By: Author Julie Menghini
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This German Soft Pretzel recipehas that perfect pull when you bite into them and a soft and tendercenter. These pretzels are so good they don’t even need adipping sauce.
I’ve made pretzels several times, but this German Soft Pretzel recipe proved to be one of the easiest, best tasting and least messy.
They are perfect for this month’s BreadBakers theme “International Breads” chosen by our host Wendy who is the creative genius behindA Day in the Life on the Farm. The only request was that we weren’t supposed to pick a recipe from our own country.
When you say International Bread, that gives you so many tochoose from. I believe that every country has a bread recipe that they are known for.
I also believe that some breads are made in different countries with different names but are still very similar. For example flatbread.
Flatbread could be defined as an Italian Pizza Crust, a Greek Pita, or an Indian Lachha Paratha and much more. Most are a combination of flour, water and salt rolled into a flat dough. Some are unleavened but that’s not always the case either. Perfectly clear right?
I didn’t choose flatbread for this challenge. I chose a German Soft Pretzel Recipe also referred to asLaugenbrezel (Traditional German Pretzel).
My friend Google and I did some searching and found that somewhat true. There have been some variations but most of the pretzels still claim German heritage.
One thing I liked about this recipe is that it went much quicker than some pretzels that I’ve made. They can also be a huge mess with boiling and baking.
These pretzels are boiled at amuch gentler boil and a quick bake time which really reduced the fuss and the mess.
They’re perfect to eat as is but John liked his with some amazing French mustard my daughter broughtus from France. I also used a garlic-parsley sea-salt that she also brought us from France.
Yep, I have a very generous daughter that is a talented little cook.
Don’t have time to make it now? Pin it for later!
Author: Julie Menghini
This German Soft Pretzel recipehas that perfect pull when you bite into them and a soft and tendercenter. These pretzels are so good they don’t even need adipping sauce.
4 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 2 hours hrs 35 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 2 hours hrs 50 minutes mins
Course Appetizer, Bread
Cuisine American, German
Keyword: German Soft Pretzel
Servings: 12 pretzels
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 oz instant or rapid-rise yeast packages
- 2 tbsp Barley Malt Syrup
- 6.5 cups bread flour I use unbleached
- 2 tbsp kosher salt or a coarse alternative
- 8 tbsp butter cold and diced
- 8 cups water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup pale ale beer
- Pretzel salt for sprinkling or a coarse alternative
Instructions
Using a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and Barley malt syrup. Set aside and allow to proof for 10 minutes or until foamy.
Using the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine theflour and salt. Whisk to combine. Cut in the butter using your fingers until the butter is crumbled into the flour.
Pour the yeast mixture into the flour/butter mixture and using the paddle attachment, mix until a shaggy dough formsand water is absorbed.
Change to the dough hook and mix on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic, approximately 6 minutes.
Cover the bowl with a clean damp towel and put itin a warm area for 2 hours or until doubled in size. I put it inmy oven without turning it on.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Spray two baking sheets with non-stick spray. In a large sauce pan or dutch oven, add 8 cups of water, baking soda, dark brown sugar and beer to a boil. Reduce heat and maintain asimmer.
Roll the dough out into a 14×12 inch rectangle. Cut the dough into 1-inch strips. I used a pizza cutter to make my cuts.
Roll out each strip into 30-33-inch ropes. To form pretzels, loop a strip into a “U” and cross the ends at the bottom. Bring the top of the “U” down the crossed pieces and pinch together.
Boil each pretzel separately for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spatula so water drains from the pretzel and place it on a prepared baking sheet. Repeatputting 6 pretzels on each baking sheet.
Sprinkle each pretzel with pretzel salt. It’s easier while they’re still wet. Bake for 5 minutes and then rotate the baking sheet. Bake an additional 5 to 8 minutes more or until pretzels develop a dark brown color.
Remove pretzels to a wire cooling rack. Allow themto cool slightly before serving. Serve with mustard, melted butter or cheese sauce.
Notes
Recipe by Olivia’s Cuisine
Nutrition
Calories: 345kcalCarbohydrates: 56gProtein: 8gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 2614mgPotassium: 84mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 235IUCalcium: 25mgIron: 0.7mg
Nutritional Disclaimer
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!
Just like our recipes, our BreadBakers group is a diverse group of bakers and I am really excited to see what everyone brought!
- Apfelpfannkuchen (Apple Pancake) from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Auvergne Crown from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Bauernbrot from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
- Chilli and Coriander Scones from Sizzling Tastebuds
- Dutch Tiger Bread (Tijgerbolletjes)from Baking Sense
- German Soft Pretzels (Laugenbrezel) from Hostess At Heart
- German Soft Pretzels from Herbivore Cucina
- Kardemummabullar – Swedish Cardamom Rolls from Ambrosia
- Pletzel – Onion Poppyseed Flatbread from Cook’s Hideout
- Pretzel Bites from My Cooking Journey
- Savoury Kugelhopf from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen
- Whole Wheat Pita bread from Sonlicious
- Yemeni Kubaneh – Buttery Rolls from Food Lust People Love
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to [emailprotected].
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