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These Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites are soft, chewy, and perfectly salty, with all the flavor you love about Sourdough Pretzel Bites without the wait. This quick recipe uses sourdough discard and yeast, so the dough only needs an hour or less to rise. Serve them warm with cheese sauce, mustard, or your favorite dip for an easy crowd-pleaser.
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These Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites are easy to whip up with just a couple of ingredients and a quick rise. They’re the perfect game day sourdough snack, just like my cheesy sourdough pretzel bread, garlic knots, cheesy garlic scones, and oatmeal chocolate sourdough cookie bars.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- One hour or less rise. The use of sourdough discard and yeast makes this recipe a quick and easy snack option.
- Soft pretzels. These sourdough pretzel bites are soft, chewy, and buttery just like the Auntie Anne’s mall pretzels you love.
- Lots of variations. Eat the Sourdough Pretzel Bites by themselves, or serve with your favorite dipping sauces such as beer cheese dip or honey mustard. For a sweet twist, try a cinnamon sugar mixture coating!
- Kid Friendly. Just like Sourdough Granola Bars, my kids can’t get enough of this after school snack.
Important Ingredients and Substitutions
- Sourdough Discard – For a quick rise, use room temperature discard. You can use cold discard from the fridge but it will slow down the rise time. You can also swap this for active sourdough starter.
- Brown Sugar –You can substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar. Since honey is sweeter, use half the amount (1 tablespoon) and reduce the warm water by about 15 grams (1 tablespoon) to account for the extra moisture.
- Bread Flour – I prefer to use bread flour for the higher protein content, but in a pinch, you could substitute it for all-purpose flour. Just keep in mind you will need to reduce the amount of liquid by about 25 grams.
- Baking Soda – Similar to Sourdough Bagels, a baking soda bath gives pretzels their chewy texture and golden-brown color.
- Yeast – Like my Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls and Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls, this recipe calls for instant yeast, but you can swap it for Active Dry Yeast; just make sure to activate the yeast before adding it to the dough.
- Salt – I recommend using a coarse pretzel salt to sprinkle on top of the pretzels but you can use any type of coarse salt.
See all the ingredients and amounts in the recipe card below.
Instructions to make Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites
Step 1: Add all the dough ingredients together in a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer and knead with the dough hook attachment on low speed for 3-5 minutes or by hand until the dough is soft and smooth.
Step 2: Place the pretzel dough in a medium sized bowl or straight-edge container and cover with a lid or plastic wrap to rise until doubled in size. At 75ºF, this took a little less than an hour.
Step 3: Once the dough is ready, pour water and baking soda into a large pot and bring it to a rapid boil.
Punch down the dough and divide it into 3 sections.
Step 4: On a clean work surface, roll each piece of dough into a long rope by pressing your palms down and gently rolling back and forth to stretch it until it reaches 20-22 inches in length.
Step 5: Cut the dough into 1 inch sections with a sharp knife or bench scraper. Repeat with the other 2 sections.
Step 6: Work in batches, adding the dough pieces to the boiling water for about 15-20 seconds. Scoop out the dough balls and place in a colander or use a slotted spoon.
Step 7: Lightly sprinkle salt on the pieces. Place the pretzel bites on a lined baking sheet.
Step 8: Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Toss the pretzels in melted butter, and top with more coarse salt.
Recipe Tips
- To ensure a soft, browned pretzel bite, be sure to let the dough double in size before rolling it out. Finding a warm spot will help speed up the process.
- Make-ahead instructions. If you’re making the pretzel bites ahead of time, skip sprinkling the pretzel salt over the boiled pieces and adding the butter and salt on top of the baked pieces. Adding salt early can cause the pretzels to become soggy and wrinkled while storing them. Instead, right before serving, toss in butter and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
- Bake later. If you want to bake the pretzels fresh, you can refrigerate the boiled pretzel dough for up to 24 hours before baking.
- Cinnamon Sugar Topping. For a sweet version, toss the baked pretzel bites in 4 Tablespoons of butter. Mix ½ cup of granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and toss the buttered pretzels in the mixture.
Storage & Make Ahead Instructions
The pretzel bites are best enjoyed fresh from the oven, when the texture is soft and chewy. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To refresh them, warm briefly in the microwave to soften. If you plan to make a full batch ahead of time, wait to add the pretzel salt until just before serving, as salted pretzels tend to become soggy and wrinkled as they sit.
Baked sourdough pretzel bites also freeze well for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. When ready to enjoy, thaw them on the counter, then warm in a 350°F oven for a few minutes until heated through and lightly crisp on the outside.
