Step-by-step recipe with photos and videos. Pretzel German pretzel

Chronicles have preserved a beautiful legend about the origin of pretzels. Once the Bavarian king ordered a baker to bake a bun through which you could look at the sun three times at the same time. The smart baker was not at a loss and made a bun with three holes - a twisted pretzel. Since then, more pretzels have been baked in Bavaria than there were any pies or buns. Overall, pretzel is serious business. Consider the regulation of cooking times and recipes, carefully preserved since the 14th century! (of course, supplemented later, but still). What about the ban on baking pretzels only with special permission from the Bakers Guild? Well, why not try this?!

For some reason, we believe that a pretzel in German is a hassle and should not be messed with. In fact, the recipe is quite easy to prepare. Pretzel dough is made with yeast, often with the addition of malt. The dough is formed into pretzel buns of a characteristic shape. Before baking, the pieces are dipped in a soda solution so that the finished products acquire a characteristic brownish color. At the end, sprinkle with coarse salt. Depending on whether you like your pretzels soft or a little dry, the time they spend in the oven will vary.

Take note when planning to prepare pretzels for beer for a large company: instead of sandwiches, they form a massive classic German pretzel - this is cut in half, filled with vegetables, cheese, bacon, with different sauces and served as a double sandwich. Nourishing and tasty. They also bake thin, more dried, brittle, like crackers. These are eaten in large quantities.

Cooking time: 90 minutes / Number of servings: 9 pcs.

Ingredients

• wheat flour 500 g
• milk 300 ml
• butter 40 g
• dry yeast 12 g
• sugar 2 tsp.
• soda 1 tsp. for 1 liter of water
• coarse salt

Preparation

Sift the flour. First, take 400 g, hold the remaining 100 g and add in parts when kneading after adding the liquid. Throw in granulated sugar, a large pinch of salt (coarse or crushed), and a portion of quick-acting yeast. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly so that everything is distributed evenly.



Pour in cold milk and add butter. Please note that in the recipe the milk is not heated, as is often done for yeast dough, but chilled. Fresh from the refrigerator. If for some reason you do not eat dishes and baked goods that include milk, replace them with water. But leave the quality butter. Neither lean nor margarine is needed here.



Knead thoroughly, for a long time. First, grind into flakes, then add the remaining flour (you may need a little less or more). I like the dosage indicated in the recipe - I needed exactly as much as described in the ingredients. Roll the soft, homogeneous dough into a ball, cover with cling film and leave to “rest” from your hands at room temperature for 15 minutes.



Now we cut the lump into segments of equal size/weight. You can make 8-9 large pretzels or double the quantity for smaller pretzels.



We lightly knead each triangle, mold it into balls, return it to the board - again throw on the film and let it sit for the next 15 minutes.



Now we stretch it out with a block, press it down with an oblong flat cake, bend it lengthwise in the middle, and fold it in half. Repeat 3-4 more times. This way, after baking, the structure will become layered and light.



Let's move on to forming the pretzels. We roll long strands on the tabletop or in our hands, leaving the middle thicker than the ends. This swollen center is called the “belly” of the pretzel. We twist the ends once or twice crosswise.



We turn the thin strips towards the base, leaving three holes, and press tightly with our fingers to secure.



We place the blanks in one layer on spacious surfaces, put them in the freezer for half an hour, and this is a prerequisite. Before plunging into boiling water, the pretzels must harden and hold their shape, otherwise they will fall apart.



In a separate container, boil a liter of water, dilute baking soda - stir vigorously, dissolving to a grain. As a rule, take 1 tsp per 1 liter of water. soda, but if you increase the concentration, that is, the dosage of soda, the pretzels will become covered with a darker crust. Just don't overdo it, it will taste salty.

Using a slotted spoon, lower one product at a time into the hot solution, hold for up to 30 seconds, shake off and transfer to a baking sheet with oiled parchment. So we dip all the blanks one by one.



We cut the “bellies” of semi-finished pretzels horizontally, sprinkle large salt crystals (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flax) on top. Place in the preheated oven and bake at 200 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool under a canvas towel.

Classic German pretzel - homemade pretzel is delicious with any drink, not just beer. Arrange an impromptu Oktoberfest, serve for breakfast and tea. Bon appetit!

“Mom, I should have always listened to you. When eating pretzels, always chew before swallowing.”

Who owns these words? Such a question, of course, will not confuse real experts and scholars. Correct answer: "George Bush, 43rd President of the United States." It was pretzels, the most popular product of German cuisine, that almost at the very beginning of his presidential term George W. Bush almost choked on, devouring these delicious pretzels while watching a football match on TV. And even so, I lost consciousness for a few seconds. Fortunately for the president and US citizens, everything ended well then.

