Garlic Herb Baked Pretzels with Cider Cheese Dip |Cooking With Amanda

This post is sponsored recipe development on behalf of Sasa Demarle, Inc. All opinions are the contributor's own.

September is here and we are settling in nicely. This time of year, I am a walking, talking, Fall-loving cliché. Everything out of my mouth is apples, pumpkin, sweaters, and of course, football! We all know when football is in swing, so is some great party food.

For the last 5 years or so, my family has had the tradition of having a fantasy football league between my parents, siblings and a few close family friends. There is usually a lot of smack talk and craziness leading up to the draft, which just adds to the good natured fun. Every season, my interest in the league starts off strong and then typically dwindles somewhere in mid-November when I realize that I started three players who are all out on injury.

It happens every. single. year.

But in September, I am on top of my game, so to speak, especially when it comes to food. This year, I am looking forward to hosting a few of the Sunday football parties in our new home and I am already lining up my recipes. The first weekend will definitely feature a big batch of these soft Garlic Herb Baked Pretzels with Cider Cheese Dip.

Oh, boy are these pretzels something special! I started with my very favorite baked pretzel recipe from Alton Brown and turned them into flavor packed Garlic Herb Pretzels. They have that great chewy crust and soft, pillowing insides that are just what I want in a soft pretzel.

Now, before you get nervous about making pretzels at home, let me assure you, this is much easier than you think. True, there are several steps to this recipe, but none of them are difficult or take huge amounts of skill. As someone who often shies away from yeast recipes, this is one that works out for me time and time again.

My favorite addition to this method, however, is the use of my Silpat® Perfect Pretzel mats. Are you familiar with Silpat® mats? They are an incredibly easy to use, clean, and care for mats that allow you to bake and cook just about anything and have fast clean up. Ever since starting to my Silpat® mats, I have cut down on my use of parchment paper which is great on my wallet and the planet. Woo hoo!

Using their Perfect Pretzel Mat in this recipe is very convenient because forming a pretzel can get a little tricky. Having the little pretzel outlines not only helps you to shape the pretzel, but it spaces them perfectly so your pretzels don't stick together when they bake up to a puffed, golden brown.

Now, let's take a quick second to talk about this Cider Cheese Dip. This is my version of traditional "beer cheese" and with it being September and all, I had to swap out the beer for some great hard apple cider. Remember that bit about me being a fall-cliché? It's real. It's very, very real. Plus, it tastes sweet and tangy when paired with the cheddar, so it is more than worth it.

My plan is to make a batch of these Garlic Herb Baked Pretzels and Cider Cheese Dip to distract my family and hopefully I won't be the only one bobbling my fantasy team.

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Garlic Herb Baked Pretzels Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Pretzels:

2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, plus more for topping
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 cups warm water, about 110 degrees
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, by weight
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
nonstick baking spray
vegetable oil, for rolling
3/4 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk
pretzel salt, or sea salt, for sprinkling

Cider Cheese Dip:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 bottle hard cider
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

For the Garlic Herb Baked Pretzels

Mix together garlic powder, onion powder, parsley flakes, dill weed, black pepper, and oregano in a small bowl and set aside.
Place water in a medium size bowl and add sugar and salt. Stir. Sprinkle yeast on top of water and let set until yeast becomes foamy; about 5 minutes.
Add flour to the bowl of an electric mixer. Add reserved garlic herb mixture, yeast mixture and butter. Mix on low using the dough hook attachment until ingredients are just combined. Increase speed to medium high and allow mix for about 4-5 minutes,. At this point, the dough should have pulled away from the sides of the mixer bowl and formed one large ball. Watch mixer carefully as the movement from the hook can move your mixer across the counter.
Remove dough ball from bowl and lightly spray bowl with non-stick spray. Return dough to the bowl, cover with a towel and place in a warm, draft free spot for 55-60 minutes. Dough will have just about doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 450°F. Lightly oil a work surface. Line two half sheet pans with Silpat Perfect Pretzel mats and set aside.
Using a knife, divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough to about a 20 inch length rope. Use the pretzel guides on the Silpat Perfect Pretzel Mat to form your pretzels. Repeat with remaining dough.
Fill a wide, straight sided sauce pan with water and add baking soda. Bring to a boil. Place pretzels, 1 or 2 at a time, in the pan and boil for about 30-45 seconds. Use a wide skimmer/strainer to transfer pretzels to and from the boiling water. Replace pretzels onto baking mats.
Whisk egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of water and brush onto tops of pretzels. Sprinkle with pretzel salt and additional garlic powder. Bake for 14-15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking time.
Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.

For the Cider Cheese Dip

In a small sauce pan, melt butter. Add flour and whisk for about 15-30 seconds. Add Cider and whisk until the flour is dissolved.
Add in cheese, a handful at a time, and stir until completely melted. Stir in mustard and season with salt and pepper.
Keep warm and serve with Garlic Herb Baked Pretzels.