Do me a favor – don’t even make these if you’re on a diet (like someone around here!). They didn’t last an hour. That big bowl. Gone in an hour. I’m sure it would’ve been closer to 30 minutes if we’d just had some mustard in the house.
Along with being ridiculously good, they were also so simple. I used my bread machine to make the dough so if you choose to go that route, just follow your manufacturers instructions. The only “difficult” part is getting them out of the baking soda/water quickly enough. They lose shape very fast once dipped in the water so watch carefully.
Like I said, so good. Spencer and I decided these will be added to our football food lists next season and they gotta be good to make that list!
(Oh, what I have pictures is half the recipe. I knew if I made the whole recipe, I’d eat those too.)

- 1 1/2 cups warm water about 110 F
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 package 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (I used instant)
- 3 ounces 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled just slightly
- 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 quarts water
- 3/4 cup baking soda
- 1 whole egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
- coarse sea salt
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On low speed, mix the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
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Add the salt and 4 1/2 cups of the 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, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball with your hands.
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Spray a bowl with cooking spray (or oil with with vegetable oil), add the dough and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
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Preheat the oven to 425 F. Spray two baking sheets liberally with cooking spray.
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Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.
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Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring about 22 inches. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches of about 10-15 for 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon and place the pretzel bites on the prepared baking sheets, making sure they aren’t touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.
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Remove to a cooling rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.
Ooh, pretzel bites are little pieces of heaven! Pass the bowl my way!
.-= Cristine´s last blog ..Daring Bakers: Orange Tian =-.
I love pretzels and think I would love these!
I used to work at a Pretzel Time and we didn’t boil the pretzels. We rolled out and cut the pretzel bites and placed them on a lined sheet tray. Just before going into the oven we used a spray bottle to spray the bites with a mixture of water and baking soda. After that, you sprinkle them with the salt. No egg wash. They always turned out really well, nice glossy finish. Just wanted to let you know, since that eliminates a pretty big step and removes the possibility of the pretzel bites dissolving in the hot water.
That is brilliant! I’ve never had luck folding real pretzels because they’d get all funky in the water so I’m definitely going to try that. Thank you! :D
What ratio of baking soda to water in the spray?
These look so tasty and so cute!
.-= Crepes of Wrath´s last blog ..Adobo Chili with Homemade Tortilla Chips =-.
These look incredible! If only I hadn’t found this post so late in the evening, or I’d have the mixer going right now. I think I’m going to try the ‘spray’ method mentioned in one of the above comments. I’ll let you know how they turn out! (We do have good mustard in the house, so I should probably only make a half-batch too.)
I’m glad you enjoyed the pretzel bites Amanda :) They were very dangerous around here too! I found myself eating one after another just to make sure they were good enough for our company – I was lucky there were any left by the time they arrived!
Those look sooo tempting!
Oh no, those look way too good! You crack me up.
Agreed! I probably would have inhaled the whole bowl by myself. These look fantastic.
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..Short and Sweet Tea Giveaway Winner =-.
I’ll have to think long and hard before I make these because I know that I, too, would happily eat the whole bowl in one sitting.
Haha I didn’t even have to read the “do not make these if you are on a diet” part. I took one look at the title and the first picture and thought I CANNOT make those! I’d eat every single one of them… They look incredible :)
.-= Kristen @ Change of Pace´s last blog ..An Angry Squirrel =-.
I love them! They look so good. I kept spotting these on Tastespotting and going back and back to them. I can’t wait to make them!!
.-= Alejandra´s last blog ..Orange & Vanilla Marmalade Mini Cakes =-.
Oh I bet a cheese sauce would be amazing with these.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Whole Wheat Waffles =-.
I just made them and they are awesome! Makes a ton if you make the whole recipe.
oh
my
god!
these are fantastic!!!! I just made 2 pans of them and they are absolutely fantastic!!!
I did how ever boil half in beer and the other half in the regular boil pot.
oh
my
god
I’m going to find some mustard.
Okay….I want some and I want some now. They look awesome.
I just made them and they are fantastic! Next time i’m going to try the spray method because the boiling took forever. They would be good with a cheese dipping sauce.
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. We love to try new things and this will be on the list for sure. Please join me today for Tasty Traditions, a recipe meme. Have a great day!
.-= Nikki´s last blog ..Tasty Traditions- Old Fashioned Banana Pudding =-.
Can you email me how to do this in a bread machine. I don’t have a mixer with a dough hook but have a bread machine. My bread book does not have instructions for pretzel dough. I have to make these today!!
These look delicious and absolutely addictive! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
these look so good but I am like many and could not stop at just one. Glad I have a housefull of teens who I am sure would dive right in and help me eat them all
These are AMAZING!!! Thanks for posting this. Can’t wait to take these to a friend’s house to watch football. I’ll be making these again!
I made these today (yes, I know it’s been almost two years since you posted the recipe, but I just discovered your blog a few weeks ago!), and they are SO good. Then I got to imagining the possibilities of things you could put on them instead of the salt–cinnamon and brown sugar, powdered toppings you buy for popcorn, honey, garlic powder….the ideas are endless. Thank you for such a wonderful, easy recipe. It beats trying to twist pretzel ropes into pretzels. I did that once when my older son was about 11 months old, and it was an epic fail.
This recipe was confusing…i didn’t know what amounts of salt, or water to put in for the when it called for it twice in the recipe.
Love this recipe! Going to make it this weekend with friends in town. Definitely trying the spray bottle trick.
U need to serve these with beer cheese dip……omg awesome duo!!!