Soft Pretzel Bites with Beer Cheese Dip
There is a specific kind of Sunday in Kansas City where the air finally turns, everybody in the house is somehow already wearing red, and I realize at eleven in the morning that I have planned exactly zero snacks. That was me last weekend. I stood in front of the pantry like it was going to hand me a solution.
What it handed me was flour, a packet of yeast, and half a block of sharp cheddar. So we made soft pretzel bites with beer cheese, and I am not being dramatic when I say the pan was empty before the second quarter. My kids ate them plain, my husband treated the cheese like a beverage, and I ate more than I am willing to put in writing.
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Why you will love these
They taste like the giant pretzel you overpay for at a game, except they are warm, they are yours, and nobody made you stand in a line for them. The dough is a one bowl situation with a single rise, so you are not babysitting anything all afternoon.
They also hold beautifully. Bites are easier than full pretzels for a crowd because everyone can grab a couple without committing to a whole thing, and the ratio of salty crust to soft middle is honestly better. The beer cheese comes together in about eight minutes while the bites bake, which is the kind of timing that makes me feel like I have my life together.
What you need
Nothing exotic here, which is the point. For the pretzel bites you need 1 1/2 cups warm water, 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet), 1 tablespoon sugar, 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 4 tablespoons melted butter. For the boil you need 10 cups of water and 2/3 cup baking soda, then 1 beaten egg for the wash and coarse pretzel salt for the top. Regular table salt dissolves into nothing, so the coarse stuff is the one thing I would not skip.
For the beer cheese: 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons flour, 1 cup whole milk, 3/4 cup lager or pilsner, 2 cups sharp cheddar, 1/2 cup smoked gouda, 1 teaspoon Dijon, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, and a pinch of cayenne. Shred the cheese yourself with a box grater. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in starch and it will make your dip grainy every single time.
How to make them
Start the dough. Stir the warm water, yeast, and sugar together and let it foam for five minutes. Add the melted butter, salt, and 4 cups of flour, mix until shaggy, then knead about five minutes, adding the last of the flour until the dough is smooth and barely tacky. Cover it and let it rise an hour.
Shape and boil. Heat the oven to 425F. Punch the dough down, divide it into six pieces, and roll each into a rope about three quarters of an inch thick. A bench scraper makes cutting them into one inch bites take about thirty seconds. Bring the water to a boil, add the baking soda slowly because it foams like a science fair volcano, and boil the bites in batches for 30 seconds each.
Bake. Lift the bites out with a slotted spoon onto lined sheet pans, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse salt, and bake 12 to 15 minutes until they are deep golden brown. Pale pretzels are sad pretzels, so let them get real color.
Make the cheese while they bake. Melt butter, whisk in flour, cook it a minute. Slowly add the warm milk and then the beer, simmer two to three minutes until it coats a spoon, then take it off the heat and add the cheese a handful at a time. Off the heat is the whole secret. If the pan is too hot, the cheese breaks and you get a greasy mess. Finish with the Dijon and spices, taste, and adjust.
Soft Pretzel Bites with Beer Cheese Dip
Ingredients
Method
- Stir the warm water, yeast, and sugar together in a large bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes, until it looks foamy on top. If nothing happens, your yeast is done for and it is worth starting over with a fresh packet.
- Add the melted butter, kosher salt, and 4 cups of the flour. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead for about 5 minutes, adding the remaining flour a little at a time until the dough is smooth and just barely tacky.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until it has roughly doubled.
- Heat the oven to 425F and line two sheet pans with parchment. Punch the dough down and divide it into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick, then cut the ropes into 1 inch bites.
- Bring the 10 cups of water to a boil in a wide pot and carefully add the baking soda. It will foam up, so add it slowly. Drop the bites in in batches and boil for 30 seconds, then lift them out with a slotted spoon and set them on the pans.
- Brush the bites with egg wash and sprinkle generously with coarse salt.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until deep golden brown. Rotate the pans halfway through if your oven runs uneven.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook for 1 minute so it does not taste like raw flour.
- Slowly whisk in the warm milk, then the beer, and let it simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Pull the pan off the heat, then add the cheddar and gouda a handful at a time, whisking until each addition melts. Stir in the Dijon, garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, and pepper. Taste and adjust.
- Pour the dip into a warm bowl and serve right away with the hot pretzel bites.
Notes
Tips, swaps, and make ahead notes
Skip the beer if you want. Swap in an equal amount of milk plus a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and it still tastes tangy and grown up. I have made it both ways for a room with kids in it and nobody noticed.
Make it ahead. You can shape and boil the bites, then park them on the sheet pan in the fridge for up to eight hours. Do the egg wash and bake right before people arrive so they come out warm. The dip reheats over low heat with a splash of milk whisked in, and it is genuinely better the second day.
Play with it. Cinnamon sugar bites with the same dough are a whole different snack, just skip the coarse salt and toss them in butter and cinnamon sugar out of the oven. Add a spoon of pickled jalapeno brine to the cheese if your people like heat. Serve the dip in a small cast iron skillet and it stays warm way longer than a ceramic bowl.
Quick recipe details
Prep time: 25 minutes
Rise time: 1 hour
Bake time: 12 to 15 minutes
Total time: about 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 8, or about 60 bites
Storage: Pretzel bites keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or freeze up to 2 months and reheat at 350F for 5 minutes. The beer cheese keeps 4 days in the fridge.
The takeaway
This is the snack I make when I want people to feel taken care of without spending my whole Sunday on it. It is flour and water and cheese, and somehow it turns an ordinary afternoon into an occasion. That is most of what hosting is anyway.
If you make these, tell me what you dipped them in, because I have a feeling somebody out there is going to say ranch and I want to be prepared. Drop it in the comments.
So glad you are here.
xo, Pam
