While I have all of this Lager beer in my house, I figured I would use some more of it up on another beer recipe! (As I may have mentioned before, I’m more of a Miller Lite Gal and my husband likes the same beer as me), so if we keep Lager in the house, it may sit around forever!! Here’s a recipe I found from a little magazine in the grocery store checkout line earlier this week. It was called “Irish Favorites.” The recipe is for Beer Pretzel Rolls!
When they were done, they actually tasted like soft pretzels! I couldn’t taste the beer at all, but they were tasty! I’m just not sure if they were worth all the work that was put into them. Regardless, I made pretzels for the first time in my life, and I cooked with beer for the second time in my life, so I would call that a success!
WARNING: This is NOT a fast and easy recipe. Do not start if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. There’s a lot of kneading and a lot of waiting for dough to rise with this one. But if you have time, it’s a great recipe!!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups of lager beer at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter
- 1 package (.25 oz) rapid-rise active dry yeast
- 4 cups of bread flour (Make sure you get Bread Flour and not All Purpose Flour...they are different!)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- A litte kosher salt to sprinkle at the end
Instructions
- Combine your lager beer, milk, melted butter, and yeast in a bowl.
- Stir in 1 cup flour and salt and mix well.
- Slowly add in more flour a little at a time until all of the flour is mixed in.
- Place your dough onto a slightly floured surface and knead the dough for about 8 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a large ball and place into a large bowl. Cover your bowl and let sit for about 1 hour and the dough should double in size.
- Take your dough back onto the slightly floured surface and knead again for about a minute.
- Next, separate and shape your dough into 12 equal-sized balls.
- Place your dough balls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for about 30 minutes and the dough will grow again.
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Spray a second baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Fill a large pot with water and add in your baking soda. Bring to a boil.
- Add your rolls to the water, a few at a time. Cook until they puff a bit. Turn them once while they are in the water.
- Remove your rolls and let drain on paper towels.
- Place your rolls on your new greased baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Cut 1 and 1/2 inch wide X's on the top of each roll, using kitchen scissors.
- Sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Bake in 425° oven for about 15 minutes (they should be crisp and brown).
- Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
I made these for a St. Patrick’s day party last year, and yes, they are a ton of work. But they were the most coveted food dish that I served. I wish I had doubled the recipe because they were gone so fast. In my opinion, they are totally worth the time and effort to make them. I make lamb stew every year for St. Patrick’s Day, and I would traditionally serve it with sourdough rounds, but these rolls are my new staple. They are amazingly good.
Thanks for your comment, Margo! My traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal to make is Corned Beef and Cabbage, but a Lamb Stew with a side of the Beer Pretzel rolls sounds delicious!! I haven’t done my shopping yet for the weekend – so there’s still time to plan a different meal for the holiday!
Hi there! These look fantastic! Quick question–do you think I could make the dough the day before and refeigerate either after the first or second rise, and then take then out to rise and bake the next day? I’ve had success doing that with other doughs, that I’ve never tried one like this. Can’t wait to see how these turn out!
Hello! I haven’t tried making them that way, but I don’t see why you couldn’t try that! If you try it, you’ll have to let me know how it turns out!