Game Day food!

Brat and Cheese stuffed Pretzel Buns

When football is on you need some good game day food to eat....and what goes better with football than the combination of beer, brats, cheese and pretzels??  So let's combine them all into one easy to carry handful of goodness!

First thing you need to do is make up a batch of pretzel dough....

While the dough is proofing it's time to make the filling...

then you need to put some filling inside the dough and form it into a little bun

then you just bake them and its time to eat and cheer on the Packers!

Here comes the recipe....

Gather some stuff and make the pretzel dough:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Put all that in a bowl of a mixer for 10 minutes

Then add the following

• 2 ounces melted unsalted butter
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Mix and knead until you get a smooth dough ball...about 7 minutes
Then place the dough ball into a greased bowl in a warm place for an hour to proof

Now lets make the filling

Find all of the following:

• 1 pound bratwurst
• 1 can of beer
• 2 ounces bourbon
• 1 sweet onion - diced
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce

Heat up your skillet on medium-high heat...take the brats out of their casings and break up into the pan and cook it until browned.  

Add half of the beer and all of the bourbon to the pan, cook until there is almost no liquid left in the pan...remove from the heat...empty into a bowl to cool

Return the skillet to the heat and toss in the onion and garlic..once they have browned and softened add the rest of the beer, turn the heat to low and cover until the liquid is almost gone again, then add that to the brat mixture you put in that bowl earlier.

Once that brat and onion mixture has cooled go ahead and add the cheese and stir it all up.

By now you dough should be proofed and ready to use.  so put a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil...you only need about 3-5 inches of water in the pot..once boiling add 2/3 cup baking soda to the water.

Now pull off a chunk of dough...like the size of an egg.  roll it out so that its about 4 inches across, then spoon some filling..2-3 tablespoons should do it into the center and fold up the edges and pinch the seams to close them up

Then drop them into the boiling baking soda bath for 15 seconds...flip them over and let them bathe for another 15 seconds..place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and cut a very small slit into the top

Now put them in a 450 degree oven for about 13 minutes..once they are nice and golden brown remove from the oven, then get to eatin!!