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OMG. Yes!
Homemade Soft Pretzels, generously sprinkled with sea salt. And to top it off? Buffalo Cheddar Cheese Sauce! Yes, I know. Wow!
Can I just say that this might be the best Super Bowl snack there is? Well, actually I don’t know the Buffalo “Fried” Goat Cheese is pretty amazing too. But I mean pretzels, buffalo sauce and cheese! Maybe we’ll call it a tie?
It is the Super Bowl, so you do need lots of snacks!
Originally, I was just going make soft pretzels. Just for a fun snack to have on a Sunday afternoon and then enjoy throughout the week.
But then while the dough was rising I set out for a hike. Oh, those hikes. Oh the yummy things I come up with while hiking.
Buffalo Cheddar Cheese Sauce! Creamy, spicy and the best cheese sauce to compliment a soft pretzel.
The pretzels alone are just so good. Salty, soft, dough, dreamy. Just so good. Tear um, bite um, dip um.
Homemade Soft Pretzels with Buffalo Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Servings: 8 pretzels
Calories Per Serving: 354 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt
- 4 1/2 cups to 5 all-purpose flour
- 3 quarts water
- 2/3 cups baking soda
- 1 whole egg beaten
- Coarse sea salt
Buffalo Cheddar Cheese Sauce
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 2/3 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup franks red hot sauce
Instructions
- To make the pretzels: combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the salt and 4 1/2 cups 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 side 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 the water to a boil in a large pot.
- 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, 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 a parchment lined baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with sea salt. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until pretzels are golden brown.
- Remove pretzels from oven and let cool on a wire baking rack.
- To make the Buffalo Cheddar Cheese sauce: While pretzels are baking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, and once it’s melted and bubbly add the flour. Whisk together to create a roux and cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture gets a bit golden in color. Add milk, stir and turn down heat to low. Continue stirring until milk thickens. Add in cheeses and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in buffalo wing sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour into one medium size dip bowl or a few bowls to scatter for dipping.
- Serve hot with the pretzels!
Soft, doughy, salty pretzels…..with cheesy, buffalo sauce! Snack time anyone?
Sigh… these were amazingly good and relatively easy to do (my first time making pretzels). I haven’t done the sauce yet, but on their own my husband and I were gushing!
Hey Susan,
Happy Monday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad it turned out well for you! Thanks for your comment! xT
Hi! Is it best to use bleached or unbleached flour when making your soft pretzels? Can’t wait to make them! Thank you!!! 🙂
Hey Meg,
I like to use unbleached flour:) I hope this recipe turns out well for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Thank you! When I followed the instructions by adding the butter with the yeast at the beginning, the yeast wouldn’t proof. So I just mixed the water, yeast & brown sugar, and then added the butter with the flour after it had proofed. They then turned out PERFECT! 🙂
Awesome, so glad that worked for you!!
I tried making these with the King Arthur’s Gluten Free Flour. The dough did not double in size and the pretzels were not “doughy”. Any thoughts on how to modify the recipe if using gluten free flour?
Hi Kate,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, sorry to hear you had some issues. Unfortunately, gluten free flour never gives the exact results as all purpose. What kind of yeast did you use? Let me know how I can help! xx
Could these be made as pretzel bites?! Maybe with an adjustment to the baking time?
Hi Shannon,
Sure, I don’t see why not! I would just reduce the bake time and keep an eye on them. I hope you love the recipe! xx
Are these good the next day? Maybe a quick warm in the oven? Want to make a large batch ahead of time for a party.
Hey Dana,
Yes for sure!! Just reheat on low in the oven. I hope you love the recipe:) xTieghan
So much fun to make! And oh my god, so delicious. This was the first recipe I ever tried for pretzels and now it will also be the last.
Hi Carly,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
Okay, I feel guilty that I’ve been making these pretzels for years and never left a review. These are the absolute best. I make them weekly during football season and serve them with beer cheese. The first few times making them are stressful but now I could literally do it with my eyes closed! Don’t sleep on this recipe, it’s sooo worth it!
Hey Kari,
LOL so glad this is a go to recipe of yours, my family loves these pretzels! xx
Does butter need to be cold or room temp?
Hi Lacey,
I would make sure your butter is room temp:) I hope this recipe turns out well for you, let me know if you give it a try! xT
These turned out great and was the biggest hit at Super Bowl. The tops of a few cracked open during baking though and I’m not sure why. Should I let them rise a little bit before the water bath?
Hey Pamela,
Awesome!! Thanks for giving the recipe a try, I love to hear that it was a hit!! Cracking is totally normal for a soft pretzel, you can see the cracks in mine in the photos above:) xxT
Made these for Super Bowl Sunday and they did not disappoint! Delish!
Hey Whitney,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
These were amazing! Gobbled them down hot out of the oven before the game even started. Thank you for another great recipe!!
Hey Kathy,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
Hi! We love this recipe, but we are having issues with the pretzels sticking to the parchment paper. Should we grease the cookie sheet before we put down the parchment paper?
Hey Diana,
Hmmm sorry to hear this! Are you using parchment paper or wax paper? Parchment should really be preventing the sticking. xTieghan
Do you melt the butter for the pretzels?
Hi Andrea,
Nope, it just needs to be soft. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
What’s the cube of butter for in the pretzel recipe? It’s not included in the instructions.
Hey Andrea,
The butter is used in step 1. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Very confused by the butter. If you don’t melt it, it does not combine with the water, yeast and sugar.
So yummy! I only made the pretzels, and I can’t wait to make them again.
Hey Laura,
Fantastic!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
I made to go with the broccoli soup recipe you also have.
Taste great and easy to make. I didn’t realize pretzels were so easy to make.
Hi Ann,
I really appreciate you giving the recipe a try, so glad to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great week! xxT