Pretzel is one of the most popular delicacies in Germany.

But this fact does not in any way detract from the popularity of pretzel. Quite the opposite.

Although, to be honest, on my first visit to Germany ten years ago, I never tried this culinary attraction - there was simply a moment when white wheat flour was strictly contraindicated for me. And then I held on steadfastly and with all my might. But she made it up to the fullest in subsequent voyages! And now I know how to distinguish a Bavarian pretzel from a Swabian one, what they eat both with, and many more interesting details about this wonderful pretzel.

How, with what and when to eat pretzel

Salty pretzel is a traditional German snack for beer and sausages. Wisnbretzel- an indispensable attribute of Oktoberfest, the main beer festival in Germany and the largest celebration in the world, which has been held annually for many years on Terezin Meadow in the center of Munich. Every year, festival guests eat about a million of them - festival pretzels weighing 300 g.

Just think about it: at the festival, guests eat about a million famous cheesecakes.

And there are even separate events that are dedicated specifically to him - the famous pretzel. Residents of the city of Bottrop, for example, specially gather once every three years for the Bretzel holiday. Every year, for five days in the first half of July, Speyer pretzel- carnival.

Pretzel is popular not only in Bavaria and the south, but also in northern Germany. Been held in Lübeck since the Middle Ages Kringelhöge- a unique and original “pretzel” carnival.

But you don't have to wait until Carnival to try this pretzel. Every morning visiting friends on my subsequent visits to Germany, I began with Butterbrezel- pretzel with butter, washed down with green tea without sugar. This breakfast in some German regions is like a croissant for morning coffee in France.

What could be better than hot tea and salty pretzel for breakfast?

Pretzel is also good as a snack with various sauces and meat broths. Many people drink it with milk. This product is popular in Austria and Luxembourg.

A little history and distinctive features of pretzel

So what is the famous creation of German bakers, which has long become their emblem? The “symbolic” pretzel is found everywhere on the signs of bakeries and bakeries, especially in the south of the country - both in big cities and small villages.

Pretzel (in German Brezel) is an original pretzel made from yeast dough, sprinkled with salt. In the simplest (basic) version, these are symmetrically interconnected dough strands, forming three holes.

A classic Brezel should have three holes.

The names of the famous pretzel in various dialects appeared in the Middle Ages and come from “brachium” - “hand” in Latin. Indeed, its intertwined ends are so reminiscent of arms clasping each other!

But you still need to learn how to “twist the handles” correctly and professionally, although in practice this process only takes a few seconds. It is not for nothing that in the Middle Ages not all master bakers could make and bake this pretzel, but only those who received special permission. Of course, in our time, at large bakery factories, special smart machines are “trained” in this matter, which know how to tie perfect pretzels.

Nowadays specially trained machines roll the pretzels; handmade ones can only be found in small home breweries.

Another distinctive feature of the product is that after molding it is not immediately sent to the oven, and kept for some time in a boiling soda solution. Once baked, this gives the crust its signature golden brown color and the ends of the “handles” become crispy. Because of this operation, salted pretzel is also often called Laugenbrezel(German Laugen - alkali).

In German-language sources, it was found that for these purposes, some manufacturers use the food additive E-524 - a 3% solution of caustic soda (NaOH, at a pH level of 13-14). To put it simply, what we know as caustic soda. I wish I didn't know this. But, nevertheless, it is the hydrolysis (decomposition of protein in the dough) of caustic soda during a thermal reaction that gives the characteristic dark brown tint to the crust. And it gives it a specific, recognizable taste. Manufacturers assure the safety of such processing. You just have to believe and hope that the masters know their business and keep their brand.

At home, regular baking soda is used.

At home, all housewives use sodium carbonate - ordinary baking soda. But don’t be surprised - the boiling solution into which you will dip your own rolled pretzels is also a food additive. It is labeled as E-500.

Like many culinary masterpieces that, according to legend, were created by chance, this one also has its own list of “fairy tales” that explain its origin. Depending on the geography, they differ in names and details.

So who baked the first pretzel and when?

Of course, authorship is now impossible to establish. According to some sources, the pretzel appeared as an alternative to round bread (due to the Catholic Synod’s ban on its pagan form - after all, a round flatbread resembles the sun). Some legends speak of a guilty baker, whom the Bavarian king promised not to execute, but to pardon. But only if he comes up with a new bread through which you can look at the sun three times.

The sunniest bread!

There are also legends explaining why the formed raw blanks are first dipped into an alkali solution. In one version, an absent-minded baker or his young assistant, instead of dipping in sweet syrup, inadvertently dropped the pretzel into a trough of lye diluted in it (prepared for washing kitchen utensils); in the other, the cat is to blame; it was she who pushed the pretzels prepared for baking into the same trough.

