Sourdough Pretzel Bites
These sourdough pretzel bites are easy, fun, healthy, and oh-so-delicious! No need to reach for conventional yeast because these little bites of heaven are long-fermented. Go feed your sourdough starter and let’s make some pretzel bites!
Super fluffy sourdough pretzel bites are the perfect snack, or a fun appetizer to bring to a party. This recipe can also be made into traditional soft sourdough pretzels too.
Related: Sourdough Pretzels
Related: Sourdough Bagels
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Equipment Needed
Water filter – do yourself a favor and get a good one, we love our Berkey!
Dutch oven – or a heavy-bottomed pot to boil water.
Stand Mixer with the dough hook attachment – optional, but really nice to have – double kneading time if kneading by hand.
Dough scraper – optional
Grain mill – VERY optional, but it’s nice to mill your own fluffy flour!
Sourdough Starter – My favorite kitchen “tool” is my active sourdough starter! Learn how to make your own sourdough starter in 7 days right here.
Large Bowl – I like using glass or ceramic for sourdough foods so the metal doesn’t kill off my yeast.
Baking Sheet – even though my food rarely touches the actual metal, I like stainless steel instead of aluminum.
Parchment paper – What I cover my baking sheets with if I’m not using silicone mats.
Sourdough Pretzel Bites Highlights
No yeast sourdough pretzels – This is a true sourdough recipe – no yeast required! If you want to use inactive sourdough discard, or if you want to speed up the rising time, you could add a tsp of yeast.
Variety of topping options – Endless options for topping these sourdough pretzel bites. Sweet, savory, you name it!
Can freeze for later – freezing sourdough pretzel bites makes for a super quick, easy, and healthy snack later.
Easy Shaping – “Shaping” sourdough pretzel bites simply consist of using a dough scraper to chop up the dough into little bites.
Ingredients for Sourdough Pretzel Bites
You probably already have all the ingredients you need to make sourdough pretzel bites. Then you just need to grab your favorite seasoning and get to baking!
Dough Ingredients
- Filtered water – super important to use filtered water so contaminants in your tap water don’t kill off your yeast.
- Butter – grass-fed preferably.
- Honey – a great natural sweetener for this dough.
- Active sourdough starter – make sure she’s nice and bubbly and passes the float test for best results. Using discard will require some yeast.
- Sea salt – Sea salt has lots of healthy minerals and table salt is devoid of nutrients.
- All-purpose flour – You could also use einkorn flour and reduce the water by 20%.
Boiling Ingredients
- Filtered water
- Baking soda – this gives the pretzels their famous pretzel texture on the outside.
- Coconut sugar – helps to caramelize the outside of the pretzel crust. You could also use molasses or brown sugar.
Instructions (with pictures) for Sourdough Pretzel Bites
Making the Pretzel Dough
- Whisk together water, butter, honey, and sourdough starter
- Add 3 cups of flour, then using the dough hook knead on low for about 5 minutes.
- Coat your rising bowl will coconut oil.
- Once kneading is finished, let the dough rest in the bowl for 15 minutes.
- Next, add your salt, and more flour if needed (add more flour if the dough is super sticky and not pulling away from the sides of the bowl. I find about 3 1/4- 3 1/2 cups total is best).
- Knead for another 10 minutes.
- Turn off the mixer and do the windowpane test. If light shines through your dough before it rips, your dough is ready for its long ferment.
- Transfer to your greased bowl and let ferment for 8-24 hours (shorter during warmer months, longer during colder months).
- Once your dough has doubled in size, you can turn it out onto a floured surface and divide into 12-14 pieces.
- Roll the pieces of sourdough pretzel dough into long ropes (about 1 inch thick).
- Slice each rope into bite-size pieces about 1.5 – 2 inches long.
- Place your pretzel bites on a parchment-lined baking sheet and let rise for about 30-60 minutes until they’ve puffed up.
Pretzel Bite Boiling Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F while the pretzels rest.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil then add coconut super and baking soda.
- Using a slotted spoon, place about 4-5 pretzel bites into the water at a time and let boil on that side for about 2 minutes or less.
