This Pretzel Monkey Bread is a fun twist on traditional pretzel bites. It's made using an easy homemade pretzel dough that's ready in just 1 hour and bakes in a basic 9x13 pan!
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Why I Love This Pretzel Monkey Bread
- No boiling necessary! Most traditional pretzel recipes require you to dip the dough in a boiling baking soda/water mixture. This recipe uses a simple baking soda bath with warm water to get that traditional pretzel taste/texture!
- Quick rise: Unlike a lot of bread recipes, these homemade pretzel bites don’t take hours to rise. You can make this pretzel monkey bread from start to finish in just around 1 hour!
- Fun & creative recipe: A great way to switch things up from traditional pretzel bites! Guaranteed to be a huge hit on game day, family night or at your next party!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Active Dry Yeast: Make sure that your yeast is not expired. If it doesn't foam, discard it and start over. You can also use instant yeast if that's what you have on hand. Using expired yeast will result in a dense texture rather than a soft and tender bread.
- Baking Soda: Dipping the pretzel dough in a baking soda bath gives you a more iconic pretzel taste and a golden color. While some recipes require you to dip them in boiling water, I find it too messy and prefer to just use warm water.
- Salted Butter: While I typically use unsalted butter for baking, I highly recommend using salted butter to give us that traditional mall pretzel taste.
- All-purpose Flour: I like to keep it simple with all-purpose flour since that's what most people have on hand but you can also make these with bread flour. Just, note that the bread flour will result in a slightly chewier pretzel (which is never a bad thing).
- Salt: You can use a coarse kosher, coarse sea salt, or pretzel salt. You don't want the super coarse salt, or it will be too crunchy.
How to Make Easy Pretzel Monkey Bread
Step 1: Activate yeast
- In a medium-sized bowl or measuring cup, stir together warm water (1 cup), active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (2 tablespoons). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet – no need to heat it up more.
- Let sit for 10 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.
Tip: If your mixture doesn’t foam or bubble after 10-20 minutes, your yeast is likely dead and you need to start over with fresh yeast.
Step 2: Mix dough
- While the yeast is proofing, mix together all-purpose flour (3 cups) and salt (1 teaspoon) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture. After the 10 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture.
- Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
Tip: If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough.
Step 3: Let dough rest & rise
Grease the bowl with oil and place the dough ball back into the bowl, coating the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean kitchen towel) and let sit for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
Step 4: Shape and dip in baking soda bath
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once your dough has risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured or parchment-lined surface and shape dough into a rectangle, about 1" thick. Then use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut into small 1” squares.
- In a medium bowl, mix together warm water (1 cup) and baking soda (1 tablespoon). Be sure to use a tablespoon and not a teaspoon!
- Then using a slotted spoon, dip your pieces of dough in the baking soda mixture and place in greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with pretzel salt.
Step 5: Bake
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Once done, brush warm pretzel bread with melted butter and sprinkle with extra pretzel salt, to taste.
Tip: I prefer using a 9x13 pan for this monkey bread recipe to ensure even cooking. If you try to use a bundt pan, like in traditional monkey bread recipes, the outside of the bread will brown too quickly leaving the center undone.
Step 6: Enjoy!
Dip monkey bread in queso, beer cheese or your favorite sauce!
Tips & Variations
- Don't add too much flour: You only want to add flour until it's no longer sticky to the touch. If your dough is no longer sticky but there's still flour in the bowl, don't force it into the dough. Adding too much flour will result in drier and less tender pretzel bites.
- Use a pizza cutter: A pizza cutter is the easiest and quickest way to cut your pretzel dough into 1" squares. You could also use a bench scraper.
- Different flavors: Want a delicious dessert? Sprinkle pretzel recipe with cinnamon sugar instead of salt after baking for a delectably sweet treat. Or, drizzle with chocolate sauce to make a super yummy chocolate pretzel monkey bread!
Storage & Freezing
- Storage: This pretzel monkey bread is best enjoyed fresh, but can also be stored in an airtight container or bag for 1-2 days. To reheat, sprinkle with a few drops of water, then heat for 2-3 minutes in an air fryer or 5-10 minutes in a 350℉ oven.
- Freezing: You can freeze this pretzel bread by letting it cool completely and then placing in an airtight bag (for up to 1-2 months). To reheat, bake bread at 350℉ for 5-10 minutes or until heated through. I don't love it as much after it's frozen but it will technically work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, these will work with instant yeast. While instant yeast doesn’t require it to be bloomed, I still recommend following the instructions as written.
The baking soda increases the pH alkalinity on the outside of the pretzel which gives it that traditional dark brown color. It also helps create a crispy crust while keeping the inside soft and chewy.
I recommend using a 9x13 pan for this recipe because it helps the pretzel bread bake more evenly. Baking the pretzel bites in a bundt pan can cause the outside of the monkey bread to become dark too quickly while the center remains underdone.
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Pretzel Bite Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Pretzel Dough
- 1 cup warm water (not hot!)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast (1) 0.25 oz. Packet
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Water Bath
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda (not teaspoons!)
For Topping & Dipping (Optional)
- coarse pretzel salt
- salted butter for brushing on top
Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl or measuring cup, stir together warm water (1 cup), active dry yeast (2¼ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (2 tablespoons). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet - no need to heat it up more. Let sit for 10 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.*See notes below if your mixture doesn't foam or bubble.
- While the yeast is proofing, mix together all-purpose flour (3 cups) and salt (1 teaspoon) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture.After the 10 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture and pour into the crater you created in the flour bowl.
- Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
- Grease the bowl with oil and place the dough ball back into the bowl, coating the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean dish towel) and let sit for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once your dough has risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured or parchment-lined surface and shape dough into a rectangle, about 1" thick. Then use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut into small 1” squares.
- In a medium bowl, mix together warm water (1 cup) and baking soda (1 tablespoon). Be sure to use a tablespoon and not a teaspoon!
- Then using a slotted spoon, dip your pieces of dough in the baking soda mixture and place in greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with pretzel salt.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
- Once done, brush warm pretzel bread with melted butter and sprinkle with extra pretzel salt, to taste.
- Enjoy warm with queso, beer cheese or your favorite sauce!
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Zerlynn says
So delicious and so easy! We made these pretzel monkey bread to dip in queso, but it’s so good on its own that we ended up just eating it by themselves and using tortilla chips to dip into the queso instead.
Made these for the September baking challenge, and it worked out perfectly for our game day menu!
Melissa says
I am so glad everyone loved this recipe, Zerlynn! Thank you for taking time to leave a review!
Lydia says
I love this recipe! So delicious and easy. You always fo such an amazing job! 💙
Melissa says
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, Lydia! I really appreciate the kind words!