Next Post
Brown Butter Maple Glazed Cinnamon Apple Scones.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
You guys!!! Happy first day of Fall! ??
I know I’ve probably talked your ear off about the start of fall this week, but I am just so excited!
It’s finally my very favorite time of the year!
OK, with the exception of Christmas, but weather-wise this is my favorite time. So basically, the next three months are MY months. I love September, October, November, and December. UGH. Sorry, I’m being totally beyond annoying right now.
I’ll stop…
WATCH THE HOW-TO VIDEO:
Oh but wait! I have something VERY fun and exciting to share! Because it’s the first day of fall, and because I love you guys all so very much, and because I really wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who supported and voted for me in the recent Bloglovin Awards, I’m hosting an autumn-themed GIVEAWAY!
Yes, a giveaway, and it’s a really good one! My friends at Staub offered to send three of you my very favorite Staub Pumpkin Cocotte. I LOVE this pot and ok, I have totally been using it since the start of September. Sorry, not sorry…
Here are the details, this is an Instagram only giveaway, so head on over to the HBH Instagram for all the details AND watch a brand new video for this Pumpkin Spice Latte. Hehe! You see, so many fun things!! Now do you understand why I am so excited for today? It’s the first day of fall, major giveaways are happening, a new pumpkin spice latte video is up, AND… we are talking about cheesy soft pretzels right here, right now.
I mean, yes please! 🙂
Ok ok, so maybe we should ACTUALLY talk about these cheesy soft pretzels, yes let’s do that!
Oh, how I love soft pretzels…
…one: hot buttered rum cinnamon sugar stuffed soft pretzels
…two: peanut butter cup soft pretzel ice cream sandwiches
…three: warm chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed soft pretzels (legit, these are the BEST thing ever)
…four: spinach, artichoke + bacon stuffed soft pretzels
Ahh, yeah. I may be slightly obsessed with soft pretzels, apparently stuffed soft pretzels in particular. Whatever, they are just so good! Pretty sure I get my love of buttery soft pretzels from mom. She loves them too, but then are you surprised?
What’s not to love about salty, buttery carbs? Too good!
Today though, I made us something that’s one, probably totally expected out of me (hello carb and cheese freak here), two, completely addicting, and three, the bestest autumn appetizer/snack there ever was!
Pumpkin Beer Pretzels with Chipotle Queso
Um, YES… that’s right, soft buttery pretzels dipped in a creamy cheddar cheese sauce. We are so going there today, and it is going to be everything!
SIDE NOTE: after all, it is game day, so these pretzels are totally worth every calorie and every carb. Just make sure to be an active fan.
If you’ve never made soft pretzels before, please don’t be intimidated. I promise they’re actually pretty simple and easy to make, and the dough is very forgiving. The trickiest part is boiling the pretzels, but it’s really not a huge deal. So please, don’t fear them. You really have to give them a try – soft pretzels are one of my favorites!
Everything starts with the pretzel dough, and the secret here is the pumpkin beer, it adds SO much flavor. Personally, I always think of beer and pretzels together since that’s kind of my dad’s thing when watching football, beer, and those hard sourdough pretzels. So I just combined the flavors and made one seriously delicious soft pretzel. Honestly, these are so good. Soft, doughy, buttery, and with the slightest hints of beer and autumn.
Then just add that chipotle cheddar queso for dipping?
PERFECTION.
Who’s ready for Cheesy Pretzel Thursday? Cool, me too! First up though… I’m off to read all of your comments on what your favorite things about fall are on Instagram!
Pumpkin Beer Pretzels with Chipotle Queso.
Servings: 8 Pretzels
Calories Per Serving: 574 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup pumpkin beer or any beer you love
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter melted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup baking soda for boiling the pretzels
- 1 egg beaten, for brushing before baking
- coarse sea salt or pretzel salt
Chipotle Queso
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 chipotle peppers adobo finely minced
Instructions
- Combine the water, brown sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the beer, melted butter, salt and all-purpose flour to the mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands. Coat a large bowl with canola oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size. This will take about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope. To shape into pretzels, take the right side and cross over to the left. Cross right to left again and flip up. Slowly add the baking soda to the boiling water. Boil the pretzels in the water solution, 1-2 at a time for 30 seconds, splashing the tops with the warmed water using a spoon. Remove with a large flat slotted spatula or a spider. Place 4 pretzels on each baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with sea salt. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until pretzels are golden brown.
- Meanwhile, make the queso. Add the butter to a large skillet to melt. Add the cream cheese and milk. Cook over medium heat until the sauce is smooth and the cream cheese has melted. In a bowl, toss together the shredded cheddar with the flour. Little by little, add the cheddar to the warm milk, whisking until the sauce is smooth. Stir in the chipotle peppers. Keep the queso warm over warm heat. Serve along side the warm pretzels for dipping. EAT!
Hope you guys have a great first day of fall! 🙂
If you make this Pumpkin Beer Pretzels with Chipotle Queso be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
This post was originally published on September 22, 2016
Would these work with a gluten-free flour? Is that an annoying question? 😉
haha not at all annoying and yes, I think GF should work great! Let me know if you have questions and I hope you love recipe! 🙂
Amazing!!
