Jalapeño Cheddar Soft Pretzels - Sally's Baking Addiction
A spicy twist on a twisted classic, these jalapeño cheddar soft pretzels start with my easy homemade pretzel dough. Add a little garlic powder, and load the shaped pretzels with sliced jalapeños and sharp cheddar cheese. Just like with traditional homemade soft pretzels, there’s hardly any rise time, so you can enjoy hot, cheesy jalapeño cheddar pretzels in less than an hour!
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
Only an hour until kickoff? You have enough time to make these cheesy soft pretzels with a kick!
One reader, Holly, commented: “Made these for a football party and people went crazy over them. They are the perfect combo of spicy, salty, and savory with great texture. Pretzels can be a bit laborious, but these aren’t too extensive. They are worth the work! ★★★★★“
Easy Dough for Bread Beginners
Have you ever made my recipe for homemade soft pretzels? It’s become one of the most reader-loved recipes on this website because the pretzels are delicious, relatively quick, and easy enough for bakers who have never worked with yeast before.
And, I have to admit, today’s version is even better. Oh, the flavor! Of course, if you don’t like spicy, you’ll probably prefer the originals.
I even use the same dough for making soft pretzel knots, soft pretzel bites, and soft pretzel rolls. The dough is made from the simplest baking ingredients and there’s hardly any rise time, so not only are these easy, they’re pretty quick too. I promise you don’t need to feel intimidated about working with yeast, shaping pretzels, or the baking soda bath—I’ll walk you through all of it.
About the original pretzels:
One reader, Shelley, commented: “I made these for the first time today; they were so delicious we had to make a second batch and I taught my daughters and sister how to make them. Everyone raved that they were the best pretzel they ever had! I can’t believe how easy they were. ★★★★★“
Now let’s make the spicy, garlicky jalapeño cheddar version!
Start With This 7-Ingredient Pretzel Dough
Let’s chat about the soft pretzel dough. You need just a few basic bread-making ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen:
- Yeast: I always use Platinum Yeast from Red Star, which is an instant yeast. The Platinum yeast is fantastic because its careful formula strengthens your dough and makes making working with yeast simple. Your pretzels, your dinner rolls, your breads, your pizza dough—all will puff up more. You only need 1 standard packet of yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons) to get the job done.
- Water: Use warm water. No need to take the temperature, but think lukewarm to the touch, about 100°F (38°C).
- Salt: Salt adds necessary flavor. Can’t have tasty pretzels without some salt!
- Garlic Powder: My classic soft pretzel recipe doesn’t include garlic powder, but I absolutely LOVE the flavor it adds to these jalapeño cheddar pretzels.
- Sugar: 1 Tablespoon of sugar increases the yeast’s activity and tenderizes the dough; it also balances out all the saltiness.
- Melted Butter: Nothing beats butter for delicious buttery flavor in pretzels!
- Flour: I always use all-purpose flour, but you can substitute bread flour for even chewier pretzels.
You’ll also need a little more butter for the topping, plus sliced jalapeños, coarse sea salt, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
Make the Dough—It’s Easy
Bring the dough together in a large mixing bowl. You can use a stand mixer, or a regular large mixing bowl + a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Knead it on the counter (or continue using your mixer), and then let the dough rest for about 10 minutes. If you are new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.
You know the best part about making pretzels? That’s the only rest/rise time for the dough. Just 10 minutes—a little power nap—while you get the baking soda + water boiling on the stove.
Don’t Skip the Baking Soda Bath
While it sounds strange, this step is what gives pretzels their iconic flavor and chewy texture; plus, it helps deepen their golden-brown color in the oven, and locks in the super soft interior. The boiling water also helps set their shape so the pretzels don’t over-puff in the oven.
Combine 1/2 cup of baking soda with 9 cups of water in a large pot (I use my Dutch oven) and bring it up to a boil. The unbaked pretzels get a quick dip in here before baking. (A little rest followed by a hot bath—these pretzels have it GOOD.)
Without the baking soda bath, you lose texture, that deep brown color, and flavor. So basically, you will have bread instead of pretzels. Nothing wrong with bread! But it’s not on the menu today.
How to Shape Pretzels
While you’re waiting for the water to boil, it’s time to shape the pretzels.
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Each will be about 1/3 cup in size, or 75g.
Roll each into a 20–22-inch-long rope:
Twist the ends and bring the ends down, and lightly press the dough together. That’s a pretzel!
Place the shaped pretzels onto baking sheets lined with silicone mats or greased parchment paper. This pretzel dough makes 12 regular-size soft pretzels, so I use 2 baking sheets, 6 pretzels on each.
