These tender keto pretzel bites are made with coconut flour fathead dough. Totally nut-free, not to mention absolutely delicious! This post is sponsored by Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs.
The air fryer really is a great little kitchen appliance. It’s fun and easy to use, and crisps up foods deliciously. And it’s a whole lot less messy than deep frying.
It also cooks many things, like wings, in far less time than a conventional oven. I use mine almost daily.
I typically use my air fryer to cook dinner recipes like keto chicken wings, air fryer pork chops, and crispy keto fish sticks. But I decided it was time to shake things up a bit and do a little air fryer baking.
First stop: Keto Pretzel Bites! I was blown away by how well these turned out. Puffy and soft, with a wonderful chewy pretzel texture.
Fathead dough in an air fryer?
Heck yeah! I had my trepidations too but it really works. Possibly better than in a regular oven.
These keto pretzel bites are based on my coconut flour bagels. It’s a great version of fathead dough that uses only coconut flour, so it’s completely nut free.
To get a good rise out of these air fryer pretzel bites, you really need both baking powder and an egg. The egg gives the dough more structure, to help it hold together.
And of course, I don’t just use any eggs. I do not trust factory farm eggs for freshness or quality, not to mention how they treat the chickens. So Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs are my go-to. I love how transparent they are on their site about how their Certified Humane Free Range hens are raised and treated on organic small family farms.
I was a little nervous to put the fathead dough in an air fryer. I thought that it might melt and spread too much. Thankfully, the dough held up well and puffed up beautifully, with a golden brown top. And they didn’t deflate as they cooled!
Ideal keto pretzel bites. We gobbled them down with some spicy brown mustard dipping sauce.
How to make Keto Pretzel Bites
This recipe is really quite straightforward, but fathead dough can always be a bit tricky. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Prep your dry ingredients before melting the cheese. This way, you can add them all at once, together with the egg, and start kneading the dough right away.
- Don’t worry about the egg getting “cooked” by the hot melted cheese. Just make sure you add the dry ingredients first, then the egg, then start mixing and kneading right away.
- Depending on your coconut flour, your dough may be a little sticky at first. This recipe uses a similar method to many conventional wheat doughs, where you work more flour in as you knead the dough, until it’s no longer sticky.
- Make sure the bites aren’t touching each other in the air fryer basket, as they do expand a bit. If you need to work in batches, that’s fine because these only take about 5 minutes to air fry.
- Spray your air fryer basket so the pretzel bites don’t stick. Also, brush the tops of the bites with melted butter and then sprinkle with coarse salt for a real pretzel experience.
- Keep your eye on them because every air fryer is a bit different and you don’t want them to burn!
Can you make these keto pretzel bites in the oven?
You can! I recommend a few things to make them work in the oven.
- Set a baking rack over a baking sheet and spray the rack with non-stick cooking spray, to allow the air to circulate around the pretzel bites.
- If you have a forced fan (convection) oven, use that setting and keep the temperature at 350F. If your oven does not have convection, set the temperature at 375F.
- Watch them carefully. They will probably take a few minutes longer than in an air fryer.
- You may also want to rotate your pan halfway through baking, to get even browning on all the bites.
Ready to make some delicious keto pretzel bites?
Please see the full recipe on Pete and Gerry’s website.
Nutritional Analysis for Keto Pretzel Bites
Serves 4 (makes about 32 bites)
Food energy: 202kcal
Total fat: 13.47g
Carbohydrate: 5.87g
Total dietary fiber: 3.16g
Protein: 12.09g
Sherri says
Oh yummy! I will be making these.
Kathy says
Hey Carolyn! Love your cookbooks and this blog! I am not fond of the smell of coconut in baked goods. Was wondering about adding garlic powder to this.. how much would you suggest?
Carolyn says
1/2 to 1 tsp.
Lisa says
Omg. I just made these and they are delicious. Has anyone tried to make pretzel buns with this recipe?
Pan says
These are quick and easy, and super yummy! I like to sprinkle them with everything bagel seasoning and serve them with softened cream cheese.
Carla says
Great Idea!!! 😃
Cyndi says
Would sunflower flour ir a mixture of seed flours work?
