Skillet pretzels with beer cheese dip

this is good crowd pleaser for a party.  Who doesn't love good soft pretzels with gooey cheesy dip?  The first time we made these the pretzels were a bit under done, so I recommend baking the pretzels a little before adding the cheese to the skillet.

Ingredients:

For the Pretzels:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water (105 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbs honey
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• Pretzel or kosher salt

For the Cheese Dip:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup wheat beer or lager
• 8 - 10 ounces mild cheddar cheese, shredded
• 8 - 10 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion flake
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

For the Pretzels:

• In a small bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in 3/4 cup warm water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl combine both flours and 1 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add honey, oil, and yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until dough starts to come together. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes.
• Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. Transfer dough to prepared bowl. Turn dough to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium bowl combine 2 cups hot water and baking soda. Divide dough into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and dip into the baking soda-water mixture. Arrange dough balls around edge of a buttered 12-inch cast iron skillet, leaving the center open. Score the top of each dough ball with an "x". Sprinkle balls with pretzel salt.

For the Cheese Dip:

• In a medium bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds or until smooth.
• Beat in beer until combined. Stir in cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, onion flake and salt. 

Final preperation:

• Bake the pretzel balls in cast iron skillet for 10 minutes at 400. 
• After 10 minutes add the cheese mixture to the skillet and continue to bak an additional 10 - 12 minutes until nicely brownes and the cheese is melted.
• Server immediately

Notes:

• if you don't have or don't want to use the cast iron skillet you could bake the pretzels separate from the cheese and serve it as pretzels with dip instead of the pull apart skillet. 

• Bake 20 minutes or until pretzels are browned and cheese is melted. Serve immediately