Once the pretzels are all shaped and the water is boiling, it’s baking soda bath time! Carefully drop the pretzels, a couple at a time, into the boiling water + baking soda. Let them boil for 20–30 seconds each (no longer than that, or they’ll have a metallic taste), then use a slotted spatula to remove them, let the excess water drip off, and place the boiled pretzels back onto the lined baking sheets.
Topping Jalapeño Cheddar Soft Pretzels
Brush the boiled pretzels with melted butter and place a few jalapeño pepper slices on each, lightly pressing down to get them to stick, then sprinkle the pretzels with coarse sea salt. Now they’re ready to bake! You’ll add the cheese next…
About halfway through baking, take the pretzels out and top them with shredded cheddar cheese, then return them to the oven for the remaining bake time. The cheese gets nice and melty and a little crispy around the pretzel edges—so yum.
And if you really want to lean into spicy cheese with this recipe, you can serve these pretzels with this spicy nacho cheese sauce for dipping. I like serving them with stone-ground mustard.
Loving this flavor combination? You’ll absolutely LOVE this simple no knead jalapeño cheddar bread.
Not a chance these pretzels will make it to halftime. If you like heat, serve the pretzels with a big bowl of spicy honey Chex mix. Both are excellent weekend/game day snacks!
More Appetizers & Snacks
Jalapeño Cheddar Soft Pretzels
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 12 pretzels
Category: Snack
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American
Description
These kicked-up soft pretzels are just like regular homemade soft pretzels, but include a buttery jalapeño cheddar cheese topping. There’s hardly any rise time, so you can enjoy hot & spicy cheddar pretzels in less than an hour! Review recipe Notes and watch the video tutorial before starting.
Baking Soda Bath
For Topping
Instructions
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the yeast into the warm water. Cover and allow to sit for 1 minute.
- Whisk in salt, garlic powder, sugar, and melted butter. Add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup (125g) at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, or use a dough hook attachment, until combined. Add 3/4 cup more flour and mix for 1 minute. If the dough is still sticky, add 1/4–1/2 cup more, as needed.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Shape the dough into a ball. Cover lightly with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes, or cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 day. To freeze, see freezing instructions in recipe Notes. (Meanwhile, I like to get the water + baking soda boiling as instructed in step 7.)
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line 2 baking sheets with greased parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Silicone baking mats are highly recommended over parchment paper. Set aside.
- With a sharp knife, bench scraper, or pizza cutter, cut dough into 1/3-cup sections (about 75g each). Roll a piece of dough into a 20–22-inch rope. Form a circle with the dough by bringing the two ends together at the top of the circle. Twist the ends together. Bring the twisted ends back down towards yourself and press them down to form a pretzel shape.
- Bring baking soda and 9 cups of water to a boil in a large pot.
- Drop 1 or 2 pretzels into the boiling water for 20–30 seconds. Any longer than that and your pretzels will have a metallic taste. Using a slotted spatula, lift the pretzel out of the water and allow excess water to drip off. Place pretzel onto prepared baking sheet. Brush with melted butter. Place several jalapeño slices on each, pressing down lightly to get them to stick. Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. Repeat with remaining pretzels. If desired, you can cover and refrigerate the boiled/unbaked pretzels for up to 24 hours before baking in step 9.
- Bake for 10 minutes, remove pretzels from the oven, and sprinkle 2–3 Tablespoons of shredded cheese on top of each. Return to the oven for 8–12 more minutes, until the pretzels are golden brown and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm.
- Cover and store leftover pretzels at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. They lose a little softness over time. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds, or bake at 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked and cooled pretzels freeze well for up to 3 months. To reheat, cover and bake frozen pretzels at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes or until warmed through, or you can microwave frozen pretzels until warm. The prepared pretzel dough can be frozen in an airtight container for 2–3 months. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerated dough can be shaped into pretzels while still cold, but allow some extra time, about 1 hour, for the shaped pretzels to puff up before the baking soda bath.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl | Large Pot, such as a Dutch Oven | Metal Slotted Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush | Coarse Sea Salt
- Yeast: I always use Platinum Yeast from Red Star, an instant yeast. You can use an active dry yeast instead, if needed. No changes to the recipe if using active dry. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Can I skip the jalapeños? Yes, of course. You’ll still butter and salt the boiled pretzels, and leave off the jalapeños. Bake as directed, add cheese, then continue baking.
- Cheese: I recommend sharp cheddar cheese in this recipe, but you can use another semi-hard, flavorful cheese such as pepper jack, gouda, or Colby cheese. For best taste and texture, shred the cheese off the block yourself with a cheese grater. Pre-shredded cheese is drier than freshly shredded, and contains anti-caking agents.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
