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Ok so I realized Oktoberfest is cancelled this year BUT! How about we celebrate at home, social distance style, with some autumn pumpkin beer pretzels complete with a savory pumpkin cheese dip??
These delectable snacks are your standard soft, chewy, Auntie Annie's style pretzels with one important distinction: the addition of pumpkin beer. Just a hint of autumn flavor goes a long way with these baked goods!
To be specific, I used Blue Moon's Pumpkin Harvest Ale (pictured below), one of my fave brewskies this time of year. You know what I rather frequently find irritating though? Recipes that use beer (and yes I'm guilty of this), and you don't use the whole bottle! Sometimes it's unavoidable and I completely understand that, but it's annoying none the less. Same goes for pumpkin puree.
Solution: that savory pumpkin cheese dip 😍. Use up the rest of the beer from making the pretzels and that leftover pumpkin puree you have hanging out in your fridge from the plethora of tasty pumpkin recipes you've been trying out this fall season. Combine with butter, cream cheese, cheddar, pepper jack, a few spices and voila! The perfect pumpkin beer pretzel cheese dip.
Get baking and grab the recipe below!
Pumpkin Beer Pretzels with Savory Pumpkin Cheese Dip
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 Pretzels 1x
Description
Autumn style soft buttery pretzels flavored with pumpkin beer and a matching cheese dip for dunking and serving!
Ingredients
FOR THE Pretzel DOUGH
- ½ cup warm water (heated to between 105 and 110°F.)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1packet)
- 1 ½ teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin beer (I used Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale)
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted + extra for brushing
- 4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour + extra for dusting
- Coarse salt for sprinkling
FOR THE BAKING SODA BATH
- ½ cup baking soda
- 9 cups water
For the Cheese Dip
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup milk (I used non fat but any percentage will work)
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Dash of cayenne pepper, more to taste depending on desired heat level
- ½ cup pumpkin beer (I used Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale)
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 6 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
- Coarse salt to taste
Instructions
For the Pretzels
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare two baking sheets each with a silpat or greased parchment paper.
- Activate the yeast: whisk warm water, yeast, and brown sugar together in a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer. Cover with a towel and let rest for about 10-15 minutes. Be patient! If yeast is activated, you will see foam on top of the mixture, and even a few small bubbles. Also, if you take sniff, it will smell very much like yeast.
- Add melted butter, pumpkin beer, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- If using a standing mixer, fit it with the dough hook. Add flour 1 cup at a time up to 3 cups, stirring in between until combined. Add ½ cup of flour and stir until combined until dough is thick. If it is still sticky, add remaining flour ¼ cup at a time as needed.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 4-5 minutes until dough is smooth. Cover with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, make the baking soda bath. In a large pot, bring water and baking soda to a boil.
- Once dough is done resting, use a pizza cutter or a large knife to cut it into 12 equal sections (about ⅓ of a cup each). Roll each section into a long rope about 22 inches long and with a thickness of ½ inch or less.
- Twist each rope into a pretzel shape: bring the ends of the rope together to form a circle. Twist the ends and then bring them back down towards you to create the shape (see notes for photo*).
- Dip each pretzel in the boiling baking soda bath for 25 seconds, no more than 30 seconds. Otherwise your pretzels will get an icky metallic taste to them. Remove from the bath with a slotted spoon, let water drip off for a few seconds, then place on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt as desired. Up to 6 pretzels per sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from heat, brush with extra melted butter and top with more coarse salt if desired.
For the Cheese Dip
- Melt butter in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-low heat.
- Whisk in pumpkin puree, cream cheese, and spices until thoroughly mixed.
- Slowly pour in milk and beer and mix until completely combined.
- Reduce heat to low. Gently stir in cheeses and mix until completely combined. Remove from heat.
- Add salt to taste. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
jas4ch says
Only issue I have with this recipe is your jocose comment about not using the whole bottle of beer for part of a recipe. The perfect solution is to drink the rest!
The pretzels had an excellent crust with a soft interior. The cheese sauce's heat and hint of pumpkin was great as well.
Mol says
I love that there was pumpkin in the cheese sauce, this is one of the only recipes I found with that. However all I taste is the pepper jack.
Aberdeen says
Thank you for the feedback! I'll take a look and see what's going on with the recipe.