Oktoberfest Pretzels & Beer Cheese Recipe

Oktoberfest Pretzels & Beer Cheese Recipe

To me, every year’s Oktoberfest is what signals the official beginning of fall (and all the exciting holidays that come after!) The typical sight of beer boots, pretzel necklaces and lederhosen really gets me into that autumn mood.

Aside from pumpkin-spiced everything, this is also the best time of year to cozy up at home and make all your favorite comfort foods. And what’s more comforting than soft, pillowy pretzels with creamy beer cheese?

While the real Oktoberfest may be cancelled, we wanted to create our own festival (at home) with NA beer and German snacks. So be sure to grab your favorite Grüvi and try out these delicious pretzels to celebrate!

Oktoberfest Pretzels & Beer Cheese

 Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes

 Total Time 4 hours

 Servings 10 pretzels

Ingredients

Pretzels

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups Grüvi IPA
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast or 1 packet yeast
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cane sugar
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter softened at room temperature

Baking soda soak

  • 4 cups water
  • 4 tablespoons baking soda

Beer cheese

  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (&extra for topping)
  • 1 clove grated garlic
  • 1/2 cup of Grüvi IPA
  • 4 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons dijon
  • 1 teaspoon fresh dill
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions

Pretzels

  1. Preheat oven to 450 and line a baking tray with a parchment paper.
  2. Add sugar and instant yeast together in a bowl.
  3. Heat up water and beer to 110 F.
  4. Add the water and beer to the sugar/yeast mixture and let sit for 10 minutes.
  5. Mix in flour, salt, and butter. Add in more flour or water as needed until the dough is slightly sticky.
  6. Knead dough with a stand mixer or by hand on a floured surface for about 7 minutes.
  7. Add the dough to a well-oiled bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm area in your kitchen for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
  8. Once the dough has risen, remove from bowl and divide into 10 pieces.
  9. On a well-oiled surface roll your dough out and shape your pretzels (here’s a great video that shows the traditional way to twist your dough).

Baking soda bath

  1. Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan.
  2. Soak pretzels for 2 minutes, then sprinkle with salt on the lined baking sheet.
  3. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Top with butter and salt.

Beer cheese

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a stand or hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
  3. Add in all remaining ingredients and mix well.
  4. Add the beer cheese mix into a cast iron or other oven safe pan, and bake for 20-25 minutes (or until golden on top.)

Serve the beer cheese alongside those freshly baked pretzels for your own Oktoberfest celebration.

Prost!

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