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Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites are a copy cat Pretzel Maker recipe that will satisfy that sweet tooth! Small, bite sized, soft pretzels covered in cinnamon sugar will do just that!
Sweet Pretzel Bites
Cinnamon sugar pretzel bites are a delicious sweet treat that’s perfect for serving while you’re lounging around watching movies with the family. Served with a vanilla icing for dipping and you can enjoy a poppable bite that tastes like a cross between a soft pretzel and a cinnamon roll (doesn’t that sound incredible?)
This cinnamon sugar pretzel recipe is a very simple yeast dough bread that is great for those with little to no yeast dough experience. Perfect for getting the experience needed before moving on to more complicated bread dough recipes. You’re going to love how simple and easy they are to make but be warned you’ll want to find more excuses to make them.
If you prefer your Pretzel Bites with just some Coarse Salt? Try my Pretzel Bites Recipe for that! Looking to make large pretzel twists? Learn how to make Homemade Soft Pretzels on my site, too!
What’s In Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites?
For the Pretzel Dough You’ll Need:
- Warm Water: we are looking for 100°-120° for the water if you have an instant read thermometer! If not, just make sure that the water is extremely warm on the inside of your wrist, but not hot.
- Dry Active Yeast: The recipe calls for a packet but if you don’t have a packet, measure out 2 1/4 tsp.
- Sugar
- Melted Butter: we will use this twice in this recipe, once inside of the dough and then again before shaking on that cinnamon and sugar.
- Salt
- Flour: All-purpose flour is what we need for in this recipe. No special flour needed.
- Cinnamon and Sugar
- Water and Baking Soda: We will boil this together to create a baking soda bath for the pretzel bites. The baking soda bath gives the pretzels that classic slightly bitter taste.
How to Make Cinnamon Pretzel Bites
The pretzel bites are made with a simple yeast dough. The dough ingredients are kneaded together with either a stand mixer or by hand kneading the dough. If you don’t have a stand mixer, just stir the ingredients for as long as you can and then turn the dough out onto the counter and knead by hand.
The dough texture should be extremely smooth and elastic. The dough should not stick to your bowl or counter once it has finished kneading in all of the ingredients.
The dough will rise until double (you can speed up this process if you have an Instant Pot! Check out the recipe card below for all of the details.) and then roll into ropes and cut into bite sized pieces.
Next the pretzel bites will take a quick dunk into our boiling baking soda and water mixture. You don’t want the bites in longer than about 5-10 seconds or they will be extremely bitter.
Bake in a 425° oven. Immediately after pulling them out of the oven, dip them in melted butter and then shake them with cinnamon and sugar.
These are best eaten within the hour and served along with Vanilla Icing.
What makes a pretzel taste like a pretzel?
The baking soda water bath is what gives these pretzel bites their characteristic pretzel flavoring and texture. The baking soda bath gives the pretzels their brown color, light crust, and soft insides that we’re looking for.
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More Bread Recipes
- Breadsticks Recipe
- Cinnamon Rolls
- French Bread Recipe
- Ciabatta Roll Recipe
- Asiago Cheese Bagel
- Dinner Rolls
- Focaccia Bread
- Olive Garden Breadsticks
- No Knead Pizza Crust
- Garlic Knots
Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
Pretzel Dough
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 pkg dry active yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp melted butter, divided
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar mixture
Baking Soda Bath
- 4 cups water
- 2 tbsp baking soda
Instructions
- Add the warm water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbly. If the yeast isn't bubbly, it isn't active and the pretzels will not work. Repeat this step with new yeast until it is bubbly.
- Add the 1 tbsp of melted butter, salt and flour to the stand mixer. Turn on LOW and allow the stand mixer to knead the dough for 10 minutes.
- The dough should be very soft, but shouldn't stick to the sides of the bowl at all.
- Allow the dough to rise until double. (1 hour on the counter) If using the Instant Pot, spray the liner with non stick spray and then let the dough rise in the Instant Pot on the Yogurt NORMAL setting for 15 minutes.
- After the dough has doubled, punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal sized pieces. Set aside.
- Combine the water and baking soda in either a large pot on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot. Bring the soda water to a boil. If using the Instant Pot, set it to Saute HIGH.
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- While the soda water is coming to a boil, roll and cut the dough into small 'bites' by rolling the dough into a long rope and then cutting it into one inch sections. Repeat with all of the dough.
- Once all of the pretzels cut, gently place each pretzel in the boiling soda water. Allow the pretzel to boil for about 5-10 seconds before removing with a slotted spoon and transferring to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. (This parchment paper will probably get really wet, so you'll want to eventually transfer the pretzels to another sheet of parchment paper prior to baking.)
- Repeat with remaining pretzels.
- Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.
- Immediatly upon taking the pretzel bites out of the oven, dunk in the remaining 1/4 cup of melted butter and then shake in the cinnamon and sugar.
- Best eaten within the hour and served with my vanilla Icing (see below for clickable link).
- If you'd like to store for a longer period of time, I suggest freezing the pretzels as soon as they are cool. Reheat the pretzels in the oven at 425° for 8-10 minutes.
So good and so easy. Will definitely be making these again.
I am so happy to hear that, Elizabeth. Thanks!! 🙂