Amish Soft Pretzels

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together warm water, yeast, and a pinch of the sugar. Allow to stand a few minutes for yeast to bubble. Whisk in the remaining sugar then add both of the flours. Using the dough hook, knead until the dough forms a soft ball, about 4 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 500°F with an oven rack in the middle position. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with some clarified butter.

   • Tip: To clarify butter, cook 1 ½ cups of Tillamook Extra Creamy Unsalted Butter (3 sticks) over medium heat until melted and solids separate from fat. Skim and discard any foam. Pour clear golden butter into a heat proof container leaving behind any milk solids left in the pan.

3. Cut dough into four equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time and keeping others loosely covered with plastic wrap, divide one portion into eight equal portions and shape each piece into a 4-inch long finger. Repeat with remaining portions, yielding 32 fingers of pretzel dough.

4. In a shallow bowl, whisk together water and baking powder. Dip each pretzel into baking powder water, then place onto the baking sheet. Fingers should be nestled just touching each other in two rows of 16. Let rest 5 minutes. Brush each with clarified butter(*) or ghee then sprinkle with kosher salt.

5. Bake until pretzels are browned on the outside and soft on the inside, 5-8 minutes.

Tillamook Fondue

1. While pretzels bake, make the fondue. In a medium saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a gentle simmer. (Be sure to keep an eye on the cream because it can over boil.) Whisk in both cheeses until smooth.

2. Pull apart the warm pretzels and serve with fondue.