Soft Sourdough Pretzel Bites

Chewy Sourdough Pretzel Bites

When you think of sourdough, you might think that all you can make is bread. WRONG! You can make sourdough pretzel bites, sourdough pizza crust, and even sourdough banana pancakes! There's nothing sourdough can't do. It's always in my kitchen, and I hope it's always in yours too!

Plus, making pretzel bites is a fun and easy way to get the whole family involved in the kitchen. You can let your kids sprinkle the salt on the pretzels and even let them help you boil the pretzels. Carefully of course!

Ingredients to Gather

• Active Sourdough Starter- If you are new to sourdough, make sure to check out this post how to keep a sourdough starter for how to keep a sourdough starter. It will walk you through baking and keeping a healthy starter. You can make your own sourdough starter from scratch, buy one, or get one from a sourdough friend!
• Water- Lukewarm. Too cold and the pretzel dough will take too long to rise, and too hot you run the risk of killing the starter and the dough will not rise.
• Flour- All purpose flour or bread flour. Bread flour vs all purpose flour is often a confusing topic, but in this recipe, they can be used interchangeably.
• Honey- Granulated sugar can be substituted for honey if you want to make this recipe vegan.
• Salt- For added flavor in the dough.
• Baking Soda- This will be added to the boiling water, it won't be added to the dough.

See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Sourdough Pretzel Bites

Step 1: Combine the water and starter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix with a fork until combined. 
Add the flour, honey, and salt to the bowl.

Step 2: Turn the mixer on medium speed and mix for 5 minutes until the dough forms a ball and no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 8-10 hours, or until doubled in size.

Step 3: When the dough has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

Step 4: Cut the dough into eight equal pieces. You can do this with a bench scraper or a sharp knife.

Step 5: Roll each dough piece into a log about 12 inches long. 

Step 6: Cut 1 ½ inch pieces out of the dough. Place the pieces onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Step 7: Allow the pieces to rest on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.
While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Step 8: Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add ⅓ cup baking soda to the water. Drop 8-10 pieces of dough into the boiling water and let them boil for 10 seconds on each side. 

Step 9: Take the pieces out of the boiling water and place them back on the parchment lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle coarse salt or everything bagel seasoning on the wet dough pieces.

When all the dough pieces are boiled, place the baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes.  Halfway through the baking process, rotate the baking sheets so the pretzel bites brown evenly on each side.

Why Is Baking Soda Added To The Water?

Baking soda is added to the boiling water to create that classic chew that pretzels have. Without it, the pretzel bites will become more like little dinner rolls.

Don't overboil the pretzels. They only need 10-15 seconds in the boiling water.

Tips and Tricks

• To make sure that your sourdough starter is ready to be baked with, do the water test! Place a tablespoon of your starter in a glass of water. If it floats it's ready, if it sinks you'll have to feed it again until it is active and bubbly.
• If you do not have silicone mats, parchment paper would work as well. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray to make sure the pretzels do not stick once baked.
• The longer you boil the pretzels for in the water the chewier they will be. Try not to boil them for more than 20 seconds, as they will get too chewy and lose their texture.
• Top these pretzels with coarse sea salt, everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, or serve them plain. You can also make these sweet! Once they are baked, roll them in a cinnamon sugar mixture and serve warm.
• Serve these pretzels with your favorite mustard, queso, beer cheese, garlic dip, or Instant Pot hummus.
• You can double or triple this recipe! It's perfect to even triple, but boil the pretzel bites in batches as to not overcrowd them in the hot water.

Storage Tips

These pretzel bites are best eaten the same day. That's because the salt tends to make the pretzel bites moist the next day. If you are eating them the next day, place them in the oven for 5-10 minutes to heat them up and soften them.

You can freeze the pretzel bites in a Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. It is best is you do not add the salt before freezing. When you are ready to defrost the pretzels, place them on the counter and let them come to room temperature. Then lightly brush them with egg wash and sprinkle salt on them. Bake them for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Can I Make Large Pretzels instead of Pretzel Bites?

Yes! If you wanted to make these pretzels, you can! Instead of cutting the logs, twist them into a pretzel shape. Then boil them and bake them for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Can I Use Sourdough Discard Instead of Active Sourdough Starter?

You can, but you would need to add 2 teaspoons of active yeast to the dough as well. The sourdough discard does not have the amount of yeast that you would need to make these pretzel bites chewy and rise.

Other Recipes To Try

More Sourdough Recipes