Cheddar Brat Pretzels

Pretzels. Sausage. Cheese.

Post over.

No, just kidding. These soft, chewy pretzels are filled with a cheesy Cheddar Brats from Johnsonville. Great on their own, or, were you so inclined, you could dip them in mustard. Me? I’m not a mustard fan at all. Not sure why, I just never developed a taste for it.

I don’t actually try to develop a taste for well, anything. Beer? Nope. Wine – if I like it, I like it, I don’t care how much it costs. Coffee? It smells really great, but I don’t really need an addiction. Liquor? Notsomuch. I don’t have time to try to train my palate to learn to like anything. Why bother? I have no trouble finding plenty of things I can’t get enough of.

Of course, I guess I’ll be sorry if an asteroid hits and I’m one of the only survivors, along with a tequila factory, mustard plant, and an unending supply of K-Cups. That will suck on lots of levels.

But until then, these pretzels do NOT need any amount of training to enjoy.

Don’t have brats? Hot dogs will work, but I warn you, they won’t be nearly as tasty as the Cheddar Brat. Cheddar Brats play well with pretzels.

As do I.

Cheddar Brat Pretzels

Rating: 5

Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 10 Servings

Ingredients

7 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 package instant yeast
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons melted butter
10 Johnsonville Cheddar Brats
For the Water bath: 2 quarts water, 1 tablespoon salt, 4 tablespoons baking soda
Instructions

Combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
Combine the warm milk and yeast. Allow to rest for 5 to10minutes.
Add the butter and water to the yeast mixture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the wet and dry ingredients and knead until thoroughly combined and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Knewad by hand for 1-2 minutes. Spray the bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size.
Once risen, punch down and knead for 1 minute. Cut dough into 10 even pieces. Roll into long ropes, about 18 inches in length. Wrap around each brat, from end to end. Press seams together. Allow to rest 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400.
Bring the water, salt and baking soda to a rolling boil. Place 2 buns into the pot, and boil on each side for 1 minute. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and then score the tops in a cross with a sharp knife. Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired. Place on a well greased baking sheet.
When all buns have been boiled, bake for 25-30 minutes until brown. Serve and enjoy!
Notes

If using hotdogs instead of brats, divide dough into 12 and use 12 hotdogs versus 10 brats.

The Giveaway

You’ve been waiting weeks for this, haven’t you? Weeks, I say.

The 7 Quart Kitchenaid Stand Mixer Giveaway.

 

Yes, many of you have entered the bonus over 20 times each. I can’t say I blame you – this is one amazing machine.

I own a 5 quart KitchenAid, which I adore, but when the 7 quart came? I knew it was a match made in heaven. This machine can handle whatever you throw at it – cake, cookies, icing, bread dough. LOTS of bread dough. Like this pretzel dough.

In case you are tired of having to knead those tougher doughs by hand, well, this machine will be right up your bread baking alley. It’s a monster. Lift bowl, larger beater, whisk and dough hook. You can make a lot of loaves at once, thanks to the larger size. And it’s strong enough to knead FOR you, without worrying about the motor. It’s a powerhouse, and yet pretty as ever, in that classic shape we all know and love.

You must have one.

So I shall give one of you this mixer. Not mine, of course…one of your very own.

Which color would you like?

White? Red? Black? Metallic?

Me, I have metallic. But you tell me your preference, and voila, you are entered to win.

For more chance to win, choose to do any (or all) of the following, just be sure to return HERE to this page and leave a SEPARATE comment for each item you do.

• Follow KitchenAid on Twitter, at @KitchenAidUSA.
• Follow Me, @doughmesstic, on Twitter
• Become a Fan of KitchenAid on Facebook and/or write in their wall saying I sent you.
• Become a fan of Doughmesstic on Facebook.
• Share this post via Twitter or Facebook.
• Come clean my disaster of a house before any holiday company arrives, even though I have no idea when that will actually be. (Okay, that’s a joke, not a real bonus. But that would be pretty awesome.)

There you go – 6 ways to get your name in the running. All of the bonus entries on the BONUS post WILL get tallied into the drawing, plus, each giveaway for the rest of the week will also contain the BONUS entry. So enter! Someone is guaranteed to win, and it may as well be you!

Good luck!

Contest open until December 23rd, 2011, and ends at 11:59pm EST. Prize shipped by and courtesy of KitchenAid. US Addresses only, sorry Internationals…I do appreciate you, though.