Pretzel Bite Topping and Baking Instructions
- Immediately after removing the pretzel bites from the boiling water, place the sourdough pretzel bites back onto the lined baking sheet and sprinkle with your topping of choice.
- Bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
How to Shape Sourdough Pretzel Bites
I do a combination of 3 techniques for rolling the dough:
- The first is to roll the dough against the surface of the countertop.
- Second is to take the dough in both hands and roll between my hands.
- Third is to stretch it out by taking both ends of the dough and let gravity stretch it.
Once your dough is rolled out, the shaping couldn’t be any easier, simply use a dough scraper to slice the dough into 1.5-2 inch bites.
How to Store Soft Sourdough Pretzel Bites
Soft pretzel bites are most delicious when eaten day-of. If you’d like to save them for later, it’s best to freeze them while they’re fresh. I recommend making your soft pretzels, setting aside the ones you’ll eat right away then stashing the rest in the freezer once completely cooled.
Room Temperature
Store soft pretzel bites in a paper bag for up to 3 days. You can eat pretzel bites at room temperature or heat them up in the oven or microwave to the desired temperature.
Freezer
To freeze pretzel bites, let them cool to room temperature then individually wrap them in plastic wrap, then toss them in a freezer bag. Store your pretzel bites in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating From Frozen
To reheat your frozen pretzel bites, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw for about 20 minutes, then toss them into the oven or microwave and heat it until heated through.
You can skip thawing in a pinch and heat longer in the oven or microwave.
Sourdough Pretzel Bite Tips
- Delay adding salt to the dough – my sourdough recipes always delay adding salt to your dough for about 15 minutes. This is for an important reason! This gives your sourdough starter time to activate in your dough – adding salt too soon will kill off too much yeast and you won’t get optimal results.
- Add sugar to water – Don’t skip out on adding the sugar to the pot of boiling water – this is used to caramelize the outside of the pretzel.
- Add baking soda – Don’t skip the baking soda in the boiling water – this is used to increase surface gelatinization by breaking down some starch in the pretzel dough, and also gives the pretzels a “pretzely” taste.
- Have a separate baking sheet during boiling – It’s nice to have a “working” parchment-lined baking sheet while you’re boiling and topping the pretzels. This helps the extra water to drain off the pretzel bites so the baking sheet you’re actually going to use to bake the bites doesn’t get soggy.
Sourdough Pretzel Bite Topping Ideas
- Sea salt
- Zaatar seasoning (similar to my Zaatar bagels)
- Everything bagel seasoning
- Cheddar cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Pepperjack cheese
- Dehydrated onions
- Poppy seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Minced garlic
- Cheddar and jalapenos
- Cinnamon sugar with cream cheese dipping sauce
Sourdough Pretzel Bites Fermentation Timeline
This timeline will allow you to break [pretzel] by 8 am. You can change the timing however works for you, but here is an example.
Day 1
- 12PM – Feed your sourdough starter.
- 6PM – Mix pretzel dough in a stand mixer, cover, and let sit on the counter overnight.
Day 2
- 6AM – Shape pretzel bite dough and let rest for another hour.
- 7AM – Boil pretzel bites, add toppings, and bake.
- 8AM – Enjoy your sourdough pretzel bites!
How to Make Sourdough Pretzel Bites Healthier
- Sweetener – Use a natural sweetener to sweeten your dough. Honey is a great natural sweetener that is lower on the glycemic index than most sweeteners, it’s unrefined and has great nutrients!
- Long fermented – Long-fermented dough provides great gut-healing bacteria. This helps people to digest bread better too.
- Quality ingredients – Using quality ingredients will not only help your pretzel bites taste better, but they’ll be much better for you too. Go for organic flour, grass-fed butter, and raw, local honey.
- Toppings – This is the area where it’s easy to make a super healthy sourdough pretzel bite take a turn for the worst.
Serving Suggestions
Pretzel bites can be eaten whenever, wherever – there are no rules!
- Entree salad and pretzels – One of my favorite summertime dinners is making a large entree salad with a side of pretzel bites and cheese sauce! You could even replace croutons with these pretzel bites.
