Pretzel Bites are delicious! Brush with butter, sprinkle with salt, or coat in cinnamon sugar. Pair salted with cheese sauce or cinnamon sugar with cream cheese glaze.
The Best Pretzel Bites
My sister’s obsession with Auntie Anne’s® pretzel bites rubbed off on my family after a few mall trips this summer. She got my kids hooked, and now they beg me to go—just for pretzel bites!
To save time and money, I’ve nailed the ultimate Pretzel Bites recipe. Soft, buttery, perfectly salted, and crisp on the outside—they melt in your mouth and are irresistible with cheese sauce. Homemade is always better!
Ingredients
Pretzel bites need just 8 ingredients, most of which you likely have if you bake yeasted breads like French, White, or Honey Whole Wheat Bread.
- Milk: I recommend whole milk, but 1% or 2% will also work.
- Water: Warm water works best—test it on your wrist.
- Honey: I love the subtle sweetness the honey delivers to these bites!
- Yeast: Both instant and active dry work; active dry may take longer to rise.
- Flour: All-purpose and bread flour both work here but bread flour is the best.
- Salt: Add some salt to the dough then some to top the pretzels with later.
- Butter: Again, some goes in the dough and then some is brushed on top!
- Baking soda: Mix baking soda with boiling water to create a “bath” for the Pretzel Bites.
How To Make Pretzel Bites
- Mix: Combine warm water, milk, yeast, and honey; let it foam.
- Combine: Mix with flour, salt, and butter to form dough.
- Knead: Knead the dough and let it rise until doubled.
- Shape: Roll into ropes, cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Boil: Dip pieces in a baking soda bath for 10 seconds.
- Bake: Brush with butter, sprinkle with salt, and bake until golden.
- Serve: Enjoy warm, plain, or with dipping sauce!
Kitchen Tools To Help
- Dough scraper or spatula: Helps scrape and move dough easily.
- Baking liners or parchment paper: Prevents sticking and helps the bottom brown evenly. Don’t use foil or wax paper; wax paper melts in the oven.
- Stand Mixer: Makes pretzel dough quicker to prepare.
- Towels: Great for covering dough while it rises.
- Ruler or tape measure: Ensure the dimensions of the dough are on track.
Quick Tip
I also tested this Pretzel Bites recipe using a hand mixer. While a bit more work, they’ll do the job!
Pretzel Bites Toppings
- Brush melted butter on the bites and sprinkle with coarse salt (like pretzel, bagel, or kosher salt) for the classic topping.
- For cinnamon sugar pretzels, bake without butter or salt. Brush with butter right out of the oven, then coat in cinnamon sugar.
Pretzel Bite Dips
- Cheese Sauce: Great with salty pretzels! Add hot sauce or cayenne for extra spice.
- Cream Cheese Sauce: Perfect with cinnamon-sugar pretzels for a cinnamon-roll-like flavor. Use leftover cream cheese and butter to make frosting for this Cinnamon Roll Cake.
- Honey Mustard: A mix of sweet and tangy, great with salty pretzels.
- Nutella or Chocolate: Sweet and creamy, perfect for cinnamon-sugar pretzels.
- Ranch: Smooth and savory, a fun dip for salty pretzels.
- Caramel Sauce: Sweet and rich, delicious with cinnamon-sugar pretzels.
Storage
How Long Do Pretzel Bites Last?
- Best Fresh: Pretzel bites are best eaten warm the same day. Store in an airtight bag at room temp for 3–5 days.
- Reheating: Warm in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes, microwave briefly, or use an air fryer to crisp.
- Freezing: Freeze cooled bites in an airtight container for 2–3 months. Reheat at 350°F for 10 minutes.
Use Leftover Yeast In
- Fry Bread to make Utah Scones or Navajo Tacos
- No-Knead Bread artisan bread with minutes of prep!
- Life-Changing, No-Knead Dinner Rolls
- Focaccia no kneading required!
- Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls with a lemon glaze
Pretzel Bites
These Pretzel Bites are amazing! Brush with butter and sprinkle with salt or cinnamon sugar, then dip in cheese sauce or cream cheese glaze—so good!
