This shortcut recipe for Canned Biscuit Pretzel Bites uses a can of refrigerated biscuit dough to make warm, crispy, doughy pretzels that taste just like the ones from the mall!
Bread is just about one of the best things in the world. And when bread is in the form of a pretzel it can be pretty dang delicious! But, what if I told you that you can make these perfectly satisfying pretzel bites, previously inhaled only once a year at the county fair, with just a can of refrigerated biscuit dough? It’s for real. And it’s life changing.
I have been in the kitchen testing this recipe for a while now after seeing something similar. Being thorough, I tested canned pizza crust, canned French bread, biscuits, and that refrigerated raw pizza dough that you can find in the bakery section of many grocery stores.
While the canned French bread and pizza crust yielded a beautiful bake, the texture and flavor just wasn’t quite right. The super market bakery pizza dough was amazing – perfect texture and bake which is fully due in part to it containing yeast, unlike the canned varieties. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a supermarket with an extensive bakery that offers ready made pizza dough. And you know that I want y’all to be able to get your hands on everything I use in my recipes, so we passed on that. If you do find that, I would definitely say to use it in place of the biscuits in this recipe.
We did find that canned biscuits ended up giving us a light and fluffy bite with a crispy exterior. That combined with the pretty much universal availability made it the right choice for these.
When it comes to turning this dough into pretzels, there’s a crucial step that can’t be skipped and that’s a quick dip in baking soda water. This helps the pretzel get its dark brown color and unique flavor. Now, traditional pretzels were dipped in a lye solution. Yeah, the stuff that they use to make soap and clean drains – just a different strength.
Opting to go with baking soda gives us similar results without having to deal with caustic lye. Now, baking soda water is still caustic, but much less corrosive. Still, you might want to dip your pretzels using a slotted wooden or stainless steel spoon as it will tarnish aluminum services. I know all that sounds scary, but it’s not. I just don’t want you ruining your aluminum pans.
Traditionally, the dip is into boiling water, but it can be a little intimidating and messy. We tested each of the different doughs with a dip in boiling baking soda water and with slightly warm baking soda water. We found not much difference between the two methods and thought the warm dip was much easier.
After finding our favorite baked texture and method, we then tested again with either a melted butter or egg wash topped with salt. The following recipe is our favorite combination. Let’s get into it!
What makes these pretzel bites so easy? By using canned biscuits in this easy recipe, we are avoiding the use of yeast. Yeast is a simple and readily available ingredient, but can be intimidating to bake with. Making sure you have the correct temperature and amount of water along with the rest time and kneading are additional steps that get cut out when you use these canned biscuits.
Topping for a pretzel can vary widely! I am a simple man and enjoy the regular old plain salted pretzel, so we just used a coarse sea salt. You can even find special pretzel salt that has a lighter color and texture. (affiliate link) You could use everything bagel seasoning, poppy seeds, dried minced onion, or go for a sweeter finish with cinnamon! I included those instructions in the notes section of the recipe below.
Although they are perfect on their own, it’s easy to whip up my Honey Mustard Dressing recipe for dipping! Y’all enjoy!
Recipe Card
Canned Biscuit Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
- 1 (16.3-ounce) can refrigerated biscuit dough (8 biscuits) (I use Pillsbury Grands! Buttermilk Southern Homestyle)
- 2 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- coarse salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and carefully roll each piece into a ball. Use a knife to make a small slit in the top of each ball of dough.
- Pour the water into a medium bowl and whisk the baking soda in until it has dissolved.
- Dip each dough ball into the baking soda water and place it, slit side up, onto the prepared pan.
- Brush the dough balls with the melted butter and immediately sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until deep golden brown. Serve immediately.
Notes
Please note:
If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
Can biscuits be prepped ahead atime.
I would not suggest it. These are really best when fresh.
Love these pretzel bites
They’re beautiful!!!
Just tastes like a salty biscuit🤷♀️
Exactly. No pretzel taste at all. Needs yeast dough
A yeasted dough is certainly best for the most authentic flavor. This is shortcut recipe. And with shortcuts, we usually have to make a sacrifice somewhere.
What do you use for cheese dipping?
ou could used some store-bought canned cheese dip or could make your own like this: https://www.budgetbytes.com/5-minute-nacho-cheese-sauce/
Do you cook them in the baking soda water at all or just dip them and take them back out immediately?
While the traditional method uses boiled baking soda water, our testing found that boiling the water made no noticeable difference. The method has you simply dissolve the baking soda in warm water and dip the biscuits pieces in it. Since it’s just warm and not boiling, there’s no cooking involved in that step. I explain it in a little more detail up in the post.
They really didn’t taste like pretzels but we loved them any way we dipped them in a cheese sauce
I’m so glad you liked them!
I noticed it said serve immediately. Could you say why? As soon as I saw the recipe, I thought THIS is what I want to do for co-workers during November with several dipping sauces. I have a heat sealer and poly bags. Do you think it would work? Thank you Stacey for all you do! Ranita
As with most pretzels they are best served immediately. If you’re wanting to give them as gifts I would give them a trial run and taste them a day after to see how it goes first!
These aren’t terrible but I did not find them to be pretzel like. Definitely was looking forward to something other than how they turned out. They still a biscuit for sure but I’m all for dipping things so it was still a win
It sure it hard to make a canned biscuit a pretzel, but we think we got close. You should surely try it with the pizza dough I mention in the post.
Hi Stacey! I made these today with homemade Beer Cheese. Super good! I’ll try and post the picture on Instagram.
That would be great! Can you tag me in it?
Can’t wait totry. Have you tried cooking these in an air fryrer?
I have not, sure it would work well though!
I am fortunate to have pizza dough available. Any special instructions for using pizza dough?
No ma’am. Just pinch off a small amount and roll like you would canned biscuits.
Holy Moly! I don’t go to a mall without buying one of those big pretzels or a cup of pretzel bites! This recipe is one I’ll definitely be trying this weekend along with your Peach Dumplings (special request from my Dad). We’re both big fans of your recipes!
Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy them!