Appetizers
Vegan Soft Pretzel Bites
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
18 minutes
Yield
55
🥨 Get ready for the most addictive snack ever! These vegan soft pretzel bites are golden, chewy, and perfectly salty – like little pillows of comfort food heaven. Warning: you might eat the entire batch!
There’s nothing I love more than a salty, warm, pretzel. They are seriously so comforting and delicious. This spin on a typical pretzel turns the big warm pretzels you love into bite-size form. These Vegan Soft Pretzel Bites are the perfect snack, and they taste so good dipped in grainy dijon mustard.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Vegan Soft Pretzel Bites
- Quick: Despite what you may think, this recipe takes no time at all with the exception of the proofing of the dough. Prep it in only 15-minutes.
- Versatile: Use this dough recipe to make any shape or size of pretzel you want.
- Delicious: This is the ultimate snack and comfort food. You’ll love these pretzel bites for game day, after school, or anytime.
🍲 Ingredients
Yeast – There are two main types of yeast that you’ll find at your store – active dry or instant rise (or sometimes called quick rise or rapid rise). Both types will work but require different instructions to activate them. Active dry dissolves in warm water and with sugar in order for it to “bloom”. Instant rise yeast doesn’t need to be proofed in warm water and can be added directly into your recipe which is what I used for this recipe. Whichever you have or choose, just make sure you activate it properly if you need to.
Baking Soda – Make sure you use baking soda, not powder. Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate vs. powder is sodium bicarbonate and powdered acid. It’s important to ensure you use the right thing in your baking or you risk your baking not turning out right! The baking soda bath is what gives pretzels their distinctive chewy texture and beautiful golden color.
👩🍳 How to Make Vegan Soft Pretzel Bites
1. Grease a large bowl with 1 – 1 ½ tbsp of vegetable oil. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Create a well in the middle of the bowl. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine water, yeast and brown sugar. Mix to combine. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Pour the sugar/yeast minute into the large bowl, along with the melted butter. Knead the mixture for a couple of minutes to form a dough. If the dough is too sticky, add flour if it is too dry, add flour. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, kneading well for 3 – 4 minutes to make a soft + smooth dough. Round the dough and place it into the large-greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel or cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size. This may depend on your environment.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 F degrees and prepare two baking trays with parchment paper.
5. Add the 12 cups of water to a large pot and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce the heat and slowly add in the baking soda. Make sure to add it in small increments, so it doesn’t boil over. Reduce heat slightly while you prepare the bites.
7. Once the dough has doubled in size, remove the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into four quarters. Use your hands to press down on the dough and roll each piece into a long rope, approximately 2 feet long and 1 inch thick. Cut each rope of dough into 12 – 14 pieces, about 1-inch pieces.
8. Bring the pot of baking soda water back to a boil.
9. Add the pretzel bites to the pot in 3 or 4 different batches. Boil them for 20 – 30 seconds. Remove the pretzel bites with a slotted spoon and onto one of the baking trays. Repeat these steps and arrange the pretzel bites evenly between the two baking trays. Make sure they are not touching.
10. In a small bowl whisk the egg, then gently brush the tops of the pretzel bites.
11. Sprinkle sesame seeds over as many of the bites as you wish, and cover with a generous amount of flaky salt.
12. Bake for 18 minutes, until a golden brown.
13. Serve warm with grainy mustard, lightly salted butter, or Vegan Queso! Absolutely delicious!
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Dough Consistency: The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. If it sticks to your hands, add a little more flour.
- Rising Environment: Place the dough in a warm, draft-free spot for the best rise. An oven with just the light on works perfectly.
- Baking Soda Safety: Add the baking soda gradually to prevent aggressive bubbling and potential boil-over.
- Even Sizes: Try to keep pretzel bites roughly the same size for even cooking and consistent texture.
🗒 Substitutions
- Butter: If you are not vegan, use regular butter instead of plant-based butter.
- Egg Wash: For a fully vegan version, substitute the egg wash with plant milk mixed with a touch of maple syrup for browning.
