Okay, so football season might be over but those Eagles flew and that’s cause for another celebration! Plus, if you are anything like me you will eat pretzel bites any time of the year. We took these ones up a notch and adding one of our favorite local-ish brews, Holy Moses from Great Lakes Brewing Company.
Now, I know sometimes people get nervous about recipes when there is yeast involved but don’t you worry! This one is super straightforward and doesn’t take too long at all. Plus, when you have a bucket full of pretzel bites, are you really going to complain? The answer is nope.
Usually, our recipes don’t totally require you to use your stand mixer. You could bust out the ol’ hand mixer for most cakes and cookies. But, with this dough, you will definitely need to use a stand mixer with a dough hook. We use the Kitchen Aid brand and love it.
If you don’t use a stand mixer with a dough hook, you won’t get this pretty picture and let’s be honest, we all like to make recipes for the Instagram story. Oh, wait, just me? Don’t leave me hanging on this fact.
I mean hello, isn’t this beautiful? I’m obsessed with making recipes with fresh dough. It smells amazing and there is just something about working it with your hands that makes me feel so official.
Also, it’s possible that this is my favorite picture I’ve ever taken for a recipe. After making the pretzel dough in the stand you will have to knead it a bit. But, hey it’s another photo op!
Then, it has to rest! If you are a responsible person, this is where you would clean up your kitchen. If you are me or my husband, you will probably wrangle your toddler and make sure she isn’t licking the floor. If you are lucky and that demon (child) is asleep, you will probably catch up on all your recorded Live PD shows. If you aren’t watching that show, you need to get on it. Stat.
Oh, so pretty! Now you’re going to work your pretzel dough into the little delicious morsels that we all know and love.
Flatten it out with just your hands and fingers. No need to use a rolling pin unless you want to make them a little extra flat. But, you’ll be morphing them more so no worries on it looking extra flat and uniform.
Use a bench scraper (these are the best) to cut into similar sized pieces of dough. You’ll be using these to make your ropes so they should definitely be about the same size. Feel free to also use a scale so you know they are the same weight and size.
Then, roll them into about 24in ropes to get ready to make them into bites. Alternately, if you want to make full pretzels, you can twist them into that figure now. Braiding pretzels is hard for me so we do pretzel bites. Then, you can eat more and feel less guilty because they are “smaller.” Tricky.
All the pretzel bites! You might think this is too many but once you eat one, you’ll clearly realize that maybe it isn’t enough. I’m only half kidding. 
Now, this is what makes pretzels so pretzel-y. You’re going to boil them in baking soda + water to get the flavor and texture that we all know and love. We use a dutch oven because it’s wide mouth and one of our bigger pots. You can use any type of pot just make sure not to overcrowd.
Once you take them out and let them dry a bit on a paper towel, transfer over to a silpat lined baking sheet for the next step in the process of homemade pretzel bites.
Here you are smooshing some egg yolk on top of the boiled bites. This helps them get that beautiful sheen and helps the salt stick.
I love salt on my pretzels. You could also easily put cinnamon and sugar on them too though! I mean my favorite cinnamon sugar pretzel is totally Auntie Anne’s – there is just something about those mall pretzels that bring back nostalgia to me.
Then, you’ll toss them in the oven for 10-12 minutes and ta-da! You can eat them fresh out of the oven by themselves. But, I suggest tracking down some queso and serving it along that cheesy goodness. I’m also a pretzel and mustard kind of gal so that’s definitely a delicious option too. These will be good for 1-2 days at room temperature or you can freeze them for a later date!
- 1 bottle GLBC Holy Moses White Ale
- 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tablespoons white sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 Tablespoon water
- coarse sea salt
- Pour beer into small saucepan and heat until about 110°-115° then remove from heat. Stir in yeast until dissolved and let sit for about 10 minutes until bubbly.
- In stand mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, yeast mixture about about 3 cups of flour.
- Using dough hook, beat on medium smooth until smooth and combined. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time until it forms a soft dough that is still slightly sticky.
- Pour dough onto a floured surface and knead with your hands until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Then, place in a greased bowl, turning dough to full grease the ball.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Punch dough down in bowl. Then, place on a lightly floured surface like your kitchen counter. Divide using a bench scraper until eight evenly sized and weighed balls.
- Roll each one into a 24-in rope. Then, cut each rope into 10-12 pretzel bites.
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzel bites into boiling water, careful not to crowd them. Cook for about 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels.
- Once all are done and full drained, place pretzel bites on greased or silpat lined baking sheets. In a small bowl, mix egg and water together. Then, brush each bite with egg mixture and top with coarse sea salt.
- Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to a wire rack to cool.
- Then, serve with queso or mustard or eat plain!
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