Soft pretzel knots with beer cheese

Golden-brown pretzel knots dusted with crunchy salt and served with an oh-so-delish, savoury beer cheese are absolute crowd-pleasers.

Credit: Mary Makes It Easy

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Pretzels

• 2½ cups (325 g) plain (all-purpose) or bread flour, plus more for kneading
• 2 tsp (6 g) instant yeast
• 1 tsp (4 g) kosher salt
• ½ cup (125 ml) whole or 2% milk
• 1½ tbsp (34 g) honey
• 1½ tbsp (28 g) unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup + 6 cups (125 ml + 1500 ml) water, divided
• 4½ tbsp (72 g) bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
• 1 egg yolk + 3 tsp water, lightly beaten, for an egg wash
• Coarse or flaky salt

Beer cheese

• 3 tsp unsalted butter
• 1½ tbsp flour
• ½ cup (125 ml) whole or 2% milk
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) light flavoured beer, such as a lager or pilsner
• ¼ cup (62 g) cream cheese
• 1 tsp grainy Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup (120 g) grated cheddar cheese
• Kosher salt

Rising time: 1 hour 15 minutes, total.

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt until well combined.
2. Combine milk, honey, and melted butter in a small saucepan. Heat until warm and add ½ cup of water. Since you’re working with yeast, you want the mixture to be around body temperature so if your milk mixture is a bit on the hot side, add cooler water to bring the temperature down. If your mixture is body temperature or a bit warmer, add water around the same temperature.
3. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir into a shaggy dough. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about five minutes. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with a plate or plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about one hour.
4. Heat your oven to 210°C (425°F). Line two large sheet pans with baking (parchment) paper and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Punch down the dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 25 cm (10 inch) rope. Tie into knots, tuck the ends underneath, and transfer to the prepared sheet pan. Drape the formed pretzels with the clean kitchen towel and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Combine the remaining 6 cups of water with the bicarbonate soda (baking soda) in a large straight-sided sauté pan or saucepot and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.
6. Carefully add four of the pretzel knots to the boiling water and poach for 30 seconds, flipping halfway through. Using a slotted spoon, remove the poached pretzel knots from the water and return to the prepared baking sheet. Continue until all pretzels have been poached.
7. Lightly brush the tops of each pretzel with a little of the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes until deeply golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow the pretzels to cool before serving.
8. Meanwhile, make the beer cheese dip by melting the butter in a skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add in the flour and whisk for about 1 minute to combine and toast the flour. Slowly whisk in the milk followed by the beer. Add in the cream cheese, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire and garlic powder, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes.
9. Slowly add in the cheddar cheese and whisk until fully combined then season with salt and keep warm over low heat until ready to serve with pretzel knots.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.