HOMEMADE PRETZELS WITH BEER-CHEESE DIP

Homemade Pretzels with Beer-Cheese Dip image

Turn the kitchen into a pretzel shop with Homemade Pretzels with Beer-Cheese Dip! There's no need to buy pretzels when you can serve homemade pretzels.

Provided by My Food and Family

Categories Bread

Time 1h29m

Yield 12 servings

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups warm water (110ºF to 115ºF)
1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
1 env. (7 g) fast-rising yeast
5 Tbsp. butter, divided
3 cups bread flour
1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
2/3 cup baking soda
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup beer
1 Tbsp. GREY POUPON Harvest Coarse Ground Mustard
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 oz. VELVEETA, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Steps:

Add warm water to sugar, yeast and 1 Tbsp. butter in small bowl; stir. Let stand 5 min. or until foamy.
Use pulsing action of food processor to process bread flour and 1/2 tsp. salt just until blended. Add yeast mixture; process 1 min. or until mixture is well blended and forms ball that pulls away from side of container.
Transfer dough to medium bowl sprayed with cooking spray; turn dough over. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place 30 min. or until doubled in size.
Punch down dough. Divide into 24 equal pieces. Roll each dough piece into 18-inch-long rope. Fold each rope in half, then twist slightly; pinch ends together to seal. Place 12 twists on each of 2 baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
Heat oven to 425ºF. Place racks on lowest and highest positions in oven. Fill Dutch oven with 2-1/2 qt. (10 cups) water. Add baking soda; stir until dissolved. Bring water just to simmer. Carefully add 6 pretzel twists, 1 at a time, to hot water; cook 1-1/2 min. or until pretzels start to puff, turning after 45 sec. Remove from water with slotted spatula; return to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzel twists using both baking sheets. Sprinkle with remaining salt. Place 1 baking sheet on each oven rack.
Bake 13 to 14 min. or until pretzels are lightly browned, switching baking sheets on oven racks after 7 min. Transfer pretzels to wire racks. Melt 2 Tbsp. of the remaining butter; brush onto pretzels.
Melt remaining butter in medium saucepan on low heat. Whisk in flour; cook and stir 1 min. Gradually stir in milk, then beer; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until thickened. Stir in mustard. Add shredded cheese and VELVEETA; cook 3 to 5 min. or until completely melted, stirring frequently.
Serve with the pretzels.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 240, Fat 9 g, SaturatedFat 6 g, TransFat 0 g, Cholesterol 25 mg, Sodium 360 mg, Carbohydrate 29 g, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 3 g, Protein 8 g