Sourdough Discard Pretzle Bites
These soft, chewy sourdough discard pretzel bites are the ultimate salty snack. Easy to make and perfect for dipping, sharing, or munching by the handful.
Equipment
- Kitchen scale with a paddle attachment (please weigh your ingredients for best results)
- Stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer)
- 2 Baking sheets
- Small bowl for melted butter (optional)
- Pastry brush (for melted butter, optional)
Ingredients
for the sourdough discard pretzels
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon warm water 250g; 110-120F
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast 3g
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar 26g
- ⅓ cup sourdough discard 100g
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled; 56g
- 4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 500g
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt 9g
- pretzel salt for garnish
For the water bath
- 3 quarts water
- ⅓ cup baking soda
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, proof your active dry yeast in warm water (110-120F) and brown sugar. In 5 minutes or so, the yeast should bloom and become bubbly.
- Once the yeast is ready, add in your sourdough discard, melted (and cooled) butter, flour, and salt. I like to just add everything into the stand mixer at once and let it do its thing, but some like to add the wet ingredients first, followed by the flour and salt. Up to you! I make this dough all the time and have never had an issue from adding everything all at once.
- Run the stand mixer at a low speed with a dough hook and knead for 8-10 minutes or until the dough is sufficiently kneaded and can pass the window pane test.
- Place the kneaded dough in a greased bowl (I use avocado oil typically) to prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a clean, wet towel and let it rest for an hour or so until it is nearly doubled and soft/fluffy.
- If you live in a cooler home or environment, put your bowl in an oven with the oven light on. The light will provide a subtle warmth to encourage the dough to rise quickly.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and start heating a pot of water on high heat.
- Turn the risen pretzel dough out onto a lightly floured surface and split it into 8 pieces (this doesn't need to be perfect; the idea here is just to portion the dough into smaller, easy-to-work-with pieces)
- Roll each piece into a rope of your desired length (about 12-16 inches).
- Cut each rope into 1-inch-thick pieces. Each rope will make anywhere from 12-16 pieces.
- If some of your pieces are flat, roll them into balls for better results.
- Bring the pot of water to a boil and add baking soda.
- Dunk all of the pretzel bite dough balls into the boiling baking soda water and leave them in for 15-30 seconds.
- Using a slotted spoon or spatula, remove them from the water and add to a lined baking sheet, gently shaking off as much water as you can. Two baking sheets are recommended for adequate spacing between the pretzels (if they are too close together, it will take longer to bake, and they won't get as golden as we want).
- Top the wet pretzel dough bites with pretzel salt (use less than you think you need because this salt packs a punch).
- Bake at 425F for 15 minutes or until you achieve the golden-brown goodness of a classic pretzel.
- If desired, brush the pretzels with butter immediately after they come out of the oven. Serve warm and enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 286kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 6gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 1824mgPotassium: 9mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 175IUVitamin C: 0.001mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 0.04mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!