Sourdough Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Peanut butter pretzels are a favorite in our house. This recipe takes a little patience, and it is not easy, but certainly worth the effort. We’ve made the pretzel bites 2 different ways - one using fresh milled soft white wheat flour and the other using store bought organic all-purpose flour. Both taste great, but if we had to choose one, we recommend using fresh milled soft white wheat flour. Give us a thumbs up if you make the recipe or if you like peanut butter pretzel bites. We appreciate your feedback.

Ingredients:
1 cup sourdough starter
2 cups filtered water (temperature between 80°F-89°F)
2 tablespoons local honey (we used raw unfiltered orange blossom)
3 teaspoons Himalayan sea salt
6 cups organic Bob Red Mill all-purpose flour (or substitute with soft white fresh milled flour)
Boiling Bath: 1 pot with filtered boiling water, 1 tablespoon baking soda, and 1 tablespoon organic brown coconut sugar
Coconut Oil Wash: 1/2 cup melted organic unrefined coconut oil, Himalayan sea salt (grind using coarse setting)

Directions:
Combine the sourdough starter, water, honey, salt and flour in a mixing bowl. Knead the dough by hand or by using a stand-up mixer with the dough hook. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and store in a warm place for 10-12 hours. We stored ours in the microwave. Optional step (not required): Slap and fold the dough after 30 min-1 hour and return it to the mixing bowl covered with a damp cloth inside the microwave for the remainder of the rise. Remove the dough from the bowl and with floured gloved hands and a floured working surface (i.e. countertop) remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 5-6 equal parts. If the dough gets too sticky, sprinkle more flour on the dough, your hands, and/or working surface. Roll out each dough ball into a long rope-like shape using your hands or a rolling pin. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on each long rope-shaped piece of dough. Fold each peanut butter layered strip onto itself. Place each folded piece on a cookie sheet, cover the whole cookie sheet with a damp cloth and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove the covered refrigerated peanut butter filled pieces from the refrigerator and cut them into smaller pieces (they will NOT be completely separated). Place the cut dough pieces on the cookie sheet inside the freezer to freeze overnight. Remove the cookie sheet from the freezer and carefully break the dough into smaller pieces. Be aware that the frozen precut pretzel bites are difficult to break apart after being frozen and do not need to all be completely separated prior to the boiling step. If the pretzel bites are clustered together in smaller amounts that is good enough. You may break them apart into individual pretzel bites after baking them. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Boiling Bath:
Carefully place 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of brown coconut sugar into a pot of boiling water. Boil the frozen pretzel bite pieces for 3-15 seconds. Carefully remove the boiled pretzel bites with tongs or using a spoon with holes and strain them before placing them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet/baking pan. It is best to boil all the pretzel bites first and place them on the bakeware before moving on to the coconut oil wash step.

Please watch the video below to learn more.

Coconut Oil Wash:
Make sure the coconut oil is melted before using it. Carefully spread melted coconut oil using a basting brush over all of the boiled pretzel bites. Using the coarse setting on the salt grinder, grind salt on top of all the pretzel bites.

Please watch the video below to learn more.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, carefully flipping them over in between with a spatula. For harder pretzels bites turn the oven off and leave the pretzels in the oven for a bit longer. Cooking times may vary from oven to oven.

Note: Fresh milled soft white flour will have a different taste than using organic store-bought all-purpose flour. The color and texture will also differ. Keep that in mind if you try this recipe.

Inspired by:
Bass, Lisa. “Sourdough Pretzel Bites.” Farmhouse on Boone, 3 Jan. 2023,
www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-pretzel-bites/#wprm-recipe-container-39517. 
Accessed 7 May 2025.