These Sourdough Soft Pretzel Bites started out as No Knead Overnight Sourdough Bread, but I didn’t want to turn on the oven to 500 degrees and heat up the house. So, instead I stood over a pot of boiling water to make these… uh yeah, I don’t think I ended up staying any cooler. It’s a good thing these were absolutely delicious in the end.
To make sourdough you need sourdough starter. The best way to get starter is to see if a friend already has some and is willing to share with you. You only need a few tablespoons to start and with a little flour and water, you will have a beautiful bubbling pot.
I could write out directions for the care and feeding of sourdough starter, but the folks at Sourdough Home have already said everything I would say. If you don’t have a friend with starter, don’t worry, they have directions for starting your own.
For these Pretzel Bites, after you make the overnight dough, it is just a matter of rolling it out into pretzel shapes or “bites” like I did, boiling for a little bit in baking soda water and then in the oven for a few minutes.
For half of the batch, I did not add toppings and under baked them. Then I froze them on the baking sheet and stored them in a zip to lock freezer bag. When we want some, we grab a handful or two, spray with cooking spray and add your toppings to the frozen bites and bake until warm. It is one of J’s favorite afternoon snacks.
Sourdough Soft Pretzel Bites are a great make ahead snack. Make a big batch, freeze half and pop in the oven for a few minutes to serve later.
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup active sourdough starter
- 6 cups water
- 6 tablespoons baking soda
- 1 egg white
- pretzel toppings coarse salt, parmesan cheese, cinnamon sugar, etc.
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix in 1 1/2 cups water and starter to make a stiff dough. Cover with plastic and set in a draft free place for 12-18 hours.
- Spread a small amount of flour on a clean counter and dump out dough. Press into a large rectangle, fold over on itself and repeat a few times. Divide dough into 12 balls and roll out into long ropes about 1 inch thick. Let rest for 15-30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring 6 cups water and baking soda to a boil in a large sauce pan.
- Add pretzels gently to the boiling water 2-3 at a time. Flip after 15 seconds and boil another 15 seconds. If you like them with extra pretzel taste, boil 30-45 seconds a side. Remove pretzels with a slotted spoon and place on a baking sheet so they are not touching.
- Combine egg white with 1 tablespoon water and brush on pretzels. Sprinkle with desired topping.
- Bake for 5-8 minutes depending on desired level of brownness.
I made half of these to eat later. I added the egg white wash but no toppings when I initially baked them. I cooked until the barely turned tan. When we reheat in the toaster oven I spray the frozen bites with cooking spray, add the topping and bake until warm throughout, about 5 minutes.
Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey
This is definitely a game day winner! Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe! Pinned to my Football food board! Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Have a great week!
Kim
These sound terrific! We love sourdough anything at our house. The fact that they are freezer friendly is a special bonus 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I like cooking once and eating several times. These have made great afterschool snacks.
Ooooh these sound delicious! I love pretzels but I’ve never tried the sourdough angle before. Yum! Thanks for sharing with the Wednesday Showcase!
We buy some delicious sourdough hard pretzels, but hadn’t tried the soft ones before this. They were better than I even imagined.
Oooh yummy! Sourdough starter is something I have never attempted, nor have I been able to find someone who has some. Maybe one of these days. Thank you for sharing at Merry Monday!
You always come up with the best recipes Audrey, these look amazing. #HomeMattersParty
Thanks, Denise.
Thanks!
I certainly love pretzels and these look wonderful!! I could probably eat dozen of these 🙂
They are tasty, and I had to battle my son to get some. He loves all kinds of pretzels.
These look so good. I”m going to feature them on my facebook page this week. Thanks so much for sharing at #YoureGonnaLoveIt
Hi Audrey. I have scoured the internet for days looking for a real sourdough pretzel recipe. Everything I was finding had extra yeast or no starter at all! I’m no sourdough purest, but that doesn’t seem like sourdough at all. Anyhow, I was so delighted when I came upon your recipe. Thank you for taking the time to post it!
I was wondering if you have ever considered converting the recipe to a grams or ounces measurement? I purchased a scale when I got my starter and have become quite accustomed to the accuracy of it. I am planning on adding this to my recipe book, so I can post the weights once I figure them out if you would like.
Thanks again!
If you add extra yeast it will probably just rise faster. Since I based this on the no knead overnight bread I just left it with the sourdough.
New baker here- found you by searching for bites recipe with my first starter – It is resting right now over five hours now – should it rise? It has not moved at all. I am wondering if I need to add yeast?
Thanks!
This recipe is based on the No Knead OVERNIGHT Artisan Bread recipe that originated on the New York Times (I think) and is all over the internet. It takes 12-18 hours to rise. If you want to speed it up you can add some yeast to it. My best guess would be to add 1 packet (or 2 1/4 teaspoons).
Don’t know what went wrong. After much work with steps , which i really did enjoy, I had to throw the whole batch out. I used 6 TBSP soda in water, as directed in recipe, I had 3/4 of the dough baked and had to throw it all out . They tasted terribly of baking soda. What went wrong???? Can i freeze or refrigerate rest of dough for another try?
Every recipe I checked from Pillsbury to Epicurious has the same water/baking soda ratio at 1 cup to 1 tablespoon and says to boil for 30 seconds a side for large soft pretzels. From experience I think that is too long, especially for these mini pretzels. That’s why I only recommend half of that time or a little less. I have had the overpowering baking soda taste too. 🙁
The alkalinized water makes the outer layer of the dough like gelatin so it won’t fully rise like bread dough, which keeps the interior chewy while the outside gets brown.
Will the dough keep if you refrigerate or freeze, probably not. The yeast and bacteria in the starter will die, or at least hibernate, in the cold. You could try a pinch of fresh yeast and let the dough rise again.