These cinnamon sugar soft pretzel bites are perfect soft pretzels with a chewy pretzel crust, soft interior, and coated in cinnamon sugar. They are so good on their own, or served with a sweet cream cheese dip!
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Ever since I made my soft pretzel bites last year I have been wanting to try homemade cinnamon sugar soft pretzel bites! Well, I finally had an excuse to make them and now I’m wondering why I didn’t do it sooner!?
These soft pretzel bites are perfectly soft in the middle, with that classic chewy soft pretzel crust, ultra soft interior, and then they are coated in cinnamon sugar!
They’re such a yummy sweet treat, and perfect for when you’re craving something sweet. They only take about 1 hours from start to finish, and then you’re ready to dig right in.
These cinnamon sugar pretzels are just like Auntie Anne’s, or other mall pretzel stores, or maybe even better. And now you can make, and enjoy them at home whenever that soft pretzel craving strikes. I don’t know about you – but soft pretzels are totally something I crave 😉
This recipe makes a big giant batch of these, so they’re perfect for a fun party, or whenever you’re having a group of people over. They’re perfect for a birthday, sporting event, movie night, etc.
The pretzels can be a little messy to make, and they might look intimidating with so many steps, but I promise the results are well worth it!
How to make Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels?
- First we will start with the pretzel dough, it’s a pretty simple yeast dough. You’ll dissolve the yeast in the warm water till it’s nice and bubbly.
- Then add in the sugar, salt, and butter and stir it all together.
- Add in the flour one cup at a time, mixing after each addition.
- If it’s still sticky after four cups of flour you can add in more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until it’s no longer sticky.
- The dough should bounce back when you poke it.
- Knead the dough for a few minutes, then form it into a ball. Stick the dough into a clean bowl, sprayed with nonstick spray. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise for about 30 minutes, until it is doubled in size.
- Separate the dough into 6 sections.
- Then roll each of those into long ropes.
- Cut each of the ropes into 10 to 12 pieces.
- When you’re ready to make the pretzels, bring a big pot of water to boil with the baking soda in it. Drop about 12 pieces at a time into the hot water, and let them sit for a few seconds. Remove them from a slotted spoon, and try and shake all the extra water off.
- Then place them onto a baking sheet. Brush each pretzel bite with an egg wash (beat together 1 egg and 1 TBS water in a small bowl) with a silicone brush.
- Then bake them in the oven until the tops are nice and golden brown.
- Dip each pretzel bite into melted butter,
- Then into cinnamon sugar.
- Enjoy!!
Tips for making Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels?
- This recipe makes a big batch, about 60-72 pretzel bites depending how big/small you cut them up. If you aren’t going to be sharing, I recommend cutting the recipe in half. All the ingredients should be fine being cut straight in half, except for the egg wash (you’ll still just want 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of water), and you’ll keep the baking soda bath as is.
- If not, you can also turn half of the pretzel bites, into salty bites – the dough recipe is the same as my traditional soft pretzel bites.
- These pretzel bites are best eaten warm and fresh, but if you’re going to eat some the next day zap them in the microwave for about 10 seconds to warm them up again, and they’ll be almost as good as new!
- For a pumpkin spice twist, add a couple teaspoons of pumpkin spice seasoning to the cinnamon sugar coating.
- I haven’t tried this, but I’ve been told these can easily be subbed with vegan ingredients, using vegan butter or coconut oil instead of the butter, and almond milk instead of the egg wash.
- Put your cinnamon sugar mixture through a sifter if it starts to get clumpy from too much butter getting into it.
These cinnamon sugar soft pretzel bites are seriously delicious on their own, but paired with the cream cheese dip, *muah* they’re perfection. You’ll love them with or with out the dip, but if you do make the dip then I think these are acceptable for breakfast as they’re practically cinnamon rolls 😉
It’s a super quick altered version of my cream cheese frosting. But they would also be so good dipped in some hot fudge, or salted caramel sauce. I’m practically drooling just thinking about it!
What people are saying about these cinnamon sugar soft pretzel bites:
“I usually don’t write reviews, but these pretzels were SO delicious I had to. I’ve made these pretzels 3 times in the past month. My family loves them. I’ll be making them again later today. Thanks so much for sharing such a delicious, easy recipe:)” – Emmy
“So quick and easy to make! Super soft and fluffy too. I suck at making bread but this was a no fail recipe for me 🙂” – Jennifer
Looking for more soft pretzel recipes:
- Soft Pretzels
- Soft Pretzel Bites
- Pretzel Wrapped Bratwurst
- Jalapeno Cheddar Soft Pretzel Bites on Cook Nourish Bliss
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Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
For the Soft Pretzels:
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 TBS brown sugar
- 2 TBS unsalted butter (melted)
- 4 cups all purpose flour
For the Egg Wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 TBS water
For the Baking Soda Bath:
- 9 cups water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- 1/4 cup butter (melted)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tsp cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Dip:
- 4 oz cream cheese softened)
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
Instructions
For the Pretzels:
- Dissolve your yeast in your warm water in a large bowl. Stir together for about 1 minute until mostly combined.
