Whole Wheat Pretzel Bites Recipe



When it comes to cooking for a crowd, one of the things I've learned over the past year or so that I've been intentionally collecting recipes good for hospitality is that the recipes don't need to be fancy or complicated.

In fact, it's better if they're not. Because the easier they are, the more likely it is that I'll actually make them. (And isn't that the whole point of it all?)

I've also learned that you don't need dozens of recipes to choose from. You just need to whittle them down to a couple of trusty standbys that you know you can turn to and whip up without too much fuss.



With those two tenets in mind, I've started adding soft, whole wheat pretzel bites to my recipe repertoire as snacks and appetizers for events and potlucks. They're fancier than storebought pretzels from a bag but with pantry-staple ingredients, they're easy to throw together.

Plus, they're a hit. Every time I've made them, I'm always come home with an empty dish because they've been gobbled up, by kids and adults alike.

I usually take some mustard along as a dipping sauce (feel free to stir in some honey), and you're good to go.



1 cup lukewarm (but not hot) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 teaspoons yeast

Combine all ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed (meaning, add the water first and add the yeast last). For the yeast, make a shallow well in the middle of the flour and add the yeast there. Select "Dough" setting on bread machine, and press "Start." (By the way, here's the newest version of the bread machine I use.)

When the dough has risen long enough, the machine will beep. Turn off bread machine, remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.

Divide dough into about three dozen balls, one-inch in diameter. Place on baking stone (here's the baking stone I use) or cookie sheet spritzed with olive oil (I use my Misto!) or another non-stick spray. Leave about an inch between each piece of dough. (You may have to use 2 baking sheets to fit them all.) Cover with tea towel and let rise for 20 minutes.

In a 3-quart sauce pan, fill with water halfway and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda. Drop dough pieces into water and let simmer for 10 seconds on each side. Remove from water and let dry slightly on a cloth napkin or towel. (You will probably have to do this in batches, a few pieces of dough at a time.)

Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 425 for about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on how large you made your bites, so that they are golden on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. If not eating immediately, store in airtight container for three to four days. Makes about 3 dozen bite-size pretzel pieces.

P.S. If you are new to this blog, thank you so much for stopping by! You can feel free to browse all my other posts about my journey toward a lifestyle of simplicity and DIY, as well as some of the ways my husband and I are learning to save money. I also write about my faith, my marriage and everything in between, which you can explore in the archives.

Plus, if you like this recipe, click here to pin it to Pinterest. You can also follow me on Pinterest here. 

Related Posts
Learning the art of hospitality, one step at a time
Homemade Breadmaking Tips & Tricks

24 comments:

  1. Yum, those look delish and so easy! Can't wait to try them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I spent a summer in Bavaria... So pretzels will always have a special place in my heart! These sound great!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks! Let me know if you try them. I'd love to hear how they compare to the real-deal Bavarian kind! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Know how to alter this for someone without a breakmaker? I usually use my KitchenAid mixer & dough hook...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wendy, I've only ever made this in the breadmaker, but I would assume that whatever process you use to make regular bread dough should be fine for mixing this dough. (For instance, I use the same setting to mix up this dough as I do for any of my other bread doughs.) Once you've mixed up the dough and let it rise once, you can skip to the third section of the instructions. Let me know if you are able to figure out how to make it in your mixer; I'm sure other readers would love to know, too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This would be a hit in my house. Going to try it without the bread maker though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds delish! I'll be trying these soon! :)

    BTW without a bread maker, simply mix the ingredients, knead 8-10 minutes, cover and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size! That's what the bread maker does for you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. These pretzel bites sound and look great. I'm going to try them w/o the bread maker, so thanks to those who gave some tips for that. Love the look of this blog, very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm excited to try these! Thanks so much for sharing. I too will be trying them out without a bread maker... starting to wish I had one though :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. what if I don't use/buy canola oil?I prefer olive oil.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so glad to hear you all are planning on trying them. Please let me know once you do!

    Also, thanks for the tips on how to make these, sans breadmaker, annejisca!

    Liz, you can use olive oil (or really any other liquid vegetable oil). The nice thing about canola oil is that it is very mild, so I'd suggest using a mild-tasting olive oil so as not to overwhelm the final taste.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the simplicity of making pretzel "bites" instead of rolling out and twisting up the "real deal." I think I'll try this approach with bagels. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes! It's so much simpler to just make little individual bite-size pieces. While the recipe can definitely be used to make regular-shaped pretzels, I have no desire to attempt that! I bet the bagel bites would be delicious, too. I have a bagel recipe you might like to try!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm not into cooking at all but my children and I love pretzel and this tutorial seem easy enough. I will let you know when I try it. Thanks for the tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I must have done something wrong,because mine turned out more like bagel bites. Are you supposed to roll them again before baking them? They turned out flatish on one side.

    I do love them tho! Thank you for such an easy tutorial. Also you can use the Kitchen Aid mixer instead of a Bread machine to mix the dough. Just let it raise like you do for bread.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sunflower, hmm, well they're soft pretzels, not hard pretzels, so I guess you could say they're similar to bagel bites. And the bottoms of mine usually are a bit flat-ish. So it sounds like you did them correctly.

    Sometimes I don't even bother rolling the dough into a ball, if I slice it into a "disk" shape, sometimes I just leave it like that. (You can tell from the photos if you look closely.)

    I'm glad you enjoyed them, even if they weren't quite what you originally expected. And thanks for the tip about the KitchenAid mixer. I don't have one of those, but I'm sure plenty of other folks do!

    ReplyDelete
  17. can you use all whole wheat flour?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous, I've never tried it with 100% whole wheat, so I can't say, but usually if you use all whole wheat in baking then it makes the bread extra dense. You certainly could try--it won't be inedible--but it won't be as fluffy or chewy as if you include the all-purpose flour.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have a soft pretzel recipe that is very similar and love it :) Now I'm gonna have to make some bites very soon.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I finally made these today! Delish! Will make a few cinnamon/sugar for Ian next time. Do you reheat these when you take them somewhere or just serve them at room temperature. Also, have you ever frozen them? Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Jenni, I usually do just take them and serve them at room-temperature but I am sure you could probably reheat them. I did freeze one batch and the only thing I noticed was that the salt crystals (I used sea salt) melted in the thawing so that they weren't as obvious as they are fresh. They still tasted like normal; it was simply an aesthetic thing. I bet the cinnamon/sugar combo would be tasty! Glad you liked the recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Yummy! Thanks for the idea. I just made them this afternoon. Kids are dipping them in mustard and enjoying.

    Just discovered your blog recently and look forward to trying more of your recipe ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ok this might be a dumb question, but what did you put at the top of the bites ..is it salt?

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Next Post Previous Post
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...