Soft Pretzel Bites With Spicy Cheese Sauce

20 mins Prep Time

15 mins Cook Time

Written By

Tara Omidvar

If you enjoy eating soft pretzels, you will definitely love these pretzel bites. By making them bite-sized, not only do you skip the shaping part (which, in my opinion, is a bit time-consuming), but you will also have extra crunch. If you're a beginner working with yeast, this is great practice for you as hardly anything can go wrong with this recipe.

These pretzels are soft inside and perfectly crunchy on the outside. You can eat them on their own or enjoy them with spicy cheese sauce. The cheese sauce is very easy to make at home and tastes ten times better than the store-bought. You can make it either spicy or skip the cayenne pepper. Either way, it's a perfect pair with pretzels!

Soft pretzels are absolutely delicious but not very nutritious, so I used whole wheat flour in this recipe to make it a bit healthier, but no worries, the result is as crunchy and tasty! If you don't have whole wheat flour, just use all-purpose flour in the same amount.

Ingredients

Pretzels

180 mL warm water
8 grams brown sugar
4 grams active dry yeast
80 grams all-purpose flour
160 grams whole wheat flour
5 grams salt
7 grams unsalted butter (melted)
Coarse or flaky salt
Baking soda, for water

Spicy Cheese Sauce

2/3 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Soft Pretzel Bites With Spicy Cheese Sauce

16 Steps

Step 1

Mix warm water, brown sugar and yeast in a bowl of a stand mixer. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Step 2

Add the all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour to the bowl. Use the hook attachment and beat on low speed for 1 minute.
Step 3

Add the melted butter and salt and keep beating until dough comes together. Scrape down sides of the bowl if necessary. Beat it for another 3-4 minutes or until dough forms.
Step 4

Take the dough out of the bowl, slightly flour the bowl and put the dough back inside.
Step 5

Cover the dough with a towel and allow it to rest for 1 hour.
Step 6

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 7

Bring a large pot full of water to a boil.
Step 8

In a meantime, place the dough on a very lightly floured surface. (The heavier you flour the work surface, the harder it is to roll the dough.)
Step 9

Use a sharp knife or bench scraper and cut the dough into 6 equal pieces.
Step 10

Roll out each dough ball into a 1 inch thick rope. Cut each rope into 1-1.5 inch pieces to make bites.
Step 11

Add baking soda to the boiling water. Once the water boils, add 10-12 pretzels at a time into the water for 15-20 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to take the pretzels out and place them on prepared baking sheet. Repeat this for all the pretzels.
Step 12

Sprinkle coarse or flakey salt on top. Bake them in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Step 13

Once pretzels are in the oven, whisk milk, flour and cayenne pepper in a saucepan over medium heat.
Step 14

Keep whisking and once the mixture thickens, add butter and cheddar cheese.
Step 15

Mix until you achieve desired consistency, just keep in mind that the sauce will thicken as it cools down.
Step 16

Remove the pretzels from the oven and serve warm with spicy cheese sauce.