Pretzel bites AND beer cheese? Count me in! This simple snack or appetizer can be ready in just over one hour but won’t last that long.
Ingredients & Equipment Needed For This Recipe
Ingredients:
Pretzel Bite Dough
- Whole Milk
- Instant Yeast
- Brown Sugar
- All-Purpose Flour
- Kosher Salt
- Unsalted Butter
Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce
- Unsalted Butter
- All-Purpose Flour
- Beer of Choice-I Used a lighter beer, but you can literally use any kind you like! *if you don’t want to use beer at all just go with all heavy cream in the recipe*
- Heavy Cream
- Stone Ground Mustard
- Garlic Powder
- Cheddar Cheese– You can use a combination of yellow and white cheeses, go crazy!
- Garlic Powder- optional
- Salt & Pepper
Extras
- Pretzel or Flakey Sea Salt– You can use whatever you’d like to top the pretzels! I went for the classic plain salt myself!
- Olive Oil- Used to brush the bites before baking and topping with the salt. This will add a nice shine to the pretzels.
Equipment:
- Set of Measuring Cups and Spoons OR Digital Kitchen Scale if using Metric
- Stand Mixer– This will make the dough making process much easier but you can certainly mix the dough by hand.
- 2 Pots– A small one for the beer cheese, and a medium one for the poaching the pretzels prior to baking.
- Whisk– For mixing for the cheese sauce.
- Slotted Spoon– This tool is useful for getting the bites from the poaching liquid and transferring them to the sheet pan.
- 1/2 Sheet Pan or Cookie Sheet– To bake the bites.
- Parchment Paper or Silicon Baking Mat– Prevents from sticking to the sheet pan.
- Pastry Brush– Brushing on the oil before baking.
My Kinda Professional Tips for Pretzels Bites & Beer Cheese
- The poaching liquid needs to be boiling before you poach. If you don’t have it hot enough it will just make the bites soggy and they wont get a good hard exterior when baking.
- Don’t add the baking soda until ready to poach. Also ADD SLOWLY. Trust me from experience they liquid will go everywhere if you dump it all in at once!
- Olive oil the tops before adding salt. This will give it a nice shine and help the salt stick to the dough.
- Rotate the sheet pan halfway through baking. Ensuring that all sides get even baked.
- When making the beer cheese, don’t get it tooo hot. This will cause the cheese and milk to burn, which stinks ,hah literally. So keep a close eye on it when you’re making it.
- Serve both the pretzel bites and beer cheese warm, and as immediately after making as possible. The pretzel bites will keep for two days at room temperature in a close-able container. The beer cheese will keep for up to 5 days after baking in a close-able container in the fridge. You can re-heat the sauce either in the microwave or in a small pot on the stove.
Pretzel Bites & Beer Cheese
Pretzel bites AND beer cheese? Count me in! This simple snack or appetizer can be ready in just over one hour but won't last that long.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Set of Measuring Cups & Spoons OR Digital Kitchen Scale if using metric
- 2 Pots- one small, one medium
- Whisk
- Slotted Spoon
- 1/2 Sheet Pan or Cookie Sheet
- Parchment Paper or Silicon Baking Mat
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
Pretzel Bite Dough
- 1/2 Cup Whole Milk (120 ml)
- 1 tsp Instant Yeast
- 1 Tbl Brown Sugar (15 g)
- 1 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour (170 g)
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Tbl Unsalted Butter, soft (15 g)
Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce
- 1 Tbl Butter (15 g)
- 1 Tbl All-Purpose Flour (10 g)
- 1/4 Cup Beer of Choice (60 ml)
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream (120 ml)
- 1 tsp Stone Ground Mustard
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese or Cheese Blend (225 g)
- tt Salt & Pepper
Poaching Liquid
- 2 Cups Water (440 ml)
- 1 Cup Beer of Choice (220 ml)
- 1 Tbl Baking Soda (10 g)
Instructions
Pretzel Bites
- Begin by adding the yeast, brown sugar, and warm milk in the bottom of the mixing bowl. Let rest for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.
- After the 5 minutes, add the flour then salt. On speed 2 mix together the dough and then after 1 minute add the soft butter. Continue to mix for 10 minutes.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Get the poaching liquid going to a boil. *Don't add the baking soda until ready to poach!*
- Pre-heat the oven to 400° F (205° C).
- Portion the dough into 4 equal pieces (2.5 oz or 80 g) each. Divide further into 8 bite size pieces.
- Gently place into the poaching liquid for 30 seconds. Carefully place onto the parchment or silicon mat lined sheet tray, giving them a little space.
- Once all of the pretzel bites are poached, brush lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt or other topping.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool slightly before enjoying with the beer cheese or a favorite mustard.
Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce
- Create a roux by cooking together the flour and butter in a small pot over medium heat, about two minutes.
- Slowly add the beer, heavy cream, and mustard. Whisk together and let cook for about five minutes or until it starts to become thicker.
- Take off the heat and add the cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper (to your taste). Stir together until cheese is melted. If the cheese doesn't melt, you can place back over medium heat just to get the cheese melted.
- Serve immediately with pretzel bites!
Notes
1 Serving= 8 pieces & 1/4 Cup of Beer Cheese together
Did You Make This Recipe?
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