- Add in your salt, sugar and butter and stir everything together.
- Add in your flour, 1 cup at a time until dough is thick and no longer sticky. Add more flour 1 TBS at a time if needed to make sure dough isn’t sticky. (Poke dough with your finger, and dough should bounce back – then it is ready)
- Lightly flour a flat surface.
- Knead your dough for 3 minutes and form into a ball.
- Oil a large bowl with nonstick spray and place dough in. Cover bowl with a towel and place in a warm area.
- Allow to rest in warm area for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Bring 9 cups of water with ½ cup of baking soda to boil.
- Cut your dough ball into 6 sections.
- Roll each section into long ropes about 20-22 inches long.
- Cut each rope into about 10-12 1.5 inch pieces.
- Drop one rope worth of pretzel bites into your baking soda bath and let sit for 20-30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone liner.
- Beat together your egg and 1 TBS water in a small bowl.
- Brush egg over each pretzel bite and place on prepared pan.
- Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until pretzel tops are a nice golden brown.
- Remove from oven.
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Dip each pretzel bite into melted butter then into cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Set back on tray and repeat with additional pretzel bites.
For the Cream Cheese Dip:
- Mix together your butter and cream cheese until smooth.
- Add in your powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until completely combined. (Add in milk 1/2 TBS at a time, if needed to make dip softer and smoother) Microwave for 20 seconds to reheat if you’re not using immediately.
Video
Nutrition
These cinnamon sugar soft pretzel bites were first posted on January 15, 2016. The photos and text were updated for clarity on April 21, 2021.
MAKE THESE AMAZING CINNAMON SUGAR SOFT PRETZEL BITES WITH THESE GREAT KITCHEN TOOLS AND INGREDIENTS:
Mary Moussa says
I made this recipe multiple times before as pretzel bites and sometimes as cinnamon rolls and they were incredible as both!! So soft and just perfect. However, I want to try and make pretzel dogs with this dough and I was wondering if that would work? This is by far my favourite recipe and my family’s so I want to stick to it. Thoughts?
Aimee says
Yes, I think it should work just fun! Roll into ropes then wrap around the hot dogs, dip in the water as before and bake! It might take a little longer to bake since it’ll be thicker. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Vic says
I think this is a fantastic recipe and i used it for the first time today after having it in my archived for weeks!
My only issue is when i put it in for the 15 my pretzels ended up being hard on the outside (not to the point of being unpleasant), somewhat similar to a regular pretzel. Perhaps i should leave it in the oven for less time? (my pretzel sizes were also smaller than the original recipe so maybe they overcooked?)
Another troubleshooting was that i left the bites in a sealed container overnight (oxo pop brand) and in the morning the sugar had dissolved with the butter into a wet mess at the bottom! It’s not warm where i currently stay so i thought countertop would be fine, any tips?
Aimee says
I’m guessing your ropes were thinner than mine so your pretzel bites were smaller and baked much faster, definitely watch them and only bake until golden. It’s a hard recipe to store, unfortunately – I’d try storing them without the butter and sugar coating, then add the butter and cinnamon fresh when you want to enjoy them again.
Milena says
I tried this recipe and put the oven temp to 400 instead of 425 and it turned out great! Best thing I’ve ever baked!!!
Aimee says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Melanie K. says
I halved the recipe and they turned out very dense. I halved everything except the baking soda water bath and eggwash like recommended, but maybe I shouldn’t have halved the yeast? I used rapid rise and let it rise for about 40 mins, but maybe I should’ve let it rise more too. I’m a novice baker so I’m assuming it’s more my fault than the recipe itself, and any recommendations to fix my mistakes would be greatly appreciated!
Aimee says
Hmm, I can’t say for sure – but I’m guessing it either needed a little longer, or a little more than half the yeast. I usually just make the whole batch even though its a lot, and freeze the extras, then reheat when I want them again. Let me know if you give it another try.
Chloe Knight says
These were amazing!! I have made these about 3 times now and my family wants me to keep making them! For some reason i cant figure out a way to prevent the bottoms of the pretzels from being so brown/dark but still super delicious. Thank you for the amazing recipe😩
Aimee says
Hi Chloe, So glad you guys love them! I’m not sure why they’d be turning so brown, maybe your oven has a lot of heat from the bottom. There are a couple ways you can try and stop it though by putting another baking sheet on the lowest rack to block some of the heat, or raising the rack they are baking on a bit so they are higher up from that.
Sophia says
Made these and are amazing! One question though… Can I save the dough and use it later?
Aimee says
I haven’t tried saving the dough in the fridge or freezer, so I’m not totally sure! I think it should stay good in the fridge for a couple of days. Let me know if you try it.
