Oktoberfest Pretzels and Dip with the Tech Guy! 🥨🍻

Ok, how much fun was that? Sure there was a bit of a tech glitch at the very beginning, but we had the Tech Guy there to fix things right away! Thanks so much to all those who joined to see the Tech Guy make his favorite Oktoberfest pretzels and dip. The recipes for both are below. Enjoy! 🍻

https://youtu.be/eveuFmwlHqI

Oktoberfest Pretzels

Ingredients:

½ cup warm water
2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
1 cup of your favorite beer (each style will change the flavor of the pretzels, so feel free to experiment!)
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ tsp salt
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten
Coarse sea salt

Directions:

Stir together the water, brown sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the beer, melted butter, salt, and flour to the yeast mixture and mix at low speed with a dough hook until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Remove the dough from the bowl, place it on a flat surface, and knead into a ball with your hands. Coat a large bowl with canola oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot (or in the oven on Proof setting) until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope. To shape into pretzels, make an upside-down “U” shape with the dough rope. Cross the right side over the left a few inches from the bottom. Cross the right side over the left again and flip the crossed sections up onto the top of the “U.” Slowly add the baking soda to the boiling water.

Carefully lower the pretzels one to two at a time into the boiling water using a large slotted spoon, spatula, or spider strainer, making sure to keep them flat so they retain their shape. Boil the pretzels for 30 seconds each, splashing the tops with water using a spoon. Remove the pretzels from the boiling water and place them on a baking sheet. Brush the tops with the beaten egg, being sure to coat the whole pretzel, and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the pretzels are golden brown.

(Thanks to halfbakedharvest.com for the original recipe)

Oktoberfest Beer Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk (Tech Guy tip: Substitute with oat milk, or other non-dairy milk, to make the dip lighter.)
½ cup your favorite beer
2 tsp spicy or stone-ground mustard
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp salt
3 cups Havarti cheese, shredded (Tech Guy tip: Havarti cheese is expensive. Substitute with Monterey Jack or your favorite cheese.)

Directions:

Add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and whisk for 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in the beer, followed by the milk. Continue to whisk over heat for about 5 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Add the mustard, Worcestershire, and salt and whisk to combine. Remove from heat and slowly add the cheese a little bit at a time, whisking after each addition until it is completely melted. The sauce should be thick, smooth, and lump-free.

It can be made up to three days ahead of time, stored in the refrigerator, and then warmed up slowly on the stove.

(Thanks to thefreshmarket.com for the original recipe)