I’m here with a cozy little treat for fall with the softest, fluffiest pretzels and a beer cheese dip to go with it! Making pretzels at home is a pretty fun one, though it does have a few extra steps involved, plus a fresh soft pretzel is pretty incredible.
This is the perfect thing to make if you’re hosting this season for an amazing appetizer. There’s definitely some prep involved in making homemade pretzels, but it’s still easy to pull together with a little time. Let’s get to it!
How to Make Soft Pretzels and Beer Cheese
We’re starting out with the pretzels. It’s a pretty simple yeasted dough and I usually like to start by letting the yeast bloom in some water, melted butter, and a little bit of sugar. The mixture should become foamy all over the top, which is how you know you’re ready to keep going.
Add in the flour and salt, and then knead everything together until you have a soft but smooth dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Here’s what it should look like before and after the first rise.
Once the dough has risen, it’s time to form the pretzels. Section your dough into 6 relatively even pieces and start by rolling one piece of dough into a long rope. If your dough is bouncing back too much, you may want to let it rest for about 5 minutes on the counter.
Once the dough is rolled into a rope, fold the ends up and give it a couple of twists, folding the twisted dough over the top to create the classic pretzel twist shape. Repeat this process with the remaining sections of dough until you have 6 pretzels. You may want to use a touch of water to help seal the edges together before boiling.
Then it’s time to boil the pretzels in your baking soda mixture. This process is really quick- each pretzel gets boiled for just about 30 seconds. They will become puffy and kind of sticky all over, so you don’t want to handle them with your hands at this stage.
Brush the tops of each pretzel generously with the egg wash, and then sprinkle some coarse or flakey salt all over the tops. Then it’s off to the oven to bake until they are deeply golden brown all over.
The beer cheese sauce is simple to make, and you can work on it while the pretzels bake. This is a classic sauce that starts with some butter and flour, and then we’re using milk and any light beer you prefer along with lots of cheese. I like to use a good mix of spice and a little bit of Dijon mustard to pull everything together.
Serve the soft pretzels and beer cheese warm and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks for Soft Pretzels and Beer Cheese
Here are my tips to help along the way to the perfect soft pretzels and beer cheese!
- Bloom your yeast to make sure it’s still good and that your water wasn’t too hot.
- How long does the dough take to rise? I recommend focusing on the size of the dough rather than the time- for me it takes about 45 minutes, but it will depend on your altitude and the temperature of your home!
- What if I want smaller pretzels? You can definitely separate the dough into 8 sections instead to go for some slightly smaller pretzels, or you can cut the dough into small chunks to make pretzel bites. You may need two baking sheets for bites!
- How do I know when the pretzels have boiled enough? You want to boil the pretzels for just about 30 seconds, making sure the pretzel is completely submerged in the water.
- Do I have to boil the pretzels? I would not recommend skipping this step- it creates the chewy texture that we’re all looking for in a soft pretzel. It’s a bit of mess and an extra step, but it’s well worth it!
- Can I use another kind of cheese? Yes, you can use any melting cheese for the beer cheese sauce that you like, or a combination of two or three cheeses here.
- My sauce is too thin- what can I do? You can add more shredded cheese to the mixture to further thicken it.
- My sauce turned grainy- what can I do? This happens if the cheese melts on too high of heat in the pan- you want to keep the heat on low or off once you add the cheese. You can use an immersion blender to help the mixture become smoother if needed.
- I’m at about 5,000 ft. above sea level, and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft. above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.
Enjoy!
Soft Pretzels and Beer Cheese
Ingredients
For the pretzels:
- 1 ½ cups warm water around 125 degrees
- 2 tbs. brown sugar
- 1 pkg. active dry yeast
- 6 tbs. melted butter
- 2 ½ tsp. salt
- 4 1/2 – 5 cups flour
- 2 quarts water
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 1 egg beaten with a little water
- Coarse salt for topping
For the beer cheese:
- 2 tbs. butter
- 2 tbs. flour
- 2/3 cup light beer
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
For the pretzels:
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If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. If not, a hand mixer will work. In a large bowl, mix together warm water, brown sugar, yeast, and melted butter. Let stand for about five minutes.
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In the meantime, mix together the salt, and 4 ½ cups flour
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Add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and combine until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough shouldn’t be too sticky, but should still be fairly soft, so use more flour if needed.
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Knead the dough on a flat surface for about five minutes, and form into a ball. Grease a medium bowl with a small amount of oil. Toss the dough in the bowl, flipping to coat the top. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 30 minutes to an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
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Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. In a large pot, bring two quarts (eight cups) of water to a boil. Add the baking soda to the boiling water quickly and be careful because it might splatter! Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Divide your dough into 6 even portions. Roll each portion out into a long rope and then carefully twist into a classic pretzel shape according to the photos above, pinching the ends together to seal.
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Carefully place each pretzel into the boiling baking soda water, and flip, cooking for a total of about 30-45 seconds. Then carefully remove the pretzels using a large spoon or spatula and place them onto your prepared baking sheets.
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Then, brush the pieces with your beaten egg mixture and immediately top with salt. Bake for about twelve to fifteen minutes, until golden brown!
For the beer cheese:
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While the pretzels bake, work on the beer cheese sauce. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. While whisking, slowly pour in the beer and milk until well combined, and continue heating until the mixture is very hot and beginning to slightly thicken.
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Add in the Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, black pepper, paprika, and salt until well combined. Turn the heat off. Slowly whisk in the shredded cheese until everything is completely melted through and you have a thick sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot with warm pretzels!
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
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