Equipment
- stand mixer
- large sheet pan, 15 x 21-inch
- Silicone Baking Mat or parchment paper
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup warm milk whole milk recommended
- 2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry—see note 1
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 up to 4 cups bread flour plus more for dusting surface, see note 2
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 to 7 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- Cooking spray
Baking Soda Bath
- 8 cups water
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt or make cinnamon-sugar pretzels with cream cheese sauce—see notes 3 and 4
- Cheese sauce optional, for serving, see note 5
Instructions
- Quick Tip: It may be helpful to watch the tutorial video in this recipe post before starting!In a medium bowl, whisk the warm water, warm milk (see note 6), yeast, and honey; let sit 5–10 minutes. It should look creamy/foamy after 5 minutes (see photo). If not, your yeast didn’t work, and you’ll need to begin again. (Either the yeast is dead or the water/milk was too hot.)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl), combine 3 cups bread flour and salt. Stir to combine, then make a well in the middle. Pour in 1 tablespoon melted and cooled butter. Use a spatula to scrape every bit of the yeast mixture on top. Attach paddle or dough hook and beat on low speed, scraping the sides as needed with a rubber spatula, until combined. Increase speed, and if needed (see note 7), add up to 3/4 cup more flour, adding 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together on the dough hook and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. After mixing for about 2 minutes, if the dough is still sticking to sides of the bowl instead of around hook, add the last 1/4 cup flour.
- Once dough is gathering around the hook, knead on low speed for 5 minutes or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface. Knead and shape dough into a ball. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray, turn the ball to coat in the oil, then cover the bowl with a towel and let rise in a draft-free, warm (70°F) environment for 1 hour 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line an extra-large (15×21-inch) sheet pan (or 2 smaller pans) with silicone baking mats (preferred) or parchment paper (lightly grease with cooking spray). Punch down the dough and dump onto a lightly floured surface. Cut dough into 6 equal pieces (just eyeball it). Take 1 piece, covering the other 5 pieces with a towel. Use your hands to roll the piece into an even, long rope, about 20–22 inches in length. Cut the rope into 1.5-inch pieces. Place pieces on prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is cut into pieces.
- While cutting out the last 3 ropes, bring 8 cups water in a large pot to boil. Once boiling, add baking soda and whisk until completely dissolved. Take 8 pretzel bites at a time in both hands and gently place (at the same time) in the boiling water. Count to 10, then use a large slotted spoon to lift the pretzel bites, tapping against the pot edge to allow excess water to drip off. Place the bites back on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat until all bites have gone in the boiling water (if the water gets foamy, reduce heat). Make sure bites are well spaced out, not overlapping, but they can be relatively close together (see picture above).
- Melt 4 tablespoons butter and use a pastry brush to brush butter generously over all the pretzel bites (should use all or most of it). Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake 12–18 minutes or until golden brown on top, lightly browned on bottom, and baked through. (If you don’t bake the entire batch of pretzels at once, bake time will be quicker). Remove from oven. Optional: for extra buttery bites, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter and brush on bites right out of the oven, adding a touch more salt if desired. Serve warm.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: I prefer instant yeast, but active dry will work. Just note the rise time is typically longer!
Note 2: Bread flour’s higher protein gives these Pretzel Bites a better chew and texture. All-purpose flour works too, but the result is a bit less pretzel-like.
Note 3: Cinnamon sugar coating: Bake Pretzel Bites plain (no butter or salt). Melt 4 tbsp unsalted butter and set aside. In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon. When pretzels are done and still warm, brush each with butter, then dip in cinnamon sugar, and place on a cooling rack. Best served warm, as they’ll get soggy after a few hours.
Note 4: Cream cheese sauce: In a large bowl, beat 4 oz softened cream cheese with 2 tbsp butter until smooth. Add 1 cup powdered sugar, a dash of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and 2 tbsp heavy cream; mix until smooth.
Note 5: Optional Cheese Sauce:
Note 5: Optional Cheese Sauce:
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt and paprika
- 1/4 tsp pepper and garlic powder
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 2 cups sharp (or extra sharp) freshly shredded Cheddar cheese (6 oz. cheese)
- For more flavor/some heat: add hot sauce or ground cayenne pepper (add slowly to taste)
- Dough should gather around the paddle, not stick to the bowl sides.
- It will be slightly sticky, smooth, and tacky.
- Your finger should feel slight resistance without sticking.
- Add flour gradually to maintain dough softness.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 46kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 43IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are delicious!
Thanks so much! 🙂