Parmesan Pretzel Knots + Cheese Sauce + Marinara is basically my idea of the perfect game day food.
With the big game right around the corner, I thought it might be time to step things up a bit. Game Day snacks are a specialty of mine. Regardless of if the party is at my house, or I'm cooking for a private chef client, I'm all about serving an array of snack food. My cheese pizza bites have been a long time fav, and it was time to give them a pretzel twist! These Parmesan Pretzel Knots are going to be present from here on out. It's a classic pretzel dough recipe that packs an Italian punch. Loaded with grated Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning and then dipped in a Parmesan cheese sauce - I mean it's a match made in heaven. You can eat these as an appetizer, a game day snack or serve these as the rolls at dinner!! If you want to make a heartier snack, you should certainly check out the Parmesan Pretzel Dogs recipe!!
You could twist these into a traditional pretzel shape, but I'm currently obsessing over the knots! Check out the step by step picture below on how to twist these pieces of dough into the perfect shape.
Parmesan Pretzel Knots
Ingredients
For the Pretzel Knots
- 1 ½ cups warm 110 to 115 degrees F water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 22 ounces all-purpose flour approximately 4 ½ cups
- 2 ounces unsalted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Vegetable oil for pan
- 10 cups water
- ⅔ cup baking soda
- 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Pretzel salt
- Warmed Marinara Sauce for serving
For the Parmesan Cheese Sauce
- 1 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour, butter, italian seasoning and parmesan and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside. Meanwhile, bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
- In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll into ropes, fold the rope in half around your finger, twist 2 to 3 times and then tuck the end into the hole where your finger was holding. Place onto 2 parchment-lined and sprayed half sheet pan. (if you have one, a silpat sheet works best as there’s not possible chance for sticking)
- Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
For the Parmesan Cheese Sauce
- Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the flour into melted butter and whisk for 1 minute until golden.
- Slowly stream in the milk and continue to whisk until the mixture comes to a boil. Add the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and remove from heat. Pour the cheese sauce into a bowl and serve alongside the pretzel knots.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe by What’s Gaby Cooking
These were so easy and foolproof. They came out looking like the picture which never happens for me. Thank you!
A couple of hours?
what do you mean?
Can you boil these ahead of time and bake them later?
how much later?
Any tips for doubling the recipe? I.e. should I only bake one pan at a time? I made these for the Super Bowl and they were amazing!! I kneaded by hand and they turned out great.
you can double no prob - but dont crowd the baking sheet and yes probably bake 1 sheet after another
Do you think these would work as pretzel bites instead of knots for a large potluck party?
FOR SURE!! Just will bake for a shorter time
These were a HUGE hit for our Super Bowl party. I was a little intimidated but the instructions were easy to understand and follow. The cheese sauce is to die for!
Made these for Super Bowl party and they came out delicious. I used kosher salt since I did not have pretzel salt. Also I only baked for 10 minutes. Check to ensure you do not over bake. Great with honey mustard.
Any notes on replacing the active dry yeast with instant yeast? Thanks!
Any suggestions on how to make these egg free? I usually use chia or bananas as substitute but somehow those don’t sound good for pretzels. (Egg allergy) thanks!
I havent tested with an egg sub so I can't say with any certainty
What (if anything) should I replace the Italian seasoning and parm cheese with if I want a more traditional pretzel?
just omit
These look so delicious! I am excited to try them out! I had a question about the marinara sauce though. The title of this recipe and many of the reviews mention a marinara sauce but I didn't see that sauce on the recipe. Did I miss something or is there a link to the marinara sauce recipe? Any help would be greatly appreciated
it's just for dipping!!
How warm does the area need to be to leave the dough to rise? Is room temp warm enough or do I need to put it in a low temp oven?
room temp is great