Brandy says
These are insanely good!! Thanks for the recipe! Huge hit at my house!! I did have to double the amount of melted butter/cinnamon sugar though.
Trisha says
These look delicious.
I have a question that I hope you might be able to answer.
I’m planning a huge birthday party that will feature a chocolate fountain. If I make these, how do you think it would be to add these to the many different chocolate dipping foods? It sounds good to me but unsure if they would get too soggy ect.
Ty so much
Brandy says
Yes! They are amazing!
Magaly Godoy says
I tried this recipe yesterday with my daughters and I think I did something wrong. We didn’t make all the shapes and pretzels at the same time so I was turning the baking soda bath water off in between and turning it back on once we shaped the others and so on. Anyway the first ones were amazing really good they loved them the rest however had a bitter taste to them. If you could let me know what I did wrong or an alternative for the baking soda bath would be great. Thx.
Aimee says
I’m not sure what caused this, did it take you a couple hours to make them all? Maybe the baking soda got bitter over time. I usually just leave the water boiling the whole time even though it takes a bit to roll and cut all the pieces. If you skip the baking soda however you won’t have pretzels, they may turn out more like bagels, as they’re also boiled. You could try lowering the amount of baking soda a bit 🤷♀️
Michael says
quick question, is egg wash necessary?
Aimee says
It helps give the pretzels their golden color, but you can leave it off if you want.
sanwoz@gmail.com says
Yikes…got in over my head with the misleading time frame! This took hours – as each batch of ten nuggets took 20 minutes and 15 in the oven! They browned in the oven, but never got cunchy. Also, mine got bigger and bigger in the oven – were soggy. Did you use the same wash each time. Last night they tasted like pretzels with cinnamon, this morning…they had a strong aftertaste. Definitely did not match my expectations!
Aimee says
I’m so sorry it took you so long. I’m not sure which part for each rope took so long, you should be able to bake all of them on one baking pan at the same time.
San says
Please remove my rating! I made a big mistake and boiled the nuggets in the bath for 15-20 minutes instead of seconds…can you imagine? They were just waterlogged….
Aimee says
Oh no! I’m glad you figured it out!
Virginia Simonson says
Can these be made ahead of time and freeze them with the cimmamon and sugar on them
Aimee says
I don’t think they’ll reheat nearly as well as they would taste fresh, but if you re bake them for a few minutes they might be decent
Gerald says
I tasted a very eggy flavor due to the egg wash. It was an underlying flavor. I dont know what I did wrong. Other than that, they came out great. Will try it again.
Aimee says
Sorry, I’m not sure. Did you mix it with the water first? Maybe add more water next time so the egg is less thick going on?
Asma says
First try but definitely not the last! I followed exactly the recipe, it’s easy and the bites are really fluffy, soft and delicious. My kids said they are even better than the bites found in the famous shops. I will do it again and again.
Aimee says
I’m so glad you all loved them!!
On says
If I make these in advance say in the morning, to be served the same evening, what would be the best way to reheat so they taste as if they are fresh?
Aimee says
The oven will give you the best results. Place them on a baking sheet and reheat for 3 to 5 minutes at 350 degrees F. They definitely won’t be as good as fresh, but hopefully still okay.
Abby says
I always reheat my pretzels In the air fryer if you have one! They taste super good and reheat quick
Jenna says
Hi, I want to know if I can leave the dough in the fridge for 2 days?
Aimee says
I haven’t tried it, but I think you should be able to make it in advanced as long as you keep it cold. Let it rise for the 30 minutes, then put it in the fridge. Let the dough come to room temperature, or at least warm up a bit before shaping into ropes and cutting into pieces.
Jasmine says
Every one loved it, I would recommend you put it in the oven for 10mins only. I wanted to know can I make the dough in advance?
Aimee says
I haven’t tried it, but I think you should be able to make it in advanced as long as you keep it cold. Let it rise for the 30 minutes, then put it in the fridge for maybe up to 2 days. Let the dough come to room temperature, or at least warm up a bit before shaping into ropes and pieces.
Amani says
Amazing recipe!! I love these pretzels sooo much! Thank u for sharing
Leah Hartley-Ward says
Thank you so much for this recipe. We live in England, but love America and due to covid haven’t been able to come across. My little boy’s favourite thing is auntie Anne’s cinnamon sugar pretzels! We had a lovely movie night with a tub of these delicious pretzels. At least if our holiday does get cancelled again 😩 I’ll be able to make these to cheer us up.
Aimee says
Yay! I’m so glad you loved them, and hope they’ll help you stay cheery!
joseph says
are you supposed to put the baking soda in before the water is boiling or after ?
Ellen says
Either way, but our regular pretzel recipe recommends you bring the water to boil first and then add the baking soda. I think that is best. Thanks for asking.