Homemade Soft Pretzels with Beer Cheese

I’m a big mustard lover. I will dip any pretzel in mustard, but BEER CHEESE? CYA LATER. I will beer cheese ALL DAY. But let me not take away the shine (just yet) these soft pretzels are amazing. They are super soft on the inside, chewy on the outside and THICK. Perfect for dipping. Did I mention these are game day worthy?

The Dough

The dough is a simple dough and only takes a little over an hour to rise. A trick I like to do is preheat the oven to 200 degrees as I make the dough, this is where I put the pretzel dough to rise. Dough rises much better in warmer temps so this will help with those who live in colder areas. Soon as the dough is ready to rise turn the oven off and place your bowl in and close it. I’m telling you, it’s a game changer. I’ve even seen people do this in their dryer, which you can do too but I think the oven is more effective.

The Salt

I do like traditional pretzel salt but it just doesn’t “do it” for me. I love big flakes of salt. For these I used Maldon Salt. Superior. If you have not ever used it, it is just super flaky salt and mainly just used to top foods with. It is so perfect for soft pretzels if you love salt like I do.

The Beer Cheese

Beer, cheese, pretzels…they all just go hand in hand. Tip for the cheese, if you love cheddar – like myself, you need to mix a melty stringy cheese with it or it just won’t work and make sure it’s freshly shredded. Cheddar is very oily and it will separate so a melty kind of cheese really mends the sauce together. I mixed together sharp cheddar and gruyere cheese and added in an IPA. You can use any kind of beer you like (my cheap a$$ loves Coors Light) but this cheese sauce needs a beer that will shine through and IPA’s really do just that. Use a stronger beer that you would drink 😉

The Recipe

-what you need-

soft pretzels

• Active Dry Yeast (1 packet)
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbs Brown Sugar (or regular sugar or honey)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• pinch of salt
• 4 cups bread flour
• 5 Tbs cooled, melted butter
• 2 Tbs oil
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• Maldon Salt

beer cheese

• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 1/2 Tbs flour
• 3 Tbs cream or milk
• 1 cup beer (I used an IPA)
• 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)
• 4 ounces shredded gruyere (about 1 cup)

-what to do-

1. In a bowl combine the yeast, brown sugar and water and let proof. About 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
3. Using a dough hook attachment, or by hand, add in pinch of salt, onion powder and bread flour to your yeast mixture and start mixing. Halfway through mixing add in the melted butter and continue to knead until dough ball forms. The dough should not stick to sides of bowl or to your hands.
4. Turn off the oven.
5. Form pretzel dough into a ball, place back into the bowl and coat with the oil. Cover with a towel and place in the warmed oven to rise for 1 1/2 hours.
6. When dough has doubled in size, bring a large pot of water to a boil and turn your oven back on, preheating to 425 degrees. Every oven is different so go with HOT but not too hot. 400 is a safe zone.
7. While water boils, take your dough and cut into 12 equal pieces and roll into ropes. You can also make 6 larger pretzels, up to you 🙂
8. Start forming. I love a good three twist knot but go with what you like.
9. Place the formed pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet and form until all are done. This will allow the initial ones to rest and rise a bit more as you finish making your pretzels.
10. When water is boiling, add in your baking soda and then place in your pretzels. Only do a few at a time, you do not want to overcrowd. Cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute per side.
11. Using a slotted spoon, take out your pretzels and place back onto the parchment and salt immediately. Continue until all are done.
12. When all pretzels are done, bake for 20-25 minutes until golden browned.
13. While the pretzels bake, time to make the beer cheese sauce.
14. In a pan over medium low heat, melt your butter then add in the flour. Whisk until flour cooks through, about 3 minutes.
15. Add in the cream or milk and whisk, flour mixture will still be thick.
16. Then add in your beer and shredded cheeses. Whisk until cheese has fully melted and sauce is hot and smooth. If cheese sauce is too thick you can add more beer 😉 (note, the as the sauce cools it will become thick)
17. Serve warm pretzels with hot beer cheese and enjoy!!!!

I saw two pretzels walking down the street, one got assaulted.

don’t get it twisted, I aint no snitch.