I put everything in my bread machine and let it do the kneeling and rising then pulled the dough out and finished as directed. We had hard apple cider so I used that for the beer. They were so good! We used the rest for bread on bbq chicken sandwiches for dinner because we wanted to keep eating these pretzels. Thanks for such a successful recipe!
I am so happy you loved these Tiffany! The hard apple cider seems like it would taste great in this!
How do you keep the cheese warm? Cheese sauces of all kinds get cold so easily and then they separate sometimes.
Love your site some very creative vegetarian recipes.
I recommend keeping cheese sauces in slow cookers on the LOW or WARM setting. This keeps the cheese sauce warm without burning them. Hope that helps! 🙂
These are so delicious! Any tips on reheating?
I just pop them in the oven at 300 until warmed! 🙂 So happy you loved these!
I simply love these pretzels, I use this basic recipe with different beers for pretzel dogs with cheese.. same process same bake time. They are quickly becoming a family favorite. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! So happy everyone likes them! Thank you Heather!
I have a question about the amount of yeast. it says 1 teaspoons package active dry yeast 2 1/4. Is it the 1 tsp or 2 1/4? thanks Tammy
Hey Tammy, so sorry for the confusion. it is 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast or 1 packet (1 packet = 2 1/4 teaspoons). fixing the recipe now. Let me know if you have other questions. Thank you!
I just made these for the super bowl! I made two batches and I put cinnamon and sugar on the last 4 to go in the oven! The pretzels and the cheese were big hits! I have never been disappointed by recipes I’ve tried of yours in the past, and this one is no different! Thank you!
Sounds amazing and so fun! So happy you have liked everything, thanks so much Christy!
I made these for lunch today and they could not have been more delicious! Last night for supper I made the one pot mushroom pasta. You are making me look like a rock star. I have made the yummy chocolate cake and the white lasagna with procuitto as well. Everything has been delicious and so pretty to look at. Thanks for being my go to for recipes.
I am so glad you loved those two recipes and I hope you continue to enjoy others Crystal! Thanks so much!!
Well, that was my first time ever making dough. Everyone loved it. I was too much of a chicken to make pretzel shapes because my dough seemed a little sticky so I did sticks. You’re fantastic, thank you!
Haha the sticks are still fun! So happy you liked them Amber(:
I made these this weekend and they were fabulous…outside of the mistake I made by leaving my 2 year old in charge of the salt! I have one question – after baking, part of the undersides were still a bit “wet”/”sticky”. Should I pat the dough dry before baking?
Hey Jenna! Haha, kids and salt! 🙂
If the pretzels have a tone of water around them, then ya, just blot away the excess with paper towels. So happy you loved these! Thank you!
Hi, can’t wait to make these! If I’m going to make at night, and serve the next day, should I go ahead and bake them or boil them and then bake the next day?
Thanks!
Laura
Hey Laura! You could do either or. If I where you, I would leave the shaped dough in the fridge overnight, then boil and bake the next day. That said, baking then warming will fine too. Let me know if you have questions. Thank you!
These sound amazing! I’m wondering what you would recommend to substitute the Beer for (our family can’t have anything with alcohol in it). I would love substitutions in the future for your recipes with alcohol. Families with Alcoholics, religious reasons, etc.. would love it too.
Hey Liz!! Just use an equal amount of water. No big deal at all! Please let me know if you have any questions at all. With most of my recipes you can use water for the baking recipes and chicken broth or veggie broth in the savory recipes. I am happy to provide subs from now on, thank you!! 🙂 Let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love these!
So I made these last night, and I gotta say, they turned out amazing! Instead of the beer, I used a cup & a half of beef broth.
The dough was so sticky, that I couldn’t get it into a half descent ball (I put an extra 1/4 c flour in) so I just plopped it into the greased bowl, and hoped for the best. An hour later I took it out, (it was still really sticky, and hard to work with) cut it 8 ways, and then started to try & form a long rope with each. I found the easiest way for me to get them into a long string was to put a little flour down, then roll the dough, stretching it out, and then picking up one end, and spinning & pulling it down. It’s my first time trying it with this dough, so I didn’t do very good, but with the boiling, and cooking method AND the brushed on egg, it didn’t matter. They came out looking so beautiful & tempting! I have a photo, I will post on Pinterest. The outsides were nice and temptingly crispy, and the insides were oh, so soft! For the queso I used an entire package of the cream cheese, 2% milk (I forgot to buy whole) but it didn’t matter. It was perfect! This is the 2nd recipe of yours I have tried, and it did not disappoint! I served this with baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar, walnuts, butter & Readi-Whip on top. What a Fall dinner. Everyone was happy at the end of it. So glad I found your blog.
WOW!! SO awesome that you made them with the substitute!! Sounds like they came out amazing!!
Seriously so awesome!! Thanks for making them and reading the blog Liz!!
What did I do wrong if the dough didn’t rise? Yeast wasn’t expired, did it’s little bubbly thing during the five minutes, dough is covered and sitting in a warm sunny spot. ?
Hey Keri! Hmm, I am really not sure. It might not be a problem once you bake the pretzels. Did they turn out ok? Let me know and I hope I can help! Thank you! 🙂
aw man, so sad I missed out on the Staub contest! I’m obsessed with those pumpkins!
Thank you Jillian!
What’s the best way to get the dough all mixed together without a mixer?
Hey Paige! Just use a large mixing bowl and mix with a spatula until the dough comes together. Let me know if you have questions. Thank you!