Bavarian Pretzels

5 from 2 votes

Chewy Bavarian Pretzels hot out of the oven with flaky sea salt and a mustard dipping is the perfect appetizer for a crowd.

Cook Time1

Total Time1

Course: Appetizers/ Snacks

Cuisine: German

Servings:

Calories: 277kcal

Author: HWC Magazine

Ingredients

3 and ¾ cup bread flour
1 package yeast
3.5 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk warmed
3 quarts water boiling
5 tablespoon baking soda
1 yolk egg yolk
1 tablespoon coarse salt for garnish optional

Instructions

Sift the flour mixed with salt into a bowl and make a small hole in the middle. Thinly slice butter and place around the hole.
Dissolve the fresh yeast in the warm milk and start pouring into the flour, mixing at the same time.
Knead the dough by hand for at least 5 minutes. Dough will be quite firm and smooth and not sticky at all. Form a dough ball and let it rest covered for about 30 minutes. ( I covered my dough for one hour until my dough doubled)
Place the dough on a work surface and cut into 10 equal pieces. Form the pretzels or rolls. (I shaped mine into Letters- BAM)
Butter the baking pan. (Do not use parchment paper!)
Boil the water and add the baking soda. Adding soda to the boiling water will make quite a reaction, so be careful!!! Let the water simmer and place each pretzel in the solution for about 30 seconds.
Take out pretzels with a skimmer spoon and place them onto a well buttered baking pan.
With a sharp knife or a razor cut the small slit on a top of each pretzel or a small cross on each roll. (I skipped this step by accident and still all came out well)
Brush each pretzel with a little beaten egg yolk and Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake at 395 F (200 C) until golden brown. (I baked mine about 12- 14 minutes)
Serve hot with butter and this is traditional. My boys love to dip in mustard or plain or anything your little heart desires. (If you have extra, you can put in a tupperware for a day or so and then re-bake for 5-10 minutes just to reheat before eating)

Notes

You can shape your pretzels and way you desire but the traditional way is in a twist. Serve your pretzels with warmed butter is the traditional way but also delicious with mustard or a cheesy dipping sauce.

Nutrition