Homemade Pretzel Bites with Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce

The beer cheese dip isn't so bad while tailgating either, a little beer for me, a little sauce, you see how it goes. If you've never attempted to make homemade pretzels, they are actually easier to make than you may have thought. After all, it's just a plain dough recipe.

Just like any rising dough recipe, you need to foam up some yeast in some warm water with a little bit of sugar. In case you weren't paying attention in Home Ec. Class, the yeast is activated in warm water, 110° to 115°, and eats the sugar producing carbon dioxide in return which allows the bread to rise. Once you make your pretzel dough you need to allow it to rest for about an hour before forming it into long ropes!

Feel free to cut the ropes however small or big you want. Rule of thumb for me is that it shouldn't be so big that you can't pop it right into your mouth, but you can absolutely feel free to change up the size from bites to rods - your prerogative! Once the small pretzel pieces are made, it's then time to dip them in a baking soda solution.

This part is certainly odd and what it does is gelatinizes the dough giving it that perfect brown color and texture when baked. It's kinda scary that you have to do that when you think about so don't think about it! Next, place them on a Silpat. It cannot be parchment paper. I REPEAT, it cannot be parchment paper as they will stick and you will be eating paper with your pretzels! Brush them with an egg yolk solution and sprinkle on salt and bake. Super simple and oh my gosh, are homemade fresh hot pretzels so insanely delicious!

Last but not least, I made a very simple beer cheese dipping sauce. I spiced it up a bit with smoked cheddar to give it a really nice flavor. Add in the beer and milk and whisk away until it becomes thick and that's it!

Happy Pretzel & Beer Cheese Dip making everyone!