Carolyn says
No I am sorry. Seed flours are not a good replacement for coconut flour.
Robin Carter says
Pretzels are a favorite item with my adult girls. I cannot wait to try this non-inflammatory version!
Kerin says
How many grams of sugar per serving?
Carolyn says
No idea but I am sure you can use an online calculator.
Randy says
Could you do these or have you tried with a sugar and cinnamon coating ie: donut holes??
jackie says
Hello, these look delicious and i cannot wait to try them out. i wanted to know if it is 5.87 g carbs for all of the bites or for just a few? thank you
Carolyn says
Nutritional info is always listed per serving. A serving is 8 pieces.
laurie says
is the xanthum gum completely necessary for this recipe to work properly? i stopped by the grocery store and it was very expensive so i did not purchase it. thank you!
Carolyn says
You can certainly try without.
Sue says
Hey Laurie, it might be expensive, but you use very little xanthan gum in any recipe, so it lasts a long time…hope that helps you in your decision making!!
Linda Wood says
Made these pretzel bites today, they were AMAZING!!!! Very very good! Thank you so much for the recipe! I’ll be making these a lot!
Rachel says
Do you have any suggestions on dealing with dry dough? I made these today and really liked the flavor, but my dough was very dry and that made it difficult to roll into logs and cut into pieces. We are very warm and dry today and are at a high altitude to boot, so maybe that was part of the problem?
Carolyn says
Yes, it’s likely you identified the issue but it could also be the brand of coconut flour (they differ very much in absorbency) so you may need less of it. No matter what the issue is, I think that would help. Try a tbsp less to start.
Rachel says
Thank you! I will give that a try on my next attempt — which will fairly soon since my family polished them off quickly!
Christalina says
I don’t have an air fryer or convection oven. How would I make these in my plain old oven?
Carolyn says
Please read the section about baking in the oven.
John says
This recipe looks incredible! I have one substitution question though. I have a lot of grated Parmesan that will go bad in a day or two as there isn’t any preservatives in it and I was wondering if I could possibly sub that for the mozzarella? It definitely won’t be a 1 to 1 thing but perhaps I could add liquids to make up the difference? Thanks for your time!
Carolyn says
Sorry, John… parmesan just won’t give it the stretchiness of mozzarella dough.
diana irie says
is it possible to freeze these?
A lot of your recipes are great but too much for one person to keep fresh
Regards
Diana
Carolyn says
I do not think these would freeze well but this only has 4 servings and they stay fresh on the counter or in the fridge for several days.
Stefanie says
Thanks Carolyn, we can’t wait to try these! We just got our first convection oven so I’m thrilled to see you experimenting with that as well as the air fryer!
Julia Pridgen says
I know you probably hate these “substitution questions”, but….if a person hates the taste of coconut, could they use almond flour? Thanks!
Carolyn says
No, sorry. When I do fathead dough with almond flour, it spreads too much, becomes thin and flat. You can try, but I do not guarantee the results. And you would need 3x the amount.
Carol Harlan says
I think I would love an air fryer but hesitate to get one. There are so many choices out there and reviews are all over the place. Can you suggest a good one. Just me and hubby. Don’t want a small but not a huge one.
Carolyn says
I have this one: https://amzn.to/2XBnT5I Bigger and more expensive but also multi-purpose.
Sarah says
Thank you Carolyn for all your recipes!! I have tried a lot of them and all of them exceeded expectations 🙂
Question regarding the nutritional values for this recipes; are they for 1 serving (I would assume 8 bites?) or for all 4 serving?
Carolyn says
We’ve figured out where the discrepancy was and I’ve got new nutritional information in the post!
Sarah says
Phewwwww! Yours makes it more realistic and encouraging to try 😍 Hehehe
Thank u for ur reply!! ☺️
Carolyn says
We’ve figured out where the discrepancy was and I’ve got new nutritional information in the post!
Sarah says
Thank you Carolyn!
I love all ur recipes by the way 😍 they help me easily stick to keto 🤗
Stacey says
I don’t own an Air Fryer yet, any particular one that you would recommend?
Carolyn says
I have this one: https://amzn.to/2XBnT5I Bigger and more expensive but also multi-purpose.