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Homemade soft pretzel bites made with your favorite beer are surprisingly easy to make and go great with your favorite cheese dip or mustard.
I love a good appetizer that you just use your hands to eat – from homemade pizza rolls to pepper jack cheese crackers.
With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, I was thinking of potential recipes that you could not only make for this Irish holiday, but year round. And what did I immediately think of… something with Guinness beer!
Yes I know Guinness becomes much more popular this time of year, but let’s be honest, you can have it anytime. And that’s where these pretzel bites come into play.
So why pretzel bites and not your more traditionally-shaped pretzels. Well, they’re easier to shape and better for sharing! But if you want to make pretzels you know and love, by all means.
And if you’ve never made homemade pretzels, no reason to be nervous. Just allow the mixer to do the work and then let the yeast do its magic.
Oh and you don’t HAVE to use beer for these pretzel bites, but it does add flavor to them, which is never a bad thing.
Jump to:
Recipe Ingredients
- Beer – use your favorite beer.
- Water – in conjunction with the beer, helps create the right dough consistency.
- Sugar – acts as food for the yeast. You can also use granulated sugar.
- Yeast – gives rise to the pretzel bites. Just use one packet.
- Unsalted butter – used in the dough for added flavor.
- Kosher salt – enhances the flavor.
- All-purpose flour – has just the right amount of gluten for the pretzel dough.
- Baking soda – gives the pretzel bites their brown, crusty exterior.
- Egg – brush on the homemade pretzels to give them a nice shine.
- Sea salt – every pretzel has to have salt on it.
How to Make Homemade Pretzels
- Pour beer and water into microwave safe bowl and microwave for 20-30 seconds to make just slightly warm, around 110° F. Combine the beer, water, sugar and yeast in bowl of stand mixer and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the butter, salt and flour to the mixture and mix on low speed with dough hook until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes. If the dough appears is wet, add more flour 1 tbsp at a time.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.
- Place in a large greased mixing bowl. Cover and let the dough rest in a warm area until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll the dough into six 20-inch long ropes. Cut the rope into 1.5 inch pieces to make the bites.
- Add 9 cups of water and baking soda to a large pot and bring to a boil. Drop 10 bites at a time and boil for a quick 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzel bites.
- Making sure the bites aren’t touching, brush each with some beaten egg and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cheese dip.
Why Do You Boil Pretzels?
Boiling the dough causes it to instantly puff, creating a chewy interior and giving the exterior a head start on forming a crisp crust. The baking soda helps produce that deep golden brown and cracked appearance.
With that said, you can avoid boiling pretzels if you want, but it won’t turn out the same.
Variations
It never hurts to customize these beer pretzels to your liking.
- Beer – as mentioned before, use your favorite beer. The taste changes with every type.
- Cheese – while these pretzel bites are made to be dipped in a cheese dip, you can sprinkle with some Parmesan or Asiago cheese before baking.
- Seasonings – if you want more than salt, you could add everything bagel seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, Cajun seasoning, etc…
Dips to Serve with Pretzels
This pretzel bites recipe is only half the battle. You’ve got to have a great dip to go with it!
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- You can replace the water with milk to made the pretzels bites even more tender and add some subtle sweetness.
- The dough can be prepared and refrigerated for up to one day or frozen for 3 months. Just thaw the frozen dough overnight and proceed with step 5.
- Baked pretzel bites will freeze well for 3 months in a freezer bag. Just thaw and reheat in the oven at 300°F until warm.
Other Appetizer Recipes
If you’ve tried this pretzel bites recipe or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I’m up to.
Guinness Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm beer
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 580 grams)
- 9 cups water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1 large egg, beaten
- coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Pour beer and water into microwave safe bowl and microwave for 20-30 seconds to make just slightly warm, around 110° F.
- Combine the beer, water, sugar and yeast in bowl of stand mixer and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the butter, salt and flour to the mixture and mix on low speed with dough hook until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes. If the dough appears is wet, add more flour 1 tbsp at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.
- Place in a large greased mixing bowl. Cover and let the dough rest in a warm area until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll the dough into six 20-inch long ropes. Cut the rope into 1.5 inch pieces to make the bites.
- Add 9 cups of water and baking soda to a large pot and bring to a boil. Drop 10 bites at a time and boil for a quick 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzel bites.
- Making sure the bites aren't touching, brush each with some beaten egg and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cheese dip.
Notes
- You can replace the water with milk to made the pretzels bites even more tender and add some subtle sweetness.
- The dough can be prepared and refrigerated for up to one day or frozen for 3 months. Just thaw the frozen dough overnight and proceed with step 5.
- Baked pretzel bites will freeze well for 3 months in a freezer bag. Just thaw and reheat in the oven at 300°F until warm.
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