Use your favorite pizza dough recipe to make perfectly chewy, soft pretzels dunked into a tangy beer cheese.
There’s this pizza place by my work, right? My coworkers and I are totally smitten, and while their pizza is pretty good, that’s not even what keeps us coming back. Our addiction is… their soft pretzels. They are so incredibly good! You can get them with traditional butter and salt, or with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. The very best part, however, is the beer cheese that comes with them to dip the pretzels into. Seriously swoon-worthy! 
I figured it was something definitely worth attempting to recreate at home, and since the restaurant’s specialty is pizza, I guessed that if anything, their soft pretzels are made with pizza dough, so that’s the route I went! The results are seriously nothing short of spectacular. Buttery, irresistible pretzels with a crisp outside and a chewy inside, dipped in cheesy perfection!
As for the beer cheese, it’s really very similar to a traditional cheese sauce you would make for macaroni and cheese and the like, except some of the milk is replaced with beer! This sounds weird, I know, but it gives the dipping sauce a totally addicting little something that keeps you coming back for more! I will say the beer flavor is subtle, so it works best with something simply flavored like these pretzels. We tried putting it on burgers {what can I say, we had a lot left over} and you could hardly taste it! I have, however, heard that if you use a darker beer, the flavor will be more pronounced, so adjust accordingly. I hope this easy-peasy recipe inspires you to make soft pretzels at home!
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- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 pretzels 1x
Ingredients
*for the pretzels*
- 2 lbs pizza dough
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
- coarse salt (for sprinkling)
- flour (as needed)
- 5 tbsp baking soda
*for the beer cheese*
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup beer
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- First, prepare the pretzels. Preheat oven to 500F, and line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Lightly flour your work surface, and divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a long and skinny log {make it longer than you think you need}, and twist into the traditional pretzel shape. Repeat with all.
- Mix the 5 tbsp of baking powder with water in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Cook each pretzel for about 30 seconds, flipping halfway, then remove and place on prepared baking sheet.
- Brush the pretzels with the melted butter, sprinkle with coarse salt, and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
- While the pretzels cook, make the beer cheese. In a medium nonstick pot, melt the butter, then whisk in the flour all at once and cook for a couple of minutes, until it smells lightly toasted.
- Slowly pour in the milk, followed by the beer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.
- Stir in the cheese until just melted, then remove from heat and add the seasonings.
- Serve pretzels and beer cheese warm!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Snack
These are awesome. If you don’t want to make them into whole pretzels, you can make pretzel bites!
In the recipe you state and I know it is true, to use baking soda in the boiling water, however, in the directions you typed baking powder, that could be confusing to some.
Do not bake at 500 farenheit THEY WILL BURN! Baker at 400 instead
How much water would I use? Enough for the pretzels to go all the way under?
Hi! Yes you should have enough water for the pretzels to be covered. They will float but you want to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot :)
Do you have a recommendation for a beer?
I live alone, so can I freeze the dough before I bake it? Would i freeze before or after the boiling?