Bonus: Soft Pretzels and Beer Cheese

This weekend we celebrated Oktoberfest in family style. We usually go to the Breckenridge Oktoberfest, but that was cancelled this year so we held a Ralston version: R-Oktoberfest... which was basically eating all the delicious food and dancing at home while drinking all the beer. Prost!

We all made different items, strudel, spätzle, schnitzel, German potato salad, sauerkraut, and soft pretzels with beer cheese. I volunteered to make the pretzels and we were not disappointed. I made both regular and sweet pretzels, the dough and finishing are slightly different but so easy!

Ingredients
3/4 cup baking soda
1 1/2 cups water (between 100-110 degrees)
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon melted salted butter
4 cups all purpose flour

Rock or Pretzel Salt for topping regular ones

Cinnamon Sugar and melted butter for topping sweet ones
*for a sweet dough, increase the brown sugar to 3 tablespoons and add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

First my secret weapon, baking the baking soda... yes, I realize that sounds weird but think about this. Commercial pretzels are dunked in a lye solution prior to baking to get that delicious chewy texture. Home baking recipes often use the baking soda bath but that only gets you a fraction of the way to that chewy texture. Baking the baking soda, for 2 hours at 250 degrees, gets you as close to a lye solution as you can safely do in the home kitchen. So when you are thinking about making pretzels, put some baking soda in the oven and have it ready to go. You will not regret it. 

To make the dough, put the water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer for a few minutes to bloom. Add the salt, brown sugar, butter and mix gently. Add the flour and mix with the dough hook until it comes together. If the dough is sticky add 1/4 cup of flour until the dough is no longer sticky and bounces back when pressed slightly. 

Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes until it forms a smooth dough. 

Rest the dough on the counter under a towel at least 10 minutes. While it is resting prep your dunking and baking items. 

Add the prepared baking soda with 9 cups of water to a large pot and bring to a simmer.

Prepare two baking sheets (you will do 6 pretzels per sheet) with silpat or parchment paper (spray generously if using parchment). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and adjust the racks to equally fit two trays.

Divide the dough into 12 equal(ish) pieces. Shaping them 1 at a time, roll into 20 inch logs and twist. To make the traditional pretzel shape, make a U in the dough, twist the ends two times, and then press the ends into the bottom of the U. If that makes zero sense then google 'how to shape a pretzel' and watch a few videos, or just make them any shape you want!

Now to dip. Working two at a time gently drop the pretzel into the simmering baking soda mixture. Wait 20 seconds and remove, draining off any liquid and placing them on the prepared baking tray. 

For original pretzels, top with rock salt or pretzel salt before baking. For the sweet ones, we will top them after baking. 

Bake the pretzels 12-14 minutes, rotating the trays top to bottom, front to back at the halfway mark. 

Cool the pretzels on a rack until they are reasonably warm before consuming.

For the sweet ones, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar before consuming, they are my favorite! Don't be fooled, this recipe makes 12 pretzels... I made 4 batches so there was a legitimate pretzel factory in our kitchen!

Beer Cheese is a staple for soft pretzels and worth making at home. 

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2/3 cup beer
2 teaspoons Worcestershire 
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika (1/4 teaspoon if using smoked paprika)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese 

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook stirring until the flour absorbs all the butter. Add the milk and stir until combined. Add the beer, continue cooking and stirring until it reduces slightly. Add the seasonings and cheese. Stir as the cheese melts and the mixture continues to reduce. Keep it mind if will be thicker as it cools so be careful not to over reduce it. Once a reasonable thickness, set aside or consume. It was a R-Oktoberfest hit!