We had soft pretzels and cheese beer dip at a restaurant last night and I was thinking about it all morning. These ones taste even better even though they’re not nearly as pretty - I really need to work on my pretzel shaping skills! The best part is the crunch of the sea salt alongside the fluffy middle. Pairing the pretzel with a classic cheese beer dip is a must!
Pretzels
4 cup Partially Sifted Flour
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1 ½ cups warm water
¼ cup baking soda
large pot of water
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water
coarse sea salt
Sift together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add in the melted butter and water. Knead for 3 minutes. Set the dough aside to rise until doubled in sized – about 1-2 hours.
Once raised, punch down the dough and split into 8 pieces. Roll out each piece into a long rope, twist the ends together like a twist tie and fold the ends in half back towards the bottom of the pretzel. It took me a couple to figure it out but after it was easy. Let the pretzels rise on a parchment lined baking sheet for about half an hour.
Boil the water and baking soda together. Once boiling, drop in the pretzels one at a time for a minute flipping half way through. Place them back onto the parchment. Once they’re boiled, whisk together the egg yolk and tablespoon of water. Slather the pretzels (hopefully yours are prettier than mine after being boiled!) with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350°F for about 12 minutes or until they’re golden.
Beer Cheese Dip
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Partially Sifted Flour
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a combination of old gouda from Thunder Oak and gruyère)
½ cup beer
¼ cup milk
pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a sauce pan and sauté the onions until soft. Add in the garlic, pepper and flour and cook for 3-4 minutes being sure to always stir. Add in your flour, beer and milk and keep stirring until it is wonderfully gooey. If you’re planning on serving the dip cool you might need to add a bit more milk.