This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast. Only an hour until kickoff? You have enough time to make these cheesy soft pretzels with a kick!
Easy Dough for Bread Beginners
Have you ever made my recipe for homemade soft pretzels? It’s become one of the most reader-loved recipes on this website because the pretzels are delicious, relatively quick, and easy enough for bakers who have never worked with yeast before. And, I have to admit, today’s version is even better. Oh, the flavor! Of course, if you don’t like spicy, you’ll probably prefer the originals. I even use the same dough for making soft pretzel knots, soft pretzel bites, and soft pretzel rolls. The dough is made from the simplest baking ingredients and there’s hardly any rise time, so not only are these easy, they’re pretty quick too. I promise you don’t need to feel intimidated about working with yeast, shaping pretzels, or the baking soda bath—I’ll walk you through all of it. Now let’s make the spicy, garlicky jalapeño cheddar version!
Start With This 7-Ingredient Pretzel Dough
Make the Dough—It’s Easy
Bring the dough together in a large mixing bowl. You can use a stand mixer, or a regular large mixing bowl + a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Knead it on the counter (or continue using your mixer), and then let the dough rest for about 10 minutes. If you are new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here. You’ll also need a little more butter for the topping, plus sliced jalapeños, coarse sea salt, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. You know the best part about making pretzels? That’s the only rest/rise time for the dough. Just 10 minutes—a little power nap—while you get the baking soda + water boiling on the stove.
Don’t Skip the Baking Soda Bath
While it sounds strange, this step is what gives pretzels their iconic flavor and chewy texture; plus, it helps deepen their golden-brown color in the oven, and locks in the super soft interior. The boiling water also helps set their shape so the pretzels don’t over-puff in the oven. Combine 1/2 cup of baking soda with 9 cups of water in a large pot (I use my Dutch oven) and bring it up to a boil. The unbaked pretzels get a quick dip in here before baking. (A little rest followed by a hot bath—these pretzels have it GOOD.) Without the baking soda bath, you lose texture, that deep brown color, and flavor. So basically, you will have bread instead of pretzels. Nothing wrong with bread! But it’s not on the menu today.
How to Shape Pretzels
While you’re waiting for the water to boil, it’s time to shape the pretzels. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Each will be about 1/3 cup in size, or 75g. Roll each into a 20–22-inch-long rope: Twist the ends and bring the ends down, and lightly press the dough together. That’s a pretzel! Place the shaped pretzels onto baking sheets lined with silicone mats or greased parchment paper. This pretzel dough makes 12 regular-size soft pretzels, so I use 2 baking sheets, 6 pretzels on each. Once the pretzels are all shaped and the water is boiling, it’s baking soda bath time! Carefully drop the pretzels, a couple at a time, into the boiling water + baking soda. Let them boil for 20–30 seconds each (no longer than that, or they’ll have a metallic taste), then use a slotted spatula to remove them, let the excess water drip off, and place the boiled pretzels back onto the lined baking sheets.
Topping Jalapeño Cheddar Soft Pretzels
Brush the boiled pretzels with melted butter and place a few jalapeño pepper slices on each, lightly pressing down to get them to stick, then sprinkle the pretzels with coarse sea salt. Now they’re ready to bake! You’ll add the cheese next… About halfway through baking, take the pretzels out and top them with shredded cheddar cheese, then return them to the oven for the remaining bake time. The cheese gets nice and melty and a little crispy around the pretzel edges—so yum. And if you really want to lean into spicy cheese with this recipe, you can serve these pretzels with this spicy nacho cheese sauce for dipping. I like serving them with stone-ground mustard. Loving this flavor combination? You’ll absolutely LOVE this simple no knead jalapeño cheddar bread. Not a chance these pretzels will make it to halftime. If you like heat, serve the pretzels with a big bowl of spicy honey Chex mix. Both are excellent weekend/game day snacks!
More Appetizers & Snacks
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