Homemade Cheddar Cheese Stuffed Soft Pretzels
Homemade Soft Pretzels are easier to make than you might think! These are stuffed with cheddar cheese, and have that classic soft pretzel taste and chewy texture we all know and love. Top them with pretzel salt for an irresistible game day snack, or dip them in your favorite soup!
Servings 12 pretzels
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp salted butter
- 1 and 1/2 cups warm milk
- 3 and 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 16 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
For the Baking Soda Solution
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 9 cups water
For topping
- 1 large egg (for egg wash)
- coarse salt
Instructions
- Make the Dough: Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl in the microwave. Add the milk to a 2-cup glass measuring cup and warm in the microwave for about 1 minute. It should be warm but not super hot. Add the milk to the butter, and whisk in the yeast, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in the flour last. You'll have a shaggy dough. Flour your counter, and dump the dough out. Knead the dough for 3 minutes. It will smooth out during this time. Shape it into a ball (doesn't need to be perfect!). Give the mixing bowl a light spray of nonstick spray (no need to clean it out first) and place the dough back into the mixing bowl to rise for 1 hour. Make sure to cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel while it rises.
- Prep for baking: Preheat your oven to 450° F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Beat the egg in a small bowl (this will be your egg wash). Add your baking soda and water to a large pot or dutch oven and whisk together. Bring this to a boil while you shape the pretzels.
- Fill and Shape the Pretzels: Once the dough has risen and about doubled in size, dump it onto the counter (don't use flour this time) and gently press down into an oval that's about 9 inches across. Slice this into quarters, and then slice each one of those into thirds, giving you 12 small triangles of dough total. (Each should be between 80-90 grams). Keep the other triangles covered with the kitchen towel while you work, and begin with one - rolling it out on the counter with both hands, like a rope. Roll it to 16-18 inches long. Flatten this rope with your hands, and sprinkle cheddar cheese along the length of it (no need to measure, just use as much as you can get tucked inside the pretzel). Pinch the edges back up and around the cheese, encasing the cheese in the dough rope. Then, pick up the ends and twist them over each other and bring them down to form the pretzel shape. Repeat with 3 more dough ropes, for a total of 4 pretzels.
- Baking Soda Bath: Drop the filled and shaped pretzels, two at a time, into the boiling baking soda bath. Leave them in for 20-30 seconds, then remove promptly with a slotted spoon, leaving behind excess liquid, and place them on a prepared baking sheet. If you leave them in longer, they may pick up some of the baking soda taste.
- Bake: Brush this batch of pretzels with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 12 minutes. They will be a deep golden brown when done. While this batch bakes, repeat with the next batch of four pretzels, and then repeat one final time with the last 4 pretzels.
- Serve + Store: Brush the pretzels with melted butter when they're fresh out of the oven, and enjoy immediately! These are absolutely best while they're fresh from the oven, although they can be gently reheated as the day goes on. However, once the first day passes they will not be as good. This is a food that was truly intended to be eaten on the first day.