So not only is it Friday, but it is also a Fall weekend. Is there anything better? Tomorrow we have a soccer game, lunch picnic and then Hops Fest. Basically I am giddy right about now. Sunday the kids and I are going apple picking, and hopefully picking up a pumpkin or two. Because my list of fall time pumpkin recipes is getting out of hand. I have 9 things planned to make this weekend, I probably should cut that down a bit. But I literally can't stop. I love fall cooking. We even made 3 soups this week, which fed us for about 6 days. Stay tuned for those soup recipes, they are sure winners!

In the mean time, you should probably make these Rosemary + Beer Pretzels for the weekend. They go perfect for football season! For this recipe I used one of my favorite local breweries Belgian Strong Blonde. And tossed in lots of rosemary. I didn't make a cheese dipping sauce, but you absolutely should.

Happy Fall, xxoo!

note...equally amazing are these mini pretzel dogs. don't judge, they are really good.

Rosemary + Beer Pretzels
adapted from Half Baked Harvest

1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup beer
4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour (feel free to skip the whole wheat and do 4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour instead)
2/3 cups baking soda
1 egg beaten with a splash of water
coarse flaky sea salt

Combine the warm water, brown sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and quickly mix, then let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt, melted butter, beer, flour and rosemary to the mixture, mixing on low speed until just about combined. Increase the speed to medium, and mix for 4 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the side.

Remove the dough from the mixing bowl. Grease the bowl with canola oil and return the dough back to the bowl. Toss it around once making sure all sides are coated. Cover with a towel let sit in a warm spot for 1 hour, until it doubles in size.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a very large pot, fill with water (about 3 quarts) and bring to a boil.

Remove the dough from the bowl. Divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope. To shape the pretzels, take the right side and cross over the left side, cross right to left again and flip the whole thing up. Honestly, its just best if you look at the pretzels above while you shape yours, tends to work easier that way.

Once the water is at a rapid boil, slowly add the baking soda. Using a large, flat slotted spoon, drop 2-3 pretzels in at a time for 30 seconds! Making sure that there is water covering each pretzel. Splash them with water if not. Remove the pretzels and place on a baking sheet. Continue with the remainder pretzels. If the pretzels lost their "pretzel" shape in the water, simply reform once you take them out of the water. Brush them with the egg wash and season liberally with coarse flaky sea salt. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden. Let cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.