Gluten Free Soft Pretzel Bites with Blue Cheese Dip
Updated: Nov 20, 2023
These Gluten Free Soft Pretzel Bites are the ultimate finger food. Soft, chewy bites of buttery bread paired with the creamiest blue cheese dip, your guests will never know these are easy to make, let alone gluten free!
Finding gluten free party food options that you're actually happy to serve to guests or on a special occasion can be a very difficult task. If you don't want to stick to cheese and (fragile) crackers or chips and dip what on earth can you serve? Well, my Soft Pretzel Bites are here to be the star of your next get-together!
Any time I'm presented with great bread that I can dip in something I'm one happy camper, and these Pretzel Bites are case in point. The Pretzel Bites are everything you love in a soft pretzel; chewy, salty crust and a soft, buttery interior, but in a convenient bite-size form. My take on the ever popular Blue Cheese Dip is the perfect creamy, salty companion for the Bites, but I would happily bet it'll go with just about anything!
How to make Gluten Free Soft Pretzel Bites
Mixing the dough: the process for mixing this dough is nothing special. We get the yeast and psyllium ready first, mixing them individually with some of the water and sugar and setting them aside while we measure everything else. The dry ingredients are combined in a large bowl, either for a stand mixer or with a spoon to mix by hand, and then those yeast and psyllium mixtures and the other wet ingredients are tipped in. A bit of mixing and you're done! My only tip is to try and scrape all the way down to the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is mixed in.
First Prove: I coat my doughs in oil to make sure they don't dry out during proving. We just need to drizzle about a tablespoon around and on top of the dough to coat. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, then choose a warm spot if you have one, but regular old room temperature is fine too. You can't really go wrong with the first prove, it's relatively forgiving and mostly for flavour, but the dough should double in size.
Kneading: it's important to give the dough a bit of a knead on a lightly floured surface before shaping. This get's all the air out of it and makes it easier to get a good, even shape.
Shaping: The shaping process for these Soft Pretzel Bites is very forgiving. I like to smooth out my dough by giving each portion a quick knead and then tucking all the edges in before rolling it out into a long sausage about 2.5cm wide. All you need to then is cut it into pieces 2 - 3cm long and place them on a baking tray. They don't even need to be all precisely the same size - mine never are. Done!
Second Prove: The second proof seems to matter a lot less with these little bites than for larger loaves. They only need about 20 - 30 minutes, and we're just looking for them to be obviously puffy. Once you can see that all the bites have puffed up a bit you're ready to get on with poaching!
Poaching: this is the fun part! As for regular soft pretzels, these Soft Pretzel Bites need to be poached in order to achieve that perfect chewy crust. I use a big saucepan of water with bicarb soda added. I bring it to the boil ahead of time while the bites are proofing the second time, that way it doesn't take too long to come back to the boil when I need it. I poach my Soft Pretzel Bites in three or four batches for 30 seconds, stirring halfway through to try and get all the sides into the water. They'll puff up right in front of your eyes once they're in the hot water! Once they're drained and back on the baking tray they just need a brush of egg wash and a sprinkle of salt and they're ready to bake!
Baking: the easiest bit! I find that preheating my oven a bit hotter to 240ºC and then reducing the temperature to 230ºC once the Pretzel Bites go in is the best way to get a nice, even colour on them. Just make sure you remember to turn the temperature down!
Cooling and storage: You can serve these bites warm or at room temperature. They can be made up to one day ahead, just cool them completely and store in an airtight container or the freezer until you're ready to serve. Give them a refresh in a 180ºC oven for 10 minutes or so before serving them. They'll be a little bit drier the further ahead of time you make them, but they're still absolutely delicious!
How to make Blue Cheese Dip
This Blue Cheese Dip is almost embarrassingly easy to make. All you need to do is throw everything into a bowl and mix it together! I adjust the seasoning to my taste with salt, pepper and vinegar. You can make the dip the day before, but it does firm up a bit in the fridge, so when you're ready to serve give it a good stir to loosen and then transfer to your serving dish. A garnish of chopped chives and it's all dressed up ready to party!
If Blue Cheese Dip isn't your idea of heaven, I'm not sure we can be friends, but I do have an alternative for you. My Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce (what I normally serve with regular Soft Pretzels) makes a wonderful accompaniment to these Soft Pretzel Bites, and is equally easy to throw together! This would also be a good dairy free option.
Whatever you serve them with, these Soft Pretzel Bites are sure to bring joy to your next gathering. Easy, FUN to do, and delicious to boot, I hope you give these a go and enjoy them as much as I do!
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