- Sweet Version: For a sweet snack that is both impressive and delicious, use a generous amount of cinnamon sugar instead of flaky salt. Serve with cream cheese icing!
- Toppings: Experiment with everything bagel seasoning, garlic powder, or coarse sea salt for different flavor profiles.
🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
🤔 Common Questions
Yes! After the first rise, you can refrigerate the dough for up to 24 hours. Let it come to room temperature before shaping into bites.
The baking soda bath creates the signature chewy texture and helps develop that beautiful golden-brown color that makes pretzels so distinctive.
Absolutely! After shaping and boiling, freeze the bites on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake directly from frozen, adding 2-3 extra minutes to the baking time.
Yes! For a vegan version, brush with plant milk mixed with a touch of maple syrup, or simply skip the wash altogether. The pretzels will still be delicious but may not brown as deeply.
They should be deep golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped. The internal temperature should reach about 200°F if you have a thermometer.
Yup! This dough works for traditional pretzel shapes, breadsticks, or even pretzel rolls. Adjust baking time accordingly based on size.
Vegan Soft Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 ¾ tsp rapid rise yeast
- 1 ¾ cups warm water
- 6 tbsp vegan butter melted, I recommend earth balance
- 12 cups water
- 1/3 cup baking soda
- 1 vegan egg Bob’s Red Mill mixture works well or 1 regular egg if not vegan
- sesame seeds
- flaky salt
Instructions
- Grease a large bowl with 1 – 1 ½ tbsp of vegetable oil. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Create a well in the middle of the bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine water, yeast and brown sugar. Mix to combine. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Pour the sugar/yeast minute into the large bowl, along with the melted butter. Knead the mixture for a couple of minutes to form a dough. If the dough is too sticky, add flour if it is too dry, add flour. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, kneading well for 3 – 4 minutes to make a soft + smooth dough. Round the dough and place it into the large-greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel or cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size. This may depend on your environment.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F degrees and prepare two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Add the 12 cups of water to a large pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and slowly add in the baking soda. Make sure to add it in small increments, so it doesn’t boil over. Reduce heat slightly while you prepare the bites.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, remove the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into four quarters. Use your hands to press down on the dough and roll each piece into a long rope, approximately 2 feet long and 1 inch thick. Cut each rope of dough into 12 – 14 pieces, about 1-inch pieces.
- Bring the pot of baking soda water back to a boil.
- Add the pretzel bites to the pot in 3 or 4 different batches. Boil them for 20 – 30 seconds. Remove the pretzel bites with a slotted spoon and onto one of the baking trays. Repeat these steps and arrange the pretzel bites evenly between the two baking trays. Make sure they are not touching.
- In a small bowl whisk the egg, then gently brush the tops of the pretzel bites.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds over as many of the bites as you wish, and cover with a generous amount of flaky salt.
- Bake for 18 minutes, until a golden brown.
- Serve warm with grainy mustard, lightly salted butter, or Vegan Queso! Absolutely delicious!
Video
I made these once for game day for my husband and now he requests tem EVERYTIME lol. They are delicious!! We like to eat them with your queso sauce!
I LOVE THAT TOO! so happy to hear that!!
Will gluten-free 1 to 1 flour for the pretzel bites work? I’ve always loved them until I had to be gluten-free!
We didn’t recipe test these with that but let me ask Tori and get back to you ASAP!
Here is Tori’s reply: “Hey! Hmm 🤔 they could try it with also adding 1 tsp xanthan gum, and 1 egg. That would be the best bet for sure !!
However we are unable to 100% guarantee the outcome- regardless they will turn out a bit differently.”
Lovely recipe, very easy, only one hour for rising time?? What sorcery is this? ☺️😋 Skip cutting into bitesize pieces and you could have lovely sandwich or hotdog buns.
thank you so much for the love, jill!
What is the alternative for the egg to make it vegan?
I am so sorry about that! I suggest vegan egg mixture, something like bob’s red mill! Or even a flax egg will do! I amended the blog post too, sorry that wasn’t clear