Beer Soft Pretzels with Guinness Cheese Sauce
I miss pubs. I miss dive bars in strange cities, strangers in crowded bars, crowds at beer festivals. But until the world is back to normal, and until my pint doesn’t come with a side of deadly virus threats, I’ll begrudgingly stay home. And do my best to pub-food from home.
Guinness was one of the first beers I ever had at a bar, in an Irish pub in Los Angeles. I’ve been to Ireland, back when air travel felt safe, and Guinness will always have a place in the most nostalgic part of my beer heart. Soft pretzels and beer cheese sauce are right there with it, it’s always a good day when I have Guinness, soft pretzels, and cheese sauce. Until I can bump up against strangers in a bar, making friends and asking them if they want to try my beer, I’ll be doing this from home. It’s a great way to pass the time until the day we are out of the woods.
Beer Soft Pretzels with Guinness Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
For the Pretzels:
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 envelope (2 ¼ teaspoons) rapid rise yeast
- 1 cup Guinness beer
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 10 cups water
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
For the Cheese Sauce:
- 2 ½ cups (300g) shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
- ½ cup (4oz) Guinness beer
Instructions
Make the pretzels:
- Add the flour, sugar and yeast to a stand mixer. Mix until just combined. Heat the beer to 120°F (always defer to the liquid temperature listed on the package of yeast, regardless of what the recipe says. Your yeast package says 105°F? Heat the liquid to that temperature) add the beer to the stand mixer, mixing until all the flour has been moistened.
- Add the salt and 1 tablespoon softened butter, beat until the dough comes together and gathers around the blade. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise until doubled in size.
- Add the dough to a lightly floured surface, cut into 8 equal sized portions.
- Roll each portion into an 8-inch log, shape into a pretzel, add to a baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Add the water to a large pot, bring to a boil. Stir in the baking soda.
- A few at a time carefully add the pretzels to the boiling water for 30 seconds, place back onto the baking sheet.
- Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with salt.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until dark golden brown.
Make the cheese sauce:
- Add all ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth.
- Add to a saucepan over medium heat, heat to the desired temperature.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use, heat to serve. Can be made up to 3 days in advance.
- Serve the pretzels with the cheese sauce.
Hi Jackie,
What kind of beer do you use for the cheese sauce?
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
I used Guinness! If you want a really strong beer flavor, use an IPA
I only made the Guinness cheese sauce part of this recipe. I was too lazy and too afraid of dough to make my own pretzels, so I cheated and got store bought soft pretzels and cut them into bite sized pieces. This is an AMAZING app for any occasion. Small group of friends/family coming over? Family game night? Stay-In Date Night? Movie night? You really don’t need an excuse. It’s delicious! I used Guinness Extra Stout and it’s perfect for this recipe! I wouldn’t drink it, but it’s awesome in this cheese dip! I have your cookbook, Craft Beer Bites and I can’t wait to make more of your recipes! YUM!
The pretzel recipients has butter listed twice in different amounts, but I only see it used in the directions once to brush on the top. Where does the other butter go? Cheese sauce super yummy.
It goes in the dough! I updated it to make it more clear.
Thanks!
How many servings does the cheese dip make? I know the pretzels depends on how big you make them.
It depends on how much you eat! It makes about 3 cups
How long does it take for the dough to rise?
about an hour
what kind of flour? AP? Bread?
Unless otherwise stated, assume “flour” refers to AP flour. You can also use bread flour for slightly chewier pretzels, but you will need to use about a tablespoon per cup less