Pretzels With Beer Cheese Dip

Bake warm soft pretzels and scoop them into an easy beer cheese dip. Every bite has a chewy, golden crust with soft, fluffy centers.

Homemade pretzels are the perfect appetizer for relaxed weekends at home or big game-day football parties! And they just take about an hour. You can shape the pretzel dough like footballs, small soft pretzel nuggets, knots, or the classic pretzel shape...

Pretzels With Beer Cheese Dip Recipe

Dip your warm homemade soft pretzels into a creamy beer cheese dip. The delicious beer cheese dip can be made from different types of cheddar cheese, Swiss, and lots of other cheeses you have on hand.

There are also pretzel flavor variations down in the recipe card for you to try!

Bake a batch for snacks or on game days to watch sports like football games...

Soft Pretzel Recipe

• warm water
• active dry yeast
• granulated sugar
• kosher salt
• melted butter
• all purpose flour, extra for kneading
• egg whisked
• coarse sea salt or pretzel salt

Baking Soda Water Bath

• baking soda
• water

Make Pretzel Dough

1. In a large bowl (if hand kneading) or large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the yeast in warm water, stir until it dissolves and let it sit for a few minutes. Whisk in sugar, salt, and melted butter.
2. Slowly add 4 cups of the flour, a cup at a time with a wooden spoon or dough hook attachment in your mixer on low speed until the pretzel dough is no longer floury, shaggy, or sticky. If sticky, add just a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time until it forms a ball. Push your finger into the dough ball, if it bounces back you are ready to knead it.

Dough Knead & Rise

1. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface, knead for about 5 minutes and shape it into a ball. Or knead the dough in a stand mixer with the hook attachment at low speed for 5 minutes. Put the dough in a bowl, in a warm place, cover it with a towel, and put it in a warm place for 30-60 minutes.
2. Make-Ahead Tips: At this point, the pretzel dough can be refrigerated for up to three days or frozen for three months. Defrost frozen pretzel dough in the refrigerator, before shaping and baking. The dough can be shaped cold into pretzels, but let the pretzels puff up on your sheet pan before dipping and baking. Keep the pretzel dough in a good food-safe airtight container or freezer container.

Make The Baking Soda Bath

1. Meanwhile, while the dough is resting, make the baking soda boiling water bath. Pour 9 cups of water into a large pot with high sides, and bring to a boil.
2. Then add ½ cup of baking soda, it will foam up doubling in volume when adding the baking soda. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer, not a boil.

Pretzel Shapes

1. Place parchment paper on two large baking sheets. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut this dough into 12 even pieces to make pretzels, ⅓ cup each. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into a long, skinny rope against the counter using the palms of your hands. If the dough shrinks back, set it aside, and come back to it after it's rested for a few more minutes. Once you shape your pretzels, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover them loosely, and let rise until puffy, 20 minutes.

Water Bath Dipping Pretzels

1. Use a large slotted spoon, and lower the pretzels into the simmering water bath for 30 seconds maximum. If you go too long in the water bath, the pretzels gain a bitter taste from the baking soda.
2. At 30 seconds, scoop them out and gently place them on the prepared baking sheet. The pretzels will puff and get a wrinkled puckered look, that is good. If desired, you can refrigerate the boiled unbaked pretzels for up to 24 hours. This is a great game day or party prep hack!

Bake Pretzels

1. Whisk an egg for the egg wash, and brush all over the tops of the pretzels. Sprinkle coarse salt or pretzel salt lightly on top of the pretzels.
2. Bake the pretzels for 15-20 minutes, check on them at 15 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown. Serve with warm beer cheese dip, nacho cheese sauce, or yellow mustard.

Beer Cheese Recipe

• pale ale beer blonde ale
• all purpose flour
• sharp Cheddar cheese
• Swiss cheese
• cream cheese
• Dijon mustard or ground mustard
• Worcestershire sauce
• garlic powder
• hot sauce

Beer Cheese Dip Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the beer until boiling over medium heat, then whisk in the flour until smooth.
2. Turn the heat down, and add the grated cheddar and Swiss cheese one handful at a time and continue whisking until smooth.
3. Whisk in the cream cheese, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and hot sauce until thoroughly combined.
4. Remove from heat and serve warm with soft pretzels.

Soft Pretzel Shapes & Ideas

Football Pretzel Shape: Roll the dough into long ropes, and cut three 6-inch pieces to form the outside edge and line down the middle of the football, two 3-inch pieces for the curved end pieces, and three 1-inch pieces for the football laces. Lay the pieces together and gently pinch the edges to hold them together.

Classic Pretzel Twists: Roll the dough into a 20-inch long rope. Make a circle with the ends of the dough at the top of the circle, twist the ends, then fold the twist back down toward you over the bottom loop to form a pretzel shape.

Pretzel Bites: Roll out the pretzel dough into long ropes. Cut each rope into 1 ½-inch equal pieces.

Pretzel Sticks: Cut the dough into 24 pieces. Roll them into long ropes, dip them into the water bath for 30 seconds, lay them on a baking sheet, and pull them straight before baking.

Pretzel Knots: Roll dough into a rope, tie it into a knot, and then tuck the ends underneath into the center.

More Pretzels With Beer Cheese Dip Ideas

Beer Cheese Sauce Flavors

• Variety of Cheeses: Try some different cheeses like pepper jack, Mexican queso Blanco, Monterey jack, or smoked, sharp, or American cheddar. For best results, grate cheese at home and avoid pre-grated cheeses as they don't melt as well due to the anticaking agents in the packaging process.
• Spicy Additions: If you like it hot, add in some chopped jalapeños, Hatch chiles, serranos, cayennes, chipotle, or a hot sauce like Tabasco. Tapatio, or buffalo sauce.
• Kind of Beer: Use the type of beer you prefer, darker beers bring on a much stronger flavor. Buy the best beer, like a good amber ale, my favorite beer is pale ales, they taste just right in this recipe. You can also use a non-alcoholic beer if you prefer.
• Leftover Dip: If you have extra cheese dip, use it as cheese fondue with bread cubes, mix it into a casserole dish of mac and cheese, or pour over scalloped potatoes for dinner.

Pretzel Flavors To Try

• Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels: Skip using the egg wash and coarse salt, melt salted or unsalted butter, brush on the pretzels, then dip the pretzels into a shallow bowl filled with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ½ cup sugar mixed together. Eat these right away, as they don't hold well.
• Cheesy Jalapeno Pretzels: Use the egg wash, then top with different grated cheeses. And top with thinly sliced jalapenos and bake!
• Everything Bagel Pretzels: Egg wash, or brush with garlic butter, then sprinkle on everything bagel seasoning mix and bake.

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