Sourdough Discard Pretzel Bites
These chewy yet tender, mahogany brown sourdough discard pretzel bites are truly the best. Dip in nacho cheese, mustard, honey mustard, or melted butter- whatever suits your fancy! Yields approximately 32 pretzel bites when made as instructed.*Approximate nutritional information is based on salted pretzels, not cinnamon sugar versions.
Equipment
- silpat or premium parchment paper
- slotted spoon
Ingredients
Ingredients for dough:
- 4 cups bread flour 1 pound 1 ounce by weight
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1/2 ounce or 14 grams by weight
- 2 teaspoons SAF or instant yeast
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup unfed sourdough starter 4 ounces or 113 grams by weight
Ingredients for pretzel boil:
- 2 quarts water
- 1/2 cup baking soda See notes!
Optional ingredients for toppings:
- 2 tablespoons pretzel salt
- melted butter
- cinnamon sugar
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- In the work-bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (or in a mixing bowl using your hands), combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix on low about 30 seconds, or just to combine dry ingredients. With mixer still on low, carefully pour in the milk and sourdough starter. Continue mixing on low or by hand until you have a smooth, slightly tacky dough. Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk and puffy, about an hour or so.
To Form the Pretzels:
- Line two half sheet pans with silpats or premium parchment. Set next to your work area.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean surface.
To Form Pretzel Bites:
- Use a bench knife to cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece like play-dough until you have a snake of dough about double the circumference of your thumb.
- Cut into 2-inch pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
- Transfer the pretzel bites onto the lined baking sheets, being sure to leave generous amounts of room between them. They will expand as they rise and again as they bake. When you have dealt with all the dough, cover the pans with tea towels and let them rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy looking, about 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
Option One: Boil the pretzel bites:
- 2 quarts of water to a boil in a stainless steel or other non-reactive pan (enameled cast-iron, tempered glass, etc…) When water simmers, add the baking soda. Gently lift the pretzels or pretzel rods one at a time into the boiling water. (You can boil more than one at a time, but be sure not to crowd the the pan as they will expand as they boil. Let simmer for about 30 seconds. Use a slotted spatula or spoon to drain and return each piece to its place on the pan. Continue until all pieces have been boiled and returned to the pan.
Option Two: Lye Dip the Pretzel Bites
- Add 2 quarts of very cold water to a glass or plastic mixing bowl. Carefully stir in the lye with a stainless steel slotted spoon or plastic/silicone spatula.
- Using gloves, lower several pretzel bites into the water. After 15 seconds gently flip them over and let them stay in the water another 15 seconds. Lift the pretzel bites, allowing excess water to drain away before replacing them on the lined sheet pans. Be sure to allow space between them for them to expand while baking.
To Bake the Pretzel Bites
- Sprinkle each pretzel with about a sprinkle of pretzel salt to taste. Place pans in oven and bake the pretzels at least until golden brown (at least 10 minutes), but you can bake until they are deep brown which is my preference (closer to 15 minutes in my oven.)
- Let stand for at least 5 minutes before eating. These are best enjoyed warm, but can be stored in non-airtight container such as a bowl covered with a clean tea towel or a paper bag that is cinched or clipped shut at room temperature for a couple of days. They can be quickly reheated prior to serving.
Notes
You may find you need to add additional water to the recipe. So many factors contribute to how much water is needed: hydration of the starter, whether you measure your starter ingredients by weight or by volume, relative humidity of your room/the outdoors, your elevation. If your sourdough discard is very old, it will be much more liquid.
The dough should be stiffer/sturdier than most bread dough, but not crumbly. Use your own judgement guided by the descriptions here of what the dough should look and feel like. You can add small amounts of water to your hands and work it into the dough until it feels right.
You can either use baked baking soda or standard baking soda, if you're opting to boil the pretzels. The baked version will give you a closer approximation of a traditional German lye pretzel but does require baking the baking soda ahead of time.
Spread 1 cup of baking soda evenly over a foil lined sheet pan. Bake in a preheated 250ºF oven for one hour then cool completely. Then use the foil to lift and funnel it into an airtight jar.
Cover and store at room temperature until you need to make pretzels. This method will make enough for two batches of pretzels or pretzel bites.
Nutrition
Calories: 274kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 10gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 4186mgPotassium: 137mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 51IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 1mg
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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