Homemade Pretzels 4 Ways

1. Homemade Soft Pretzels

Ingredients
for 8 servings

1 ½ cups water, warm
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
4 ½ cups flour
3 tablespoons oil, divided
⅔ cup baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
coarse salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
2. In a bowl, mix water, salt, and sugar until combined. Add yeast, and let rest 5 minutes until yeast starts to foam.
3. Add flour and 2 tablespoons of oil, and mix thoroughly until a dough forms.
4. Remove the dough and use the remaining oil to cover the bowl.
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place for 1 hour.
6. Cut dough into 8 pieces and roll them out into thin ropes, twisting the two ends to form a pretzel shape.
7. Add baking soda to a large pot of water, and bring to a rolling boil. Boil each pretzel for 30 seconds per side.
8. Transfer pretzels to a baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
9. Enjoy!

2. Cheese-stuffed Garlic Parmesan Pretzels

Ingredients
for 8 servings

13.8 oz pizza dough, 1 can
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F (200˚C).
2. Stretch pizza dough out into a rectangle.
3. Cut into 8 equal-sized strips.
4. Stretch strips lengthwise, and widthwise.
5. Place mozzarella down the middle of each strip.
6. Fold and pinch the dough around the cheese along the entire strip, ensuring to close off the ends.
7. Form a pretzel shape by taking the ends of the strip, making a “U” shape, twisting the ends around each other twice and connecting the ends to the bottom of the “U” shape.
8. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
9. Mix melted butter, garlic, and parsley and pour onto pretzels.
10. Sprinkle parmesan evenly on top of the pretzels.
11. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
12. Enjoy!

3. Cheese-stuffed Pizza Pretzels

Ingredients
for 3 pretzels

13.8 oz store-bought pizza dough, 1 tube
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
15 pieces presliced pepperoni
marinara sauce, or pizza sauce for dipping
nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. Unroll the dough, it should form 15x9-inch (38x22 cm) rectangle, then cut the rectangle horizontally into three equal strips. (These will be your three pretzels.)
3. Carefully stretch each of the strips by width and length — stretch each to about 3 inch (7 ½ cm) width and about 34 inch (86 cm) length.
4. Sprinkle 1 cup (100g) of cheese down the center of each dough strip. Reserve the last 1 cup (100g) of cheese for later.
5. Fold the dough over the cheese, pressing to seal and rolling slightly to create 3 dough logs filled with cheese.
6. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil.
7. To form the pretzels, take one dough log, move it to the foil covered baking sheet, then form a circle with the ends of the log at the top of the circle. Twist the log ends around each other once and bring them down to meet the bottom of the circle. Repeat with the other two dough logs.
8. Wrap pepperonis on the pretzels — 5-ish per pretzel — then sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese among the three pretzels.
9. Bake 14-18 minutes until deep golden brown.
10. Serve immediately with pizza sauce for dipping.
11. Enjoy!

4. Beer Pretzels With Beer Cheese Dip

Ingredients
for 12 pretzels

OBATZDA CHEESE MIX

2 tablespoons beer, we used an oktoberfest style lager
4.5 oz brie cheese
3.5 oz limburger cheese, or other strong flavored soft cheese like taleggio
½ pack cream cheese
½ yellow onion
½ tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon chives, minced
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
½ red onion, thinly sliced, optional
PRETZELS

1 pack premade pizza dough
6 tablespoons beer, we used an oktoberfest-style lager
¾ cup flour
5 cups water
¼ cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten
course sea salt

Preparation

1. Cut rind off soft cheeses while they are still chilled, then cut into cubes.
2. Blend cheeses with fork, then add cream cheese, beer, spices, and diced onion and mix again. When well incorporated, stir in salt & pepper to taste. Chill.
3. Take pizza dough out of package and roll into a ball. In a large bowl, add beer and flour to the dough and mix with hands until firm and not sticky. Add more flour if needed.
4. Rip off a piece of dough and roll it into a 6-inch long log.
5. To form the pretzel, pull the ends of the log to the top of the circle. Twist the ends around each other once and bring them down to meet the bottom of the circle. Then transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is used. Chill pretzels in the fridge for 20 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 425˚F / 220˚C.
7. Bring the water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the baking soda to the water and immediately add pretzels.
8. Boil for 20-30 seconds, then take out and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
9. Brush egg wash onto the top of each pretzel, then top with coarse salt.
10. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until deep brown.
11. Before serving the beer cheese, garnish with sliced red onion, if desired. Cheese mixture can be used as dip or spread.
12. Enjoy!