Soft Pretzels
1 ½ cups water, warm
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
4 cups flour (I used bread flour)
2 tablespoons oil
1/3c cup baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
kosher salt
1.) Heat water to about 110°F (43C) and put in yeast and sugar. mix well, cover, and set aside until frothy (approx. 5-10 minutes)
2.) Combine flour and salt (If using kosher salt, I put it in my spice grinder to make it a fine powder to better distribute into the flour)
3.) Add oil to yeast water after it's done blooming and mix in with flour until all loose flour is attached (it will be kind of shaggy).
I sprayed nonstick spray in the bowl and under the dough so it won't stick. Cover and put in a warm place for 60 minutes.
What I found works VERY WELL for me is I turn my oven on (to any temp) for about 3 minutes and then kill the heat, turn the oven light on and stick the bowl in there. It's a perfect environment for rising.
I like really chewy pretzels so, after the rise, I punched down the dough and then folded it into itself like pizza dough a dozen or so times adding a bit of flour here and there to help with stickiness and then put a rung-out hot cloth over the top of the bowl and let it go for another 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450°F (232C)
1.) Dump out the dough and cut it into 8 equal-sized pieces, and make whatever shapes you want for your pretzels, I'm not good at making shapes so I just did whatever.
2.) Get a big pot of water, bring it to a boil, and put in baking soda, using a spider, lower no more than 2 at a time into the water, boil for 30 seconds on each side, then take out and try to drain as much water off of the dough as possible and place on baking sheet.
3.) Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with salt and bake for 12-20 minutes (I know that's a pretty wide variation in time, but mine took quite a bit longer than the recipe I followed so I tweaked it, mine took about 20'ish minutes) until golden brown.
Beer Cheese
3 Tablespoons of flour
3 Tablespoons of butter
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cayenne
⅔ cup beer (I used Corona)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon MSG
2 teaspoons sodium citrate (This stuff helps keep cheese sauces a sauce to prevent it from becoming plaster after it cools) This is not necessary, but I use it in all my sauces like this.
1-2 cups milk (depending on how thick you want the sauce, it's up to you)
2 cups cheddar (mild/sharp etc...)
4 oz. of cream cheese
Really any cheese you want to taste, it's a really versatile recipe, add more cheese than this, if you want!
1.) Melt the butter and add flour to make a roux and cook the flour taste out for a couple of minutes (about tan or khaki color).
2.) Add beer, whisk to combine, add milk, and whisk until thickened.
3.) Add onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, MSG, and sodium citrate.
4.) Add cheese a handful at a time and melt completely until adding more (so it won't get clumpy).
The cream cheese can be added in small chunks, it won't take much to melt it.
5.) Add mustard and Worcestershire and whisk until creamy and dreamy.
*Note* It's always better to get a block of cheese and shred it yourself because mass-produced already shredded cheese has cellulose added to help prevent clumping. This is nice, however, it hurts your cheese sauces. It prevents them from melting to their full potential. If you can only get/use already shredded cheeses, that's fine, it won't kill your sauce, but shredding it yourself always yields better results.
6.) Grab pretzel fresh from oven, burn hand, dunk into cheese, burn hand again, then shove into mouth. Proceed to burn your mouth.
7.) Repeat step 6 until you're full or have to go to the burn ward.
1 ½ cups water, warm
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
4 cups flour (I used bread flour)
2 tablespoons oil
1/3c cup baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
kosher salt
1.) Heat water to about 110°F (43C) and put in yeast and sugar. mix well, cover, and set aside until frothy (approx. 5-10 minutes)
2.) Combine flour and salt (If using kosher salt, I put it in my spice grinder to make it a fine powder to better distribute into the flour)
3.) Add oil to yeast water after it's done blooming and mix in with flour until all loose flour is attached (it will be kind of shaggy).
I sprayed nonstick spray in the bowl and under the dough so it won't stick. Cover and put in a warm place for 60 minutes.
What I found works VERY WELL for me is I turn my oven on (to any temp) for about 3 minutes and then kill the heat, turn the oven light on and stick the bowl in there. It's a perfect environment for rising.
I like really chewy pretzels so, after the rise, I punched down the dough and then folded it into itself like pizza dough a dozen or so times adding a bit of flour here and there to help with stickiness and then put a rung-out hot cloth over the top of the bowl and let it go for another 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450°F (232C)
1.) Dump out the dough and cut it into 8 equal-sized pieces, and make whatever shapes you want for your pretzels, I'm not good at making shapes so I just did whatever.
2.) Get a big pot of water, bring it to a boil, and put in baking soda, using a spider, lower no more than 2 at a time into the water, boil for 30 seconds on each side, then take out and try to drain as much water off of the dough as possible and place on baking sheet.
3.) Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with salt and bake for 12-20 minutes (I know that's a pretty wide variation in time, but mine took quite a bit longer than the recipe I followed so I tweaked it, mine took about 20'ish minutes) until golden brown.
Beer Cheese
3 Tablespoons of flour
3 Tablespoons of butter
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cayenne
⅔ cup beer (I used Corona)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon MSG
2 teaspoons sodium citrate (This stuff helps keep cheese sauces a sauce to prevent it from becoming plaster after it cools) This is not necessary, but I use it in all my sauces like this.
1-2 cups milk (depending on how thick you want the sauce, it's up to you)
2 cups cheddar (mild/sharp etc...)
4 oz. of cream cheese
Really any cheese you want to taste, it's a really versatile recipe, add more cheese than this, if you want!
1.) Melt the butter and add flour to make a roux and cook the flour taste out for a couple of minutes (about tan or khaki color).
2.) Add beer, whisk to combine, add milk, and whisk until thickened.
3.) Add onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, MSG, and sodium citrate.
4.) Add cheese a handful at a time and melt completely until adding more (so it won't get clumpy).
The cream cheese can be added in small chunks, it won't take much to melt it.
5.) Add mustard and Worcestershire and whisk until creamy and dreamy.
*Note* It's always better to get a block of cheese and shred it yourself because mass-produced already shredded cheese has cellulose added to help prevent clumping. This is nice, however, it hurts your cheese sauces. It prevents them from melting to their full potential. If you can only get/use already shredded cheeses, that's fine, it won't kill your sauce, but shredding it yourself always yields better results.
6.) Grab pretzel fresh from oven, burn hand, dunk into cheese, burn hand again, then shove into mouth. Proceed to burn your mouth.
7.) Repeat step 6 until you're full or have to go to the burn ward.