Recipe Background
These soft pretzel bites bring homey comfort to city life with a salty twist.
Moving to my first apartment in the city was both exhilarating and terrifying. Finding myself in a bustling kitchen trying to impress my new neighbors, I decided to dive into making soft pretzel bites. The memory of yeasty smells wafting through my childhood kitchen inspired this mission. My mom used to keep a package of yeast in the cupboard for spontaneous baking days, and it became a comforting ritual to relive in my new home. In went warm water, a splash of melted butter that released an intoxicating aroma, and a touch of brown sugar to kickstart the magic.
Soon, the dough was proofing in a warm spot—right next to the radiator that rattled constantly like an old friend. While it doubled, I remembered her advice: never skimp on the baking soda bath. It gives those bites their signature chewy texture. Handling the ropes of dough, I sliced them into bite-sized pieces, laughing at how much they resembled little golden pillows resting in boiling water. As they baked to perfection, the sea salt sprinkled on top glistened under the oven light. Sharing those pretzels with new faces felt like passing around a part of home, making a new city feel less overwhelming with every crunchy, salted bite.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 3 ounces unsalted butter melted
- 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 1/2-5 cups all-purpose flour plus more as needed and for flouring a work surface
- vegetable oil for greasing
- 3 quarts water
- 1/3 cup baking soda for boiling the pretzels
- 1 whole egg beaten + 1 tablespoon cold water combined together
- coarse sea salt optional, for topping
Directions
- Add together in the 1 1/2 cups of water, sugar, yeast, and butter into a medium sized mixing bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook until it is fully combined.
- Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the salt and flour, mixing it at a low speed until the ingredients are fully combined.
- Raise the speed of the mixer to a medium and continue to knead the dough until it is smooth and it begins to pull away from the side of the bowl and hook, about 3-4 minutes. If the dough looks to be too wet, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Flour a work surface.
- Move the dough from the bowl, putting it on the flat floured surface and kneading the dough into a ball with your hands.
- Oil a bowl with the vegetable oil.
- Add the dough to the oiled bowl, turning the dough so it is evenly coated in oil.
- Cover the bowl with a clean towel or some plastic wrap, putting it in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Bring the 3 quarts of the water up to a boil in a small pot over a high heat.
- Carefully add in the baking soda. If you do not add it in carefully enough, the water will boil over.
- Move the dough from the bowl and place it onto the flat floured surface.
- Divide up the dough pulling it into 8 equal pieces, which is about 4 1/4-4 1/2 ounces each.
- Roll out each piece of the dough into a long rope that is measured about 22 inches in length.
- Cut up the dough into one-inch large pieces to make the pretzel bites.
- Boil the pretzel bites in the water, making sure to do it in batches.
- Boil the bites for about 30 seconds each before removing them with a slotted spoon.
- Put the pretzel bites onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray, make sure that the bites are not touching.
- Brush off the tops of the pretzels with the egg wash.
- Season the pretzels liberally with the coarse sea salt.
- Bake the pretzels until they are golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.
- Transfer the pretzels to a baking rack and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.
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