- Snack with cheese – Pretzel bites are a delicious snack, especially with some cheese sauce, or my favorite Core and Rind cashew cheese sauce.
- Bring to a get-together – Bring these sourdough pretzel bites to a get-together with family or friends and everyone will love you!
Can I Make these into Sourdough Pretzels?
Yes! You can use this exact recipe to make sourdough soft pretzels. Everything stays the same except the shaping, and you bake for a little more time.
Head here to see how to make these into Sourdough Soft Pretzels.
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- Berkey water filter (we use the Royal because we drink an insane amount of water!)
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- Dutch oven
- Stand mixer
- Boos Block Butcher Block
- Grain mill
- Dough scraper
More Sourdough Recipes
Pin it For Later – Sourdough Pretzel Bites
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Related: Long-Fermented Sandwich Bread
Print the Sourdough Pretzel Bite Recipe
Sourdough Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
Method
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, combine water, butter, honey, and sourdough starter until just combined.
- Switch to the dough hook attachment, add 3 cups of flour and knead the dough on low speed for about 5 minutes.
- While kneading, lightly coat a large glass bowl with coconut oil.
- Stop kneading and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
- Next add sea salt, and more flour (only if the dough is still pretty sticky – I find that 3 1/4- 3 1/2 cups is best)
- Knead for another 10 minutes.
- Turn off the mixer and do the windowpane test, meaning, pull a piece of dough up and stretch it – you should see light coming through the dough before the dough rips).
- Scrape the dough into your greased bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or beeswax wrap and ferment at room temp for 8-24 hours while the dough rises. You can get away with the longer end of that spectrum during the cooler months.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide it into about 12-14 pieces.
- Roll the pieces of sourdough pretzel dough into long ropes (about 1 inch thick).
- Shape each rope into a pretzel and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover and let rest for about 30-60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F while the pretzels rest.
- Bring a large stockpot or dutch oven with water to a boil. Once boiling, add coconut sugar and baking soda.
- Place 3 pretzels at a time into the water. Remove with a slotted spatula after about 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Immediately after removing the pretzels from the boiling water, place the sourdough pretzels back onto the lined baking sheet and sprinkle with your topping of choice.
- Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown.
Video
Notes
How to Shape Sourdough Pretzel Bites
I do a combination of 3 techniques for rolling the dough:- The first is to roll the dough against the surface of the countertop.
- Second is to take the dough in both hands and roll between my hands.
- Third is to stretch it out by taking both ends of the dough and let gravity stretch it.
How to Store Soft Sourdough Pretzel Bites
Soft pretzel bites are most delicious when eaten day-of. If you’d like to save them for later, it’s best to freeze them while they’re fresh. I recommend making your soft pretzels, setting aside the ones you’ll eat right away then stashing the rest in the freezer once completely cooled.Room Temperature
Store soft pretzel bites in a paper bag for up to 3 days. You can eat pretzel bites at room temperature or heat them up in the oven or microwave to the desired temperature.Freezer
To freeze pretzel bites, let them cool to room temperature then individually wrap them in plastic wrap, then toss them in a freezer bag. Store your pretzel bites in the freezer for up to 3 months.Reheating From Frozen
To reheat your frozen pretzel bites, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw for about 20 minutes, then toss them into the oven or microwave and heat it until heated through. You can skip thawing in a pinch and heat longer in the oven or microwave.Sourdough Pretzel Bite Tips
- is used to caramelize the outside of the pretzel.
- Add baking soda – Don’t skip the baking soda in the boiling water – this is used to increase surface gelatinization by breaking down some starch in the pretzel dough, and also gives the pretzels a “pretzely” taste.
- Have a separate baking sheet during boiling – It’s nice to have a “working” parchment-lined baking sheet while you’re boiling and topping the pretzels. This helps the extra water to drain off the pretzel bites so the baking sheet you’re actually going to use to bake the bites doesn’t get soggy.
About Me
I hope you love these sourdough pretzel bites as much as we do! Leave a comment below to let me know what you think!