?

Salted and buttery
Cinnamon and Sugar
Ranch
Sour cream and onion
Cinnamon Roll (sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar then mix a little butter, vanilla and powdered sugar with a small amount of milk to make a thin glaze/frosting to drizzle over pretzel bites after baking.)
Salted with cheese sauce
Pumpkin spice
Vanilla drizzled (mix a little butter, vanilla and powdered sugar with a small amount of milk to make a thin glaze/frosting to drizzle over pretzel bites after baking).

If you make this recipe, I would love to see how you’re enjoying it! Please feel free to tag me over on Instagram at @handmade.farmhouse