Recipe FAQ
Sure! You can toss the pretzel bites in seasonings like every bagel seasoning, cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat, or add a little cheese or jalapeños on top of the pretzels before baking.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce, such as Beer Cheese Dip, honey mustard sauce, or regular cheese dipping sauce.
If your pretzels are not browning, it is likely due to not having enough baking soda in the water. Be sure to follow the measurements closely. Another reason could be improper proofing. If the dough did not double in size before shaping, or if it rose too much and became overproofed, the pretzels may bake up pale instead of golden brown.
More sourdough sides
Sourdough Snack Recipes
Soft Sourdough Pretzel Bites (made with active starter)
Sourdough Bread Recipes
Sourdough Garlic Knots
Soft Sourdough Bread Recipes
Sourdough Garlic Bread (Ready in 20 minutes!)
Sourdough Bread Recipes
Jalapeno Cheddar Bacon Pull-Apart Bread
Tried these Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites or another recipe from the site? I’d love to hear about it! Drop a star rating and share your thoughts in the comments. I can’t wait to see what you’re baking!
Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
Pretzel Dough
- 160 grams water, ⅔ cup, heated to 120ºF
- 175 grams sourdough discard, ¾ cup, room temperature
- 28 grams butter, 2 Tablespoons, melted
- 5 grams salt, 1 teaspoon
- 350 grams bread flour, 2½ cups
- 30 grams brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons
- 7 grams instant yeast, 2¼ teaspoons
Water bath
- 960 grams water, 4 cups
- 30 grams baking soda, 2 Tablespoon
Topping
- 5-10 grams coarse pretzel salt or sea salt, 1-2 teaspoons
- 28 grams butter, melted, 2 Tablespoons
Instructions
- Add all the dough ingredients together in a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer and knead with the dough hook attachment on low speed for 3-5 minutes or by hand until the dough is soft and smooth. 160 grams water, 175 grams sourdough discard, 28 grams butter, 5 grams salt, 350 grams bread flour, 30 grams brown sugar, 7 grams instant yeast
- Place the pretzel dough in a medium-sized bowl or straight-edge container and cover with a lid or plastic wrap to rise until doubled in size. At 75ºF, this took a little less than an hour.
- Once the dough is almost ready, pour water and baking soda into a large pot and bring it to a boil. 960 grams water, 30 grams baking soda
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Punch down the dough and divide it into 3 sections.
- On a clean work surface, roll each piece of dough into a long rope by pressing your palms down and gently rolling back and forth to stretch it until it reaches 20-22 inches in length.
- Cut the dough into 1 inch sections with a sharp knife or bench scraper. Repeat with the other 2 sections.
- Work in batches, adding the dough pieces to the boiling water for 15-20 seconds. Scoop out the dough balls and place them in a colander or use a slotted spoon.
- Lightly sprinkle the dough balls with pretzel salt while the balls are still damp.
- Place the pretzel bites on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden brown.
- Toss the pretzels in melted butter and coarse salt.5-10 grams coarse pretzel salt or sea salt, 5-10 grams coarse pretzel salt or sea salt
Notes
- To ensure a soft, browned pretzel bite, be sure to let the dough double in size before rolling it out. Finding a warm spot will help speed up the process.
- Make-ahead instructions.If you’re making the pretzel bites ahead of time, skip sprinkling the pretzel salt over the boiled pieces and adding the butter and salt on top of the baked pieces. Adding salt early can cause the pretzels to become soggy and wrinkled while storing them. Instead, right before serving toss in butter and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
- Bake later. If you want to bake the pretzels fresh, you can refrigerate the boiled pretzel dough for up to 24 hours before baking.
- Cinnamon Sugar Topping. For a sweet version, toss the baked pretzel bites in 4 Tablespoons of butter. Mix ½ cup of granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and toss the buttered pretzels in the mixture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First attempt at sourdough pretzel bites. Easy to follow recipe,They taste good, smell like pretzels but just don’t have that pretzel look. Any suggestions?
These are so good! The recipe is very easy to follow and the pretzel bites turned out incredible. My family raved about them and have been requesting more every day since Super Bowl Sunday. This will be my new go to item to bring to parties. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
So happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing.
Very easy to follow instructions! Silicone mat would be better than parchment paper since the pretzels are wet when they go on it. But I just turn the whole sheet of parchment over, with the pretzels stuck to it, and spritzed it with water to get them to release. Hope that helps!!
Thanks for the tip!
These were fabulous and made me the MVP of the Super Bowl! I have tried one other sourdough discard pretzel bite recipe but these were far superior and I will be making them again!
Yay I’m so happy to hear you liked them!