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Soft Pretzels with Cheese Sauce

Deliciously homemade, these Soft Pretzels with Cheese Sauce are the best way to snack. Perfect, buttery pretzels paired with a creamy cheese sauce will make your day!
Prep Time1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Servings: 8 Servings
Author: Maggie @ Cupcakes and Sarcasm

Ingredients

For the Soft Pretzels-

  • 1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Packet Active Dry Yeast
  • 1 1/2 Cups Warm Water
  • 4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted + more for brushing pretzels
  • 4 Cups Flour
  • 10 Cups Water
  • 2/3 Cup Baking Soda
  • 1 Large Egg Yolk (mixed with 1 tbsp water)
  • Coarse Kosher Salt

For the Cheese Sauce-

  • 3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
  • 3 Tbsp Flour
  • 1 Cup Milk
  • 8 Oz Sharp Cheddar, grated (Can mix different cheeses- like Pepper Jack, Colby Jack, etc)
  • 1 Tbsp Hot Sauce

Instructions

For the Soft Pretzels-

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar, salt packet of yeast, and warm water. Whisk and let sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast becomes foamy.
  • After the yeast is foamy, add 4 tbsp melted butter and 2 cups of flour. Using the dough hook, knead until the flour is combined. Add the remaining 2 cups of flour 1/2 cup at a time.
  • Knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and has pulled away from the sides of the bowl.
  • Move the dough to a bowl greased with olive (or vegetable) oil. Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm spot. Let rise for an hour until doubled in size.
  • After an hour, remove the bowl to a clean surface. Divide the dough into 8 balls. (One at a time) Roll a dough ball into a 24 inch rope.
  • Form into a U shape. Cross the ends over one another and then fold the crossed ends over to the other side to form a pretzel shape. Gently press the ends down onto the dough so they’ll stay in place. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
  • Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet (might need 2) with parchment paper. Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, add the baking soda. One at a time, carefully drop a pretzel into the water and let it boil for about 20 seconds.
  • Using a large spatula, remove the pretzel and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels. Once all of the pretzels have been dipped, carefully reshape if needed.
  • Brush the pretzels with the egg yolk-water mixture and then sprinkle with salt.
  • Bake for about 15 minutes until the pretzels are a deep golden brown. While the pretzels are baking in the oven, prepare the cheese sauce. After removing the pretzels from the oven, immediately (lightly) brush with about 3 tbsp melted butter.

For the Cheese Sauce-

  • In a sauce pot over medium heat, melt 3 tbsp butter. Once melted, whisk in 3 tbsp flour until smooth. Cook the butter for a minute or two.
  • While whisking, slowly add the milk. Cook, whisking occasionally, until the milk mixture has slightly thickened.
  • Add the grated cheese a little bit at a time, whisking until it has melted. Add the hot sauce and stir until incorporated. Serve with the warm pretzels. Enjoy!