Easy Soft Pretzel Bites And Beer Cheese Dip
Make these super easy homemade soft pretzel bites with store-bought pizza dough and combine them with a rich and decadent beer cheese sauce for your next game day snack.
Equipment
- Spider strainer or slotted spoon
Ingredients
Soft Pretzel Bites
- 1 pound store-bought pizza dough straight from the fridge
- 12 cups water for boiling
- ½ cup baking soda
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- Coarse sea salt
- Flour for dusting
Beer Cheese Dip
- 8 ounce block cream cheese
- ½ cup beer
- 8 ounce block extra sharp cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
Soft Pretzel Bites
- Combine water and baking soda in a large pot and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Get the dough out of the fridge and then lightly dust a working surface and your hands with flour. Then put your dough on the working surface and dust it lightly with flour as well.
- Slice the dough into 8 equal chunks.
- Roll and stretch out each chunk of dough into a long snake. Start by rolling it between your palms, then once it's slightly oblong grab each end and gently pull in opposite directions. Repeat these motions as needed until each dough snake is about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch in diameter.
- To form the pretzel bites, slice each dough snake into equal, bite-sized pieces, about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick. A bench knife makes this really easy. For better looking pretzels, gently round each one back into a cylinder (they get a little smushed during slicing).
- Using a spider strainer (or a slotted spoon, if you don't have a spider strainer), dunk a batch of the pretzel bites into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove from water, drain, and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Spread them out evenly on the baking sheets, leaving a little space between them. Repeat as necessary to boil all the pretzel bites.
- Brush pretzel bites with melted butter, then sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden-brown.
Beer Cheese Dip
- Melt cream cheese in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Add the beer and stir until fully incorporated.
- Once all the beer has been stirred in, add shredded cheddar cheese in small batches. Stir constantly and melt each batch of cheese completely before adding more.
- Serve hot.
Notes
Prep - Get the sheet pans prepped, water boiling with baking soda, and the oven pre-heated before you start working with the dough. You want everything ready when the dough is ready so it doesn’t sit on the counter for too long, warm up, and lose its shape.
Use some flour - Flour your working surface and your hands before working with the pizza dough to prevent it from sticking. You’ll also want to lightly dust the pizza dough with flour as you work.
Don’t skip the boiling - Boil the pretzel bites in a mixture of baking soda and water before baking. This is what gives them that pretzel-like crust and chewy interior – without this step, they would just taste like little balls of pizza dough!
Get a spider strainer - Boiling the pretzels is easiest with a spider strainer (although a slotted spoon also works well enough). It allows you to dunk big batches of pretzel bites at a time and drain them super well. This is the one we have and it's the perfect size, without being too big to store in the cabinet.
Don’t be shy with the butter and salt - That’s what makes a good pretzel good.
Choose a beer you love - You can taste the beer in the beer cheese, so make sure you choose one you enjoy. A Sam Adams Summer Ale or a Blue Moon are easy safe choices if you don’t know where to start.
Measuring the beer - Pour the beer slowly when measuring, you don’t want a head here! The foam will make it look like you have enough beer when you don’t, and the foam can even mess up the texture of the cheese sauce.
Use block cheese - Don’t substitute pre-shredded cheese for the block of cheese. The pre-shredded cheese has a coating on it that keeps it from melting together well!
Keep the dip warm - Serve the beer cheese dip in a small porcelain dish or preheated cast iron skillet (we love our mini ones for single servings) to keep it hot during the game!
Storing - You can store leftover pretzel bites in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store leftover beer cheese in the fridge for up to 5 days. Freezing option: Both the pretzels and dip will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Reheating - Reheat leftover pretzel bites in the oven at 300 for 5 minutes (from room temp) or 10 minutes (from frozen). The beer cheese is best reheated in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until warmed through.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 455kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 3874mg | Potassium: 142mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 632IU | Calcium: 414mg | Iron: 2mg
