Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites are irresistibly soft, buttery little treats coated in sweet crystals paired with a delicious dipping sauce.
Do you love Soft and Easy Cinnamon Rolls but wish you had bite-sized cinnamon sugar sweetness for holiday parties or kids’ desserts? Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites are the perfect small bites. For more snacks to keep you going this season, head over to my Holiday Recipes Page.
Sabrina’s Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites Recipe
Soft pretzel bites are some of the most delicious, chewy, wonderful snacks ever invented. They get even better when they’re covered in melted butter and dusted with cinnamon sugar. This Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bite recipe is extremely easy. If you’ve never made your own pretzels, you’ll end up looking like a pro from the mall food court.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
For the Pretzels:
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (between 100° and 110° F)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- .25 ounces active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup baking soda
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
Instructions
- In the bowl of stand mixer, combine water and sugar.
- To your stand mixer add the water, sugar, and yeast and let sit 10 minutes, until foamy.
- Add in the flour and salt and add in the dough hook, but before you turn it on stir the flour in with a spoon until a dough is made (about 1 minute).
- Turn on the mixer on medium speed (using the dough hook), beat on medium-low speed for 6-8 minutes until the dough is shiny and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
- Take the dough hook off, pick up the dough ball and coat the mixer bowl with a thin layer of oil then put the dough back in and cover it with a kitchen towel for 1 hour in a warm place (you want the dough to double in size).
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut away small ¼ cup sized balls of dough, roll them into thin logs and cut ¾- to 1-inch pieces and place them onto the baking sheets.
- Once you've cut all the pretzel dough into small pieces (careful to not stack the dough bits on top of each other – use more than one baking sheet), bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Slowly add baking soda (do this slowly because it will react in the pot), then reduce the heat to a medium-low and in small batches cook the pretzel bits for 1 minute (turn them halfway through).
- Remove the pretzels and line them up on the baking sheets.
- Once you've cooked all the batches of pretzels in the baking soda water, bake them for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown.
- To coat them, let the pretzels cool for 10 minutes when they come out of the oven, brush them in the melted butter, then in a mixture of the cinnamon and sugar.
Nutrition
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Table of Contents
About this Recipe
Skip the food court lines by making your own Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites to take with you to the mall. Plus, by making your own Pretzel bites at home, you can use the dough you save to buy more stocking stuffers. Do you knead a better reason to try them? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Chef’s Note
It’s a fairly quick recipe to make, and the kitchen won’t look like a battle just happened when you’re finished. The part that takes the longest is letting the dough rise, which will take about an hour. The pretzel dough just needs to sit lightly covered in a large bowl in a warm place for about an hour, and once the yeast has done its work, the fun begins. While you wait, throw on some holiday tunes or whatever gets you to your happy place before having to brave the mall parking lots.
How to Store
- Serve: You can store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. I wouldn’t recommend it, though, because they will go stale fast.
- Store: If you keep tightly sealed in an airtight container, they should stay good in the fridge for up to 1 week. They will get more stale as time goes on.
- Freeze: You can freeze these tasty treats for up to 6 months if you keep them away from moisture. You should always allow the pretzel bites to fully cool down to room temperature before you seal them up and put them away. A 5-second microwave once defrosted (cover them with a damp paper towel) will add a hint of moisture back into the bites. Then re-toss them in cinnamon sugar.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can keep them warm in an oven on a low temperature (200 degrees), but not for very long.
Keep them completely sealed and in a cool place. This will help keep them soft longer. It also helps to keep a slice of bread in the container with them to absorb any additional moisture that may accumulate.
Variations
- Dips: The perfect pairing is a cream cheese dip for Pretzel Bites. All you have to do is take my recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting and add a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream to get a tasty dipping sauce. You can also use the icing from my Cinnamon Roll Pancakes or Cinnastix Copycat Recipes!
- Spices: Who says pumpkin spice is just for lattes? Substitute Pumpkin Pie Spice for the cinnamon to make Pumpkin Spice Pretzel Bites.
- Dessert: Turn your Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites into a decadent dessert by putting some (read: a lot) in a bowl and drizzling with Salted Caramel Sauce and top with Whipped Cream.
- Gluten-free: Replace the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free alternative, like buckwheat or almond flour. As far as other ingredients in this recipe go, check to make sure that the yeast and baking soda you’re using specifically say that they’re gluten-free, because sometimes they are prepared in the same containers as gluten products, which can lead to cross-contamination. Active dry yeast is usually specifically labeled as gluten-free.
Related Recipes
More Cinnamon Recipes
These photos were in a previous version of this post
Great! How can I store and how long would they last? I want to make them for a party.
Serve: You can store Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. I wouldn’t recommend it though, because they will go stale fast.
Store: If you keep the Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites tightly sealed in an airtight container, like plastic wrap or tupperware, then they should stay good in the fridge for up to 1 week but they will get more stale as time goes on.
Freeze: You can freeze these tasty treats for up to 6 months if you keep them away from moisture. You should always allow the pretzel bites to fully cool down to room temperature before you seal them up and put them away. A 5 second microwave once defrosted (cover them with a damp paper towel) will add a hint of moisture back into the bites. Then re-toss them in cinnamon sugar.
So, this recipe was confusing. It has a ton of baking soda in the pretzel ingredients, but doesn’t say anything about using it, so I used half the amount in the dough, then later realized it was for the water bath. Hopefully this isn’t a terrible thing and it’s still edible.
oh no, I’m sorry it was confusing. I’m just now seeing this comment and am curious if you did try the recipe?
Is there any easy sauce recipes to dip the pretzels in?
I haven’t used a dip for this sugary sweet pretzel recipe. I’m guessing you might be looking for a glaze you might use on a dessert recipe? Here’s a link to several “glazed” recipes you might enjoy? https://dinnerthendessert.com/?s=glaze
The name of this recipe says “(with dripping sauce)”, but you don’t have that portion included in the recipe. It’s it a cream cheese dip?
Dips: The perfect pairing is a cream cheese dip for Pretzel Bites. All you have to do is take my recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting (https://dinnerthendessert.com/cream-cheese-frosting/) and add a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream to get a tasty dipping sauce. You can also use the icing from my Cinnamon Roll Pancakes (https://dinnerthendessert.com/cinnamon-roll-pancakes-with-icing/) or Cinnastix Copycat Recipes (https://dinnerthendessert.com/cinnastix-pizza-sticks-with-dipping-sauce-dominos-copycat/)!
This is the best pretzel recipe I’ve tried! Everything worked perfectly!
I tried these out and they ended up being slimy on the bottom I belive its front the baking soda and water
Please what if I don’t have oven can I fry
Hi, I would not recommend frying.
WHat if I don’t have a dough beater?
Then you’ll have to mix and knead it by hand. Enjoy!
these look yummy..i wonder could i use mu bread mager machine instead?
I’ve not tested it so I’m not comfortable giving a recommendation. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out.
will do ty
These look absolutely scrumptious! Such a great treat for the holidays! Thank you!
These look so good! I’d even add them to a cookie tin during the holidays!
I grew up eating Auntie Anne’s pretzels when each pretzel is made fresh. Now, I’m so glad I can recreate these soft, chewy, sinfully delish bites at home…
These pretzel bites look scrumptious! My family will love them! A delicious treat for the holidays!
These look great! I love recipes I can do with my kiddos! And I love the idea of a caramel drizzle and whipped cream!