Hi, my name is Regina and I am a pretzel addict.
Seriously. If pretzels are on the menu, I am going to order them. And even though they are delicious, the restaurant pretzels usually leave me feeling pretty gross and bloated afterward. You know that full, lethargic feeling you get after eating a bunch of white processed bread? For a while, I thought I might be sensitive to gluten and needed to cut out bread altogether, but then I discovered sourdough. After that, I decided I could bake my own sourdough pretzel bites that would taste and digest much better. Flash forward a few months and we have this simple, healthy recipe!
These sourdough pretzel bites are fermented overnight to create a soft, chewy, and salty result. Because they are made with just a few simple ingredients, they are good for you and can be eaten with (or for) any meal. I love to dip mine in mustard, queso, or beer cheese. They can also be served with your favorite soup or dipped in chocolate for dessert.
A note on sourdough starter: be sure you have an active, bubbly starter before you bake! You can read more about how to achieve this below
To make this recipe you will need
- Organic, unbleached bread flour
- An active sourdough starter
- Filtered water
- Natural Mineral salt
- Raw honey
Bread Baker with Lid
~I love using my Le Cruset or my clay Baker from Breadtopia. Be sure to use an oven-safe, heavy bottom pot with a lid.
Bread Banneton
~for bulk fermenting your dough
A Kitchen Scale
I like to work with an inexpensive one from Amazon.
Bread Lame
~to score your dough. This is the one I use and love!
A fermentation crock or bowl with lid
For rising and fermenting your dough
Sourdough Pretzel Bite Toppings
- Almost anything tastes amazing on pretzel bites:
- Everything (but the) bagel seasoning
- Fresh or dried herbs
- Dried garlic
- Cinnamon sugar
- Dried onion
- Flakey salt
Sourdough Soft Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 ½ cup of all purpose or bread flour
- ½ cup of water
- ¼ active, bubbly, sourdough starter
- 1 TBS raw honey
- ¾ tsp salt
Water Bath
- ½ TBS of baking soda
- ½ TBS bown sugar or turbinado sugar
Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon water
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients well and knead until smooth, elastic, and passes the window pane test
- Place in a covered bowl and allow to rest overnight or for 8-12 hours at room temperature
- Turn dough out onto a clean work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces, give or take
- Using your hands, gently roll out each piece of dough to create a long rope shape about as thick as your thumb
- Using a bench scraper or a knife, divide the rope into little bite sized pieces. The size or each bite can vary.
- Cover dough and allow to rise for about an hour or until very puffy.
- When your dough is almost done rising, bring a heavy bottomed pot to boil adding the baking soda and brown sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Boil all of the pretzel bites for about 30 seconds and place on a lined baking sheet
- Mix the egg wash and brush on each pretzel bite.
- Add kosher salt, or your own topping of choice
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden
- Enjoy immediately!
Thanks for visiting my little cottage and trying out one of my favorite recipes! For more sourdough recipes, check out this archive.
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