The Cowans Cook!: Pretzel Bites with Sourdough Discard

Crispy, chewy and delicious pretzel bites made with sourdough discard. Perfect for a crowd or a snack. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Prep Time15

Cook Time8

Rise Time1 30

Total Time1 53

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: pretzel bites

Author: Amy Coyne

Equipment

Mixer
baking sheet
parchment paper

Ingredients

Sourdough Pretzel Dough

145 grams sourdough discard heaping 1/2 cup, or bubbly sourdough starter
175 grams lukewarm water 3/4 cup
5 grams granulated sugar 1 teaspoon
8 grams instant yeast 2 teaspoons
6 grams salt 1 teaspoon
285 grams all purpose flour about 2 cups, see recipe notes - plus more for rolling

Baking Soda Wash

120 grams hot water 1/2 cup
15 grams baking soda 1 Tablespoon

Toppings

55 grams unsalted butter, melted 4 Tablespoons
12 grams flaky salt 2 teaspoons, for topping
20 grams parmesan cheese, shredded 1/4 cup, if desired
60 grams cinnamon sugar 1/4 cup, if desired

Instructions

To a large bowl or to bowl in a stand mixer, mix together the sourdough discard, water, sugar, instant yeast, salt and flour.
Knead by hand about 5-8 minutes or knead in a stand mixer for about 5 minutes until it comes together and forms a smooth ball. Add a little more flour as needed. The dough will still be sticky, but not overly sticky. Pinch off a piece of dough and roll it into a ball in your fingers. If it forms a ball with minimal sticky residue left on your fingers, you can stop adding flour. Check out a few other tips for kneading dough here.
Lightly oil a bowl or container (affiliate link) and turn the dough around in the bowl to cover it lightly with the oil. Drape a kitchen towel or some plastic wrap over the bowl and let dough rise for 1-1 ½ hours.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Once dough has doubled in size, flour a counter with 1-2 Tablespoons flour and punch down the dough. Turn it out onto the floured surface and separate into 4 sections.
Roll each section into a long strand and cut each strand into 6-8 pretzel pieces. Place each pretzel bite on the parchment paper.
Heat 120 grams (1/2 cup) of water in the microwave until almost boiling. Add 15 grams (1 Tablespoon) of baking soda (it will bubble up a little) and mix together. Make sure the baking soda is completely dissolved before proceeding.
Use a pastry brush to brush each pretzel bite with the baking soda/water mixture. Alternatively you can dunk each pretzel bites into the baking soda/water mixture.
Preheat the oven to 500ºF. Let the pretzel bites rise for about 10-15 minutes (usually the amount of time it takes for the oven to preheat) before baking.
Bake the pretzel bites for about 8-10 minutes until crisp and lightly brown on the outside.
While the pretzel bites are baking, melt the unsalted butter and prepare any toppings (salt, parmesan cheese, cinnamon sugar).
As soon as the pretzel bites are baked through, remove them from the oven and brush with melted butter. Continue adding butter until all of the butter is on the pretzel bites. It may seem like a lot of butter, but keep adding it for the best taste and flavor.
Top with salt, cinnamon sugar or parmesan cheese and enjoy immediately.

Notes

Flour: You may need more or less flour than called for in this recipe depending on the percentage of flour and water your sourdough discard has. Check for readiness of the dough by rolling the dough into a ball in your fingertips. If it forms a ball with just a little sticky residue on your fingers, you can stop adding flour. If it is very sticky, add a little more flour about a Tablespoon at a time.

Substitutions: Bubbly sourdough starter can be substituted for sourdough discard. Alternatively, if you don't have sourdough discard on hand, the discard can be omitted and you can increase the flour to 2 1/3 cups the water to 1 cup of water in the recipe. Keep the other ingredients the same.

Nutrition

The Cowans Cook!

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Pretzel Bites with Sourdough Discard