Sourdough Pretzels with Beer Cheese

Summertime months are busy here in Big Bear Lake California for the Hungry Mountaineer. Run eight miles at six a.m! Hike ten miles with my clients as Big Bear Lake’s premier hiking guide! Drive Jeep tours to Bluff Lake (The most scenic spot in Big Bear Lake, tucked away four miles up a hidden dirt road) And don’t forget to take the puppy for a swim!

In two months I am summiting Mt Whitney and that 14,000-foot mountain is coming up fast! Am I powered by Sourdough Pretzels? Maybe.

After I run up a mountain I might come home to clean my furry and fluffy house. Because these guys never stop shedding. Or, being the primary caretaker for my elderly neighbor with dementia, I might drive him to a doctor’s appointment an hour away ( and wish I had the time in my busy schedule to shower beforehand!)

Or I might lead vacationers on Big Bear’s most scenic hike. As Big Bear Lake’s most popular hiking guide summertime can be busy with clients. My guests come from places like Phoenix or Palm Springs and when it’s 85 degrees and humid in Big Bear they think it’s pleasant weather. Meanwhile, I’m sweating like I’m at a sauna! In the summer months, being a hiking guide actually feels like work to me. But there is nothing better than being your own boss and running your own business. I’m blessed with this lifestyle that I love.

I mean I do feel the most blessed when I’m shoving Sourdough Pretzels at my face

I live in Big Bear because I like the cold. I like nature. And I like being away from the cities and the crowds. Why do I run? Because I like to eat Sourdough Pretzels.

When you spend so much time sweating every summer day, just maybe you deserve a carb-filled appetizer for happy hour. Even the best and healthiest hiking guides can’t do low-carb all the time. I’m only human!

Or maybe a big bowl of cheese. I mean there is always Keto Queso, but that is just not the same! I’m not going to lie, if you set a bowl of cheese in front of me with a big ass spoon, I would dig right in. When it comes to my love of cheese, I have no shame.

I mean I did create my world-famous Goat Cheese Dip twenty years ago. And then there was my friend and family’s favorite Jalapeno Cheese Dip. When it comes to cheese, it just might be my favorite food group.

But what should you dip in cheese dip, I mean besides your fingers? I mean you could use zesty watermelon radishes or just crispy pieces of bacon.  Although as much as I do love cheese the thought of dipping salty fat (Delicious crispy bacon) in cheese dip kind of makes my heart hurt.

Thank God for Sourdough Pretzels!

These sourdough pretzels are beyond amazing. Yes, summertime is very hot to turn your oven on and I suggest cold-fermenting your dough the night before and bake these sourdough pretzels at eight a.m. as soon as you get back from your 6 a.m. run

Sourdough Pretzels

1/4 cup sourdough starter

2 3/4 cups of bread flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of honey

1 1/4 cup water

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon coarse salt for sprinkling before baking

In your mixing bowl add your loak warm water to your starter discard. Add the honey. Set aside for a few minutes. Mix in the flour and salt. Mix just a bit until you have a shaggy dough and set aside. Let sit, well covered for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes pull your dough together, maybe twenty times, doing coil folds until it comes together just a bit and has a shine to it. You can use extra flour or water on your hands to keep the dough from sticking to your hands or the bowl. Set your dough aside for thirty more minutes.

After thirty minutes, you will want to do six sets of stretch and folds, every fifteen minutes. Check out this video for what the hell a stretch and fold may be. After your sixth set of stretch and folds leave your dough on the counter, well covered overnight or for twelve hours to ferment.

After twelve hours you are ready to pull your dough back together into

a ball and cold ferment it for 5-12 hours. The longer you cold ferment the better sourdough flavor will build. Use flour on the outside of your dough so it does not stick. Set it in the fridge, well-covered to cold ferment.

When you are ready to form your sourdough pretzels, set your dough on the counter for thirty minutes. While you are doing this, boil a big pot of water. When you are ready to start working with your dough it should be so soft and pliable. With a pizza cutter slice your dough into about fifteen slices. Tie each into a pretzel shape. Add the teaspoon of sugar and the baking soda to the boiling water. Now poach your sourdough pretzels for about a minute each, being careful not to overcrowd them.

Preheat your oven to 450. Layer the pretzels on a greased baking sheet. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on the pretzels. Sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake for 20 minutes.

Now you are ready to create the Beer Cheese

Yes, they call this beer cheese, but I prefer to make it with apple cider vinegar, instead of beer. I also make this without a roux, so it is keto if you choose to dip something like celery or radish slices in it. But no one over here would judge you if you choose to dip all the pretzels in this cheesy dip.

Not Exactly Beer Cheese

2 cups grated sharp cheddar

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Heat the cream. Add the ACV, Dijon and paprika. Turn the heat to low and mix in your cheese. Let cook on low for just a few minutes until the cheese melts.