Cheddar Jalapeño Soft Pretzels Recipe

Name: Cheddar Jalapeño Soft Pretzels
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6-8 pretzels
Ingredients: 1 cup warm milk; 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet); 3 tablespoons brown sugar; 8 tablespoons butter, melted (divided); 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (plus more); 1 ¼ teaspoon salt; ¼ cup chopped pickled jalapeños (plus a few slices for topping); ¼ cup baking soda; 3 cups warm water; 1 egg yolk; coarse salt, for topping; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
8 tablespoons butter, melted (divided)
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (plus more)
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup chopped pickled jalapeños (plus a few slices for topping)
¼ cup baking soda
3 cups warm water
1 egg yolk
coarse salt, for topping
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

PREP TIME 20m	COOK TIME 10m	TOTAL TIME 1h
YIELD 6-8 pretzels

Instructions

MAKE THE DOUGH: Be sure to drain the jalapeno peppers and dry them on a paper towel. Then just chop them up and set them aside for now. In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, yeast, sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter and let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast activates. Stir in the salt then the flour and jalapeño and allow a dough to form, mixing for just 1-3 minutes until the dough comes together.
MAKE THE PRETZEL: Dumb the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead. If the dough is too sticky add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough can easily be kneaded but is still slightly tacky. Knead a total of 5-10 times. Add to an oiled bowl, cover and let the dough rise for an hour.
PRETZEL BATH: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 450ºF. After the dough rises, punch down the dough and divide the dough out into 6-8 equal pieces (depending on preferred size) Roll out into a long, skinny rope, like close to 24 inches. Fold the ends into to make a pretzel shape. You can twist the center if you’d like, I was too lazy to deal.
BAKE: Heat a medium pot with water when it’s hot, add the baking soda and stir. Gently dip each pretzel into the baking soda mixture using a slotted spoon for 10 seconds. Remove and arrange pretzel on a baking sheet. Brush with the beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with coarse salt if desired and top with additional jalapenos and shredded cheese. You can use cheese on 1/2 of them like I did, or all of them; your call! Bake until golden, 10-12 minutes (closer to 10 mins if you’ve made 8 pretzels.) Brush the pretzels with the remaining melted butter and serve warm with salsa con queso!

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