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
Wow- these look great! I could see myself making these, and then not sharing... with anyone... 🙂
Perfect game day food is right! Love the Parmesan in there!
Get in ma ballay! These have me drooling right now! Yummmmm!
Hi Gaby,
As a big fan all the way from Jerusalem, Israel (you're international!) I have a couple of questions:
First of all, how much yeast comes in a packet by you guys?
Second, I have no idea what the equivalent to Italian seasoning is here. Do you think you could break it down for me?
Or maybe you have an idea for a substitute?
I'm dying to make these!!!! 🙂
Thanks!
Of course!! 1 yeast packet here is 7 grams or 1/4 ounce!
And you could use any combination of rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley and thyme!! In fact you could use just basil, or just parsley - but equal amounts of each would give you a basic homemade Italian Seasoning!
Thank you so much! Can't wait to make these!!!
Your idea of perfection and mine are similar. These look so amazing!!
Absolutely beautiful! This pretzel knot recipe is a must for the big game!
Girl, these will make me so carb happy. I won't be able to stop, they look amazingly delicious!
oh my god these sound AMAZING
Hi Gaby, could I make the dough let's say wednesday and then just keep it in the fridge till sunday?
Thanks,
Nika
Hey Nika!! You could make the dough, shape the pretzels and then freeze them. Then the day of, thaw them out totally and bake as the directions say!
Thank you! I'm so making them for super bowl!
Gaby - to clarify, would you freeze after shaping but before boiling? Or freeze after boiling? Thank you!!
I'd boil and then freeze
I need these in my life, football game or not.
Italian-pretzel mashup?? I'm IN. These are amazing!
These knots look so delicious!! Love!
Oh dear, now you have me craving crabs like woah! These look perfect for the big game!
OMG. these look so good and I could jump into a bathtub of that marinara- yum.
Yes, that marinara sauce looks good , but wow, never knew how to twist a pretzel before! I mean, I know that seems basic but for people who don't bake a lot not really. Kind of staring into space right now just thinking about it.
Ok, these are perfection!!! Gorgeous and perfect for Game Day!!