Fondue and Soft Pretzels For New Year’s

As dairy farmers who wake up with the sun, we don’t often stay up late, even for New Year’s Eve. I think we were all asleep by 11 o’clock this year. Our one tradition for the new year is to make soft pretzels. We shape a few of the pretzels to write out the new year’s date. Each year, we take a photo of our kids with the new year’s date. We don’t remember when we started, but the photos go back to the early 2000s. This year, we added cheese fondue to our New Year’s Eve meal. It was a great addition and the gooey sauce made the pretzels taste even better.

Cheesy fondue and warm soft pretzels fresh out of the oven are a tasty way to warm up on one of these cold winter evenings. Fondue is a melted cheese dish in a pot for everyone to share. If you have a fondue pot, it comes with some long-handled forks for dipping. A saucepan and a few skewers or regular forks work just as well. If you want to expand your dipping items: apple slices, bologna, sausage, beef sticks, mushrooms (fresh or steamed), and any other vegetables like broccoli or peppers work well.

Tips from Terry’s Kitchen

My original recipe calls for baking the pretzels as soon as you shape them. However, Austin (our youngest son and resident bread baker) added a step of boiling the dough before baking to give the pretzels a little more of a chewy texture. He brought a pot of water with a little (1 tbsp) baking soda and sugar to boiling and dropped the pretzels in for 20-30 seconds each.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Course: Snacks, Appetizers

Ingredients

• 1 pkg dry yeast

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 5 cups flour

• 1 cup milk

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1 egg (separated)

• coarse salt or pretzel salt

Directions

• Measure warm water into a bowl. Sprinkle yeast on water and stir until dissolved.
• Separate the egg. Mix the egg yolk, honey, butter, and milk, into the yeast mixture.
• Add salt and flour to make stiff yet easy-to-handle dough. Knead dough on a floured surface for 5 mins.
• Let rise for 1 hr.
• Take a small amount of dough and roll it into a rope, take the ends of the rope, and cross them to form a pretzel.
• Brush the pretzels with a mixture of egg white & 1 tablespoon of water. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
• Bake at 425 until brown (about 15-20 mins).

Notes

• My original recipe calls for baking the pretzels as soon as you shape them. However, Austin (our youngest son and resident bread baker) added a step of boiling the dough before baking to give the pretzels a little more of a chewy texture. He brought a pot of water with a little (1 tbsp) baking soda and sugar to boiling and dropped the pretzels in for 20-30 seconds each.

Tips from Terry’s Kitchen

We have a fondue pot designed to place a bunsen burner underneath, but we’ve found it easier to make the sauce on the stove. Once we have the fondue made, we pour it into our fondue pot. We found it doesn’t take much heat to keep the sauce warm, we just put a little tea light candle underneath. Shredding the cheese really makes it melt better, but cutting it up into small pieces works almost as well. We have a rotary cheese grater we use to grate up cheese whenever we need it.

Three Cheese Fondue

Course: Appetizers

Indulge in the ultimate comfort food experience with our Three Cheese Fondue! This creamy concoction features a blend of Swiss, Alpine, and Raclette cheeses, melted to perfection with a hint of garlic and white wine. Dive into a bubbling pot of cheesy goodness, perfect for dipping crusty bread, crisp veggies, and savory meats. Elevate your entertaining game with this irresistible fondue recipe, sure to be the highlight of any gathering!

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove, halved

• 1 cup white wine (or chicken broth)

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 6 oz Royer Mountain (grated)

• 8 oz Susquehanna (grated)

• 6 oz Tussey Mountain (grated)

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Assorted dippables: cubed crusty bread, steamed broccoli florets, apple slices, cooked sausage slices, etc.

Directions

• Rub the inside of a fondue pot or a heavy-bottomed saucepan with the cut sides of the garlic clove halves. This will infuse the pot with a subtle garlic flavor.
• Pour the white wine and lemon juice into the fondue pot and heat it over medium-low heat until it simmers.
• In a bowl, toss the grated cheese with the flour until the cheese is evenly coated.
• Gradually add the cheese mixture to the simmering wine, stirring continuously in a figure-eight motion until the cheese is melted and smooth.
• Stir in the nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep the fondue warm over low heat while serving, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
• Enjoy with pieces of your favorite bread, soft pretzels, crackers, or fruit.

Notes

• We have a fondue pot designed to place a bunsen burner underneath, but we’ve found it easier to make the sauce on the stove. Once we have the fondue made, we pour it into our fondue pot. We found it doesn’t take much heat to keep the sauce warm, we just put a little tea light candle underneath.
• Shredding or grating the cheese makes it melt better, but cutting it up into small pieces works almost as well. We have a rotary cheese grater we use to grate up cheese whenever we need it.
• If the fondue becomes too thick, you can thin it out by adding a splash of wine and stirring until the desired consistency is reached.