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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 22 oz all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
- 2 oz unsalted butter, melted
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- Pretzel, Kosher, or course sea salt
- 2 small jalapeño peppers
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 8 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (not package pre-shredded cheese – shred your own)
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- Kosher salt
Preparation
Step 1
So the awesome thing about these pretzels is that you can make the dough and form the pretzels well in advance of your party. The key is to freeze them early, so that they are ready to quickly boil and bake for a few minutes before your guests arrive. You basically do all the hard work days (or weeks!) before your party, then have plenty of time to sit and enjoy the commercials and other incredible food you’ve made during the big game. Or wait, do you ladies actually watch the Super Bowl?
I’ve included a step-by-step photo guide below about how to shape the pretzels (lots of you have asked me about this) as well as the full recipe with instructions that you can print out. The pretzels themselves are super easy to make and are far more amazing than any mall, stadium, or street pretzel you could buy. Oh, and if you’re a cheese sauce lover like I am (without any processed ingredients!), you’ll love the roasted jalapeño cheese sauce recipe I made as well. Game on, people, game on!
Twist the ends around each other once to form the classic pretzel shape. Transfer each pretzel to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover the formed pretzels with another damp towel. Either freeze the pretzels on the baking sheets or proceed with boiling and baking them to serve immediately.
These pretzels are best eaten when they are freshly made. So to make them for a crowd, make the dough then form and freeze the pretzels in advance of your party. This will also give you a good opportunity to double or triple your dough in case you need a lot of pretzels. Instructions for boiling and baking from the freezer are below.
To make the pretzel dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the water, sugar, yeast, and salt on low speed for 10 seconds. Switch to the dough hook and add the flour and butter. Mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Place a barely damp towel over the dough and the formed pretzels to prevent them from drying out while you form the other pretzels.
To make the pretzels: Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an wide 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan. If you're freezing your formed pretzels, skip this step now and continue with it when you're ready to boil and bake your pretzels from the freezer.
Using a flat spatula, gently lower the pretzels into the boiling water and boil them for 30 seconds. If boiling the frozen pretzels, add them to the water directly from the freezer - do not thaw them - and boil for a total of 45 seconds. Depending on the size of your pot, boil 2 to 4 pretzels at a time. Remove the pretzels from the water using the spatula, drain as best you can over the pot, and place them on the baking sheets. Brush the top of each pretzel with some melted butter and sprinkle with the pretzel/Kosher/sea salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. If the pretzels were frozen, bake for an extra 1 to 2 minutes. Lightly brush pretzels with the remaining melted butter immediately after you remove them from the oven. Serve warm.
To make the cheese sauce:
Set the jalapeños on a baking sheet and roast under the broiler until blackened on all sides, about 10 minutes. Alternatively, you roast them over a gas burner on the stove, turning with tongs. Place the jalapeños in a heatproof bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to cool for 15 minutes then with a paper towel, peel and discard the blackened skins off leaving just the fleshy peppers remaining. Slice, remove and discard the seeds, and roughly chop the peppers. Set aside.
In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the chopped jalapeños to coat with the butter. Whisk in the flour, coating the peppers, and cook for 30 seconds, whisking constantly.
Slowly whisk in the milk until no lumps of flour remain. Stirring constantly, bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat until it thickens, about 3-5 minutes. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the shredded cheese until all of the cheese has melted. Stir in the cilantro and add a pinch of salt, if needed. Serve warm. The sauce can be kept warm for 15 to 20 minutes over very low heat on the stove, stirring occasionally. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave on medium power at 30 second intervals.
I absolutely love this pretzel recipe! We make it every year for the Super Bowl, though usually as bite-sized pretzels. Great step-by-step pictures (I have that same KAF mat)!
I too am an obsessive menu maker. It’s just as bad narrowing down things for a small dinner party as it is for Thanksgiving
I’ve been wanting to make homemade pretzels for what seems like forever. These are absolutely gorgeous, and the cheese dip sounds amazeballs. I think I have to add these to the Superbowl party menu, especially where they can be made in advance!
Thanks, Laura! You need to make them now!! I still have a few in the freezer and I’m hoping I can hold off on making them until the weekend for our movie night – I definitely couldn’t hold out until Super Bowl though! lol
Is it possible to make these without a standing mixer? I only have novice kitchen tools. Thanks!
Yes, you can mix the ingredients in a mixing bowl until it loosely starts to come together (called a “shaggy mass”) then knead the dough by hand on the counter for about 8 minutes. You’ll know the dough is ready to proof when it is smooth and slightly tacky.
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Jessica@AKitchenAddiction
Just out of curiosity, if you do NOT have a stand mixer, what is the best way to make the dough? This recipe looks absolutely awesome and I want to try making these!
I read the recipe a couple of times and hopefully I didn’t miss it, but if one were to make a single batch of pretzels, how many does that work out to?
So glad you loved them! The parmesan cheese sounds like an excellent addition!
You call for baking soda in your ingredient list, but did not tell when to add it. I assumed with the flour? Gonna give it a try:)
This dip looks fabulous!! and the Chorizo / carmelized onion dip in on my to-do list already. I love making my own pretzels, and if you want to save youself even more time, boil them and prep them for baking (like adding salt / herbs) and then freeze them. I bake them from frozen on my pre-heated pizza stone in about 17 minutes! Great snack for my kids too!
Excuse me? ADD 10 CUPS OF WATER FOR THE MIXTURE?!?!? I followed this recipe to the T and it would next get passed the state of crepe batter. I have no idea how anyone would get this recipe to work.
You misread the recipe. As you can see in the ingredient list, the 10 cups of water is listed separately from the water for the dough. In step 5 of the instructions, it says to bring the 10 cups of water to a boil – this is to cook the pretzels. Oh, and there’s no need to shout either. Thanks.
Do you think a soymilk substitution for the regular milk will make a big diffetence?
Thanks, Alice! Yes, they really are easy to make – you’ll love them!
I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you on the first try. I fully trust and love this recipe so if you have questions about where you think you may have gone wrong the first time, let me know. If they didn’t rise well, there are a couple things to do – check the expiration date on your yeast, take the temp of your water (water that is too hot or too cold won’t allow the yeast to bloom and your dough won’t rise properly), and make sure your kitchen is warm enough. My kitchen isn’t usually above 66 or 67 in the winter and it’s just too cold to get dough to rise. I proof my dough in a slightly warmed oven – just turn the oven on to the lowest temp and let it warm for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn it off and put the covered bowl of dough in to proof. Keep me posted with how your second attempt goes!
I have been looking to make homemade pretzels forever, but I live by myself so I wanted ones that I could easily freeze. When I saw your recipe with the freezer instructions I knew I had to make them. Just pulled them out of the oven and they are DELICIOUS! Thanks for a great recipe!
Made these. The pretzels were delicious. While The Mr. and I looove cilantro, we surprisingly found it very off-putting in the cheese sauce. The cilantro tasted very grassy, and we could hardly taste the cheese. We will definitely make the pretzels again. If we try the cheese sauce, we’ll either do it without cilantro, or cut down the amount of cilantro quite a bit.
Looks fab & can’t wait to try for the next gathering of friends! The poaching with the baking soda–is this process the same with bagels? I’ve tried to make them homemade a few times and results aren’t great. I live in Ireland and good bagels are hard to find….
Heather Kamarainen
What if I don’t have a stand mixer? What do I do then?