r/Breadit

100% Sourdough Bavarian Pretzel Rods + Homemade Beer Cheese

I work in a brewery and bakery and we’re having a beer class today and I wanted to bring in something for us to munch on, naturally I landed on sourdough pretzels and beer cheese made with our locally brewed Wells amber lager. Forgive my formatting I’m on mobile and horrible at it. Also full disclosure I used ai to help me organize it so it was easy to follow.

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Sourdough Pretzel Dough

Ingredients

- 500g bread flour
- 300g water
- 100g active 100% hydration sourdough starter
- 25g unsalted butter, softened
- 15g honey
- 10g fine sea salt

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Day 1

Mix

1. Combine the water, starter, and honey until the starter is mostly dissolved.
2. Add the flour and mix until no dry flour remains.
3. Add the butter and salt.
4. Knead until smooth and elastic. This is a fairly stiff dough.

Bulk Fermentation

Ferment at room temperature (around 70°F / 21°C) for about 4–6 hours.

Look for:
- ~40–60% rise
- a smoother surface
- slight puffiness
- a few visible bubbles

Shape

Divide into 8 equal pieces (about 115g each).

Roll into 6–8 inch rods (or shape into traditional pretzels).

Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, cover, and refrigerate overnight (12–18 hours).

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Day 2

Pretzel Bath

Bake baking soda at **250°F (120°C) for 1 hour** to convert it into washing soda.

Bring to a gentle simmer:

- 2 quarts (2L) water
- 60g baked baking soda

Boil each pretzel for **30 seconds per side**.

Drain briefly.

Score if desired and sprinkle with pretzel salt or flaky sea salt.

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Bake

Bake at **450°F (232°C)** for **15–18 minutes**, rotating halfway if needed.

Mine took closer to 18 minutes to get that deep mahogany color.

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

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Easy Beer Cheese

Ingredients

- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup amber ale
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
- 8 oz sharp cheddar, freshly shredded
- 4 oz Velveeta, cubed *(optional, but makes it extra smooth)*
- 2 oz cream cheese *(optional, for extra richness)*

Method

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Slowly whisk in the beer until smooth.
3. Add the milk, Dijon, Worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and black pepper.
4. Simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened.
5. Reduce heat to low.
6. Add the cheddar a handful at a time, whisking until melted.
7. Stir in the Velveeta and cream cheese (if using) until completely smooth.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Serve warm with the pretzels.

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Notes

- A gentle simmer worked better than a rolling boil for the pretzels.
- Baked baking soda gives excellent color and flavor without using lye.
- The overnight cold proof develops a wonderful sourdough flavor.
- The beer cheese reheats well with a splash of milk if it thickens in the fridge.

I expect these to disappear almost immediately at our brewery beer education class. I'd absolutely make both again.

It was delicious

I thought I had sealed it well enough but such is life. Any tips for avoiding this in the future are appreciated!

Made a full dozen this weekend. Tried out two shaping styles and both turned out great. I realized on this batch that the outside crust is basically straight up toffee. No wonder this stuff is so additive.

The question is in the title. There are little holes in the flour, and pieces of string inside the flour. I hope you can make it out in the photos. Does anybody know who is the culprit might be and whether the flour is safe to be used for bread baking?

Edit: Thank you all, you have been very helpful and informative! I have thrown away the wheat flour (a lot of it). I have not seen any traces of the buggers in the spelt or the rye flour, so keeping that for now.

This was my first time using sourdough discard in a recipe and I am still thinking about how good (and easy!!) these were. The 'sour' flavor was very subtle, and helped balance all the sugar and cinnamon. The texture was soft but a bit more 'biscuity' than a traditional cinnamon roll recipe. They baked super evenly in the cast iron and there was no shortage of caramelized brown sugar and butter around the edges. Topped these with a homemade cream cheese frosting and they were heavenly!

I think I'll try a true sourdough overnight dough the next time I make cinnamon rolls to see how they compare. Also interested in trying the heavy cream pour over hack I've been seeing people talk about!

Here's the recipe I used:

Dough

• 2½ cups AP flour
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ⅝ tsp baking soda
• ⅝ tsp salt
• 1¼ cups sourdough discard
• ⅝ cup milk (plus a splash if needed)
• 5 tbsp melted butter

Filling

• ¾ cup softened butter
• 1¼ cups brown sugar
• 2½ tbsp cinnamon

Frosting

• 5 oz cream cheese
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1¼ cups powdered sugar
• 1¼ tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt

Bake at 375°F for about 28-30 minutes, until lightly golden. Wait 15 minutes before frosting!

I made ham and cheese croissants and almond danishes today! Did all the lamination yesterday and baked freshly in the morning 💕

I've been attempting a traditional, naturally leavened panettone for years and I've finally been able to get consistent results.

It's really a lot of work but the results are truly better than anything I've purchased. Temperature maintenance is key. I also got a small twin arm mixer to knead.

Pasta madre maintenance:

Cold feed 1:2, 45%

Cold rest at 17C (bound)

Bagnetto at 3g/L for 15 min

Warm feed: 1:1, 40%

Warm rest at 29C

All feeds with panettone flour

Scaled for 3 panettones:

First dough

Water 284g, 30C

Flour 530g

Starter 159g

Sugar 155g

Egg yolk 107g

Butter 228g

Total First Dough: 1463g

Second dough

Flour 203g

First dough (all of it)

Sugar 148g

Honey 52g

Egg yolk 128g

Butter 344g

Salt 13g

Raisins 337g

Candied orange 337g

Orange paste 14g

Lemon paste 14g

Vanilla extract 8g

Water 88g (cold (5-10C)

First dough process:

Add water (remember water temp is 30C), flour, leaven. Mix for 7 min on low and 7 min on faster. Make sure starter is well distributed.

add sugar, two additions. Mix for 4 min on low, 3 min on higher.

Add egg in 3 steps, until fully combined. 3 min on low, 3 min on faster for each addition.

Add butter in 3 additions, mix on low for 3 min and high for 3 min.

Leave to ferment at 26-28C (oven with door open)

Second dough process:

Mix first dough and flour for 15-20 min on low.

Add sugar, honey, and 1/3 egg. Mix for 2 min on low and 5 min on faster.

Add third of egg. Mix on low for 2 min, then 5 on higher.

Add butter in 3 stages. Mix on low for 3 min and higher for 3 min for each.

Add remaining yolks. 2 min then 5 min.

Add water slowly, on low speed (5-7 min). Temp it to be cold.

Add fruit. Mix for 3 min on low.

Transfer to container and let bulk ferment for 45 min at 28C.

Divide and preshape and leave out for 20 min.

Shape and place in molds.

Put to rise for 4 hours, at 30C (oven with wooden spoon)

Glaze. DONT FORGET THE POWDERED SUGAR.

Bake for 55 min at 170C (338F) until internal temp is 93C (199.4F). Do not open door for first 40 min.

Skewer and flip.

I used the recipe from the cook book by America’s Test Kitchen: The Savory Baker.

I made a chinese scallion pancake inspired focaccia, flavour was good and it looks pretty, but I think I made some mistakes.

Don’t think I did a very good job with the dimpling. Was too excited and didn’t let the oven preheat long enough and probably pulled it too early so there was some pooled oil that was absorbed (which I fixed by popping into the air fryer)

Any tips for future attempts?

(I think it’s called ancient grain bread lol?)
This is only my 3rd time making bread, I cook a lot but I was never skilled at baking. I figured out bread isn’t that hard to make though, so I’ve been experimenting.

My local grocery store has an ‘Amazing Grain Bread’ that I love, so I wanted to replicate it (just in a different shape) and it’s perfect! I can share the recipe if anyone is interested, it’s so delicious with just salted butter and I can’t wait to make sandwiches tomorrow:) I just threw in a bunch of mixed seeds 🤗

Ingredients
365g doppio zero flour
311g warm water
10g kosher salt
8g EVOO
1.5g instant yeast

Process
Brought together into a shaggy dough and let rest for thirty minutes. Every 20 minutes, pinch fold your dough corners to build gluten, at least 3 times. Bring into a smooth dough and let fridge overnight.

The next morning, laminate the oiled dough into a rectangle and let rest for 90 minutes or so. Finally press out your rectangle to be flatter and dimple the dough, finishing with some olive oil and salt. Preheat your oven to 450F/233C.

Bake for 450F/233C for 23-5 minutes and let rest until room temp. Cut into pieces and serve with cheese and veggies of choice: I’m making a simple panino with burrata, tomato and salami for mine. Enjoy!!

Hi there. I appreciate any help figuring out what went wrong with my focaccia. The pictures show 1) the proofed dough before dimpling, 2) immediately after dimpling, 3) after baking, and 4), the tight slightly gummy crumb. I know I used a much too small pan on the top rack with a pan underneath to catch oil which kept it from getting enough heat, but I suspect there are other issues as well. I used KA bread flour and I used this recipe:

https://www.dishbyrish.co.uk/2025/12/how-to-make-focaccia-easy-no-knead-recipe/

But I did end up mixing it in my ankarsrum mixer for a few minutes on medium high because it was so weak and soupy, I got the feeling it wasn’t going to be strong enough to handle the long cold ferment. After that it was smoother and starting to actually hold together. I did a few gentle coil folds every 20 minutes before putting it in the fridge for about 36 hours. I removed it and let it sit at room temp for close to 3 hours before baking at 450F. It was nice and jiggly and it seemed strong enough to not be disturbed by the dimpling except for one bubble that deflated in the middle.

Did i overmix it and should have stuck to the stretch and folds even though it was so weak? Or is it maybe under or overproofed?

I followed the King Arthur’s recipe for Sourdough English muffins and they turned out great! I let it rise on the counter but the recipe says if you want a more pronounced sour flavor, after making the dough put it in the fridge immediately for 24 hours. I couldn’t wait, so I’ll try that method next time because I do enjoy the sour flavor. Now to finally make a sourdough boule rather than baking with just discard! Wish me luck! Added the link to the recipe in case you want to try it! It’s super delicious! I did wrap each in cling film and put it in a gallon freezer bag and frozen majority of it, a few in the fridge, and two for breakfast! King Arthur Sourdough English Muffin Recipe Cross section (Any Tips appreciated)