What types of pretzels are there?

The appearance and different recipes depend on the traditions and customs in each region of the country. The sizes also vary - from the smallest, a few centimeters, to large meter-long holiday products. In bakeries and pastry shops in Germany and other German-speaking countries, you can find pretzels in the shape of people, animals and a variety of objects.

A traditional pretzel has two parts:

1. Ärmchen(hands) - These are the thin ends of the bread rope.
2. Bauh(belly) or "body".

Despite the large assortment of products, two main forms can be distinguished among them. And they differ precisely by region: in Bavaria, the pretzel is always almost round, and the thickness of its “body” and “arms” varies insignificantly. Shvabsky’s “belly” is thick, and there is an obligatory incision on it, and the “handles” are very thin.

Shelf life depends on the products used in its manufacture. Some types of pretzels can be stored for a long time, while others are best eaten fresh, immediately after cooking.

There are many variations!

In addition to the traditional and most common type - salty, there are also sweet (usually festive) varieties:

• Palmbrezel- “willow” pretzel, which is baked in Swabia. It is based on sweet yeast dough.
• Martinsbrezel- a festive pretzel baked from sweet dough and decorated with multi-colored ground sugar.
• Nussbrezel- delicious pretzel made from puff pastry with nuts.
• Olgabrezeln- a festive product, baked in honor of the Queen of Württemberg.
• Puddingbrezel- both halves are filled with vanilla pudding, a favorite delicacy of the population living along the Rhine.

Puddingbrezel is an incredibly tasty delicate delicacy from the inhabitants of the Rhine.

Recipes - how to bake pretzel at home

The classic recipe is laconic and does not abound in ingredients; it only contains flour, water, malt, yeast and salt. We also already have an idea about the technology - basically this sequence is preserved in the manufacture of any variety. Although some recipes for making sweet pretzel do not mention treating the dough in a soda solution before baking. For example, it is not in the pretzel recipe Ntujahrsbrezeln, which are baked for the New Year in Swabia and Baden. And tiny Christmas pretzels are made from shortcrust pastry.

At Christmas markets you can buy shortcrust pastry treats.

Despite the fact that pretzel was once considered a Lenten religious dish, modern recipes for its preparation include milk instead of water, butter, and lard. Various flavoring additives are also often used. Any housewife, even an inexperienced one, can prepare a German pretzel on her own; there are plenty of recipes, both in cookbooks and online.

I liked this one the most, which I have already successfully tried.

“Quick” pretzel recipe for lazy housewives

Ingredients:

• 250 g wheat flour;
• 125 ml warm water;
• 50 g butter;
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast;
• 0.5 tsp baking powder (optional);
• 0.5 teaspoons of salt.

We dilute the yeast in water and stir with sugar. Sift the flour, add salt to it. Grind the butter and flour into crumbs. Add the diluted yeast and knead into a soft, elastic dough (about 10 minutes). Place it in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours. The dough should double in volume.

The dough should rise properly.

We form approximately 8-10 balls from this amount and roll each one into a small flat cake. We first roll each flatbread into a thick short rope and then, in turn, with both hands, roll it into a long one with narrow thin ends. Then we connect both ends in the very middle (where the dough is thicker) and turn it 180 degrees in one motion. Place the workpiece on the table and press the ends of the rope to the pretzel. All. Now it's a pretzel! If, of course, it turned out to be “the crossed hands of a monk” or “the head on the crossed hands of the poor baker’s wife” - that’s what the legends say. And if it doesn’t look very similar, don’t worry either, it will still be delicious!

Next, soak each dough piece for 30-40 seconds in a boiling solution of baking soda (2 teaspoons per 1 liter), after floating, carefully remove, dry, sprinkle with salt (sesame, cumin) and transfer to a baking sheet covered with parchment, greased with butter oil

Bake in an oven heated to 200-220⁰C for 20 minutes.
You will remember everything better if you watch the cooking process in this video:

Bavarian pretzel

Real Bavarian pretzels are prepared on a dough that needs to sit for at least 6 hours. Its ingredients: 120 g flour, 5 g fresh yeast, 85 ml water and a pinch of salt.

For the test:

• 250 g flour;
• 10 g fresh yeast;
• 25 g butter;
• 50 ml milk + 50 ml water;
• egg for brushing;
• 1.5 tsp Sahara;
• 1 tsp salt;
• salt, sesame or cumin for sprinkling before baking.

The peculiarity of this recipe is that before sending it to the oven, the dough is not “cooked”, as usual, in a soda solution (or cooked, but simply in boiling water). Instead, the shaped pretzels are brushed with egg and salt and left in the air for about an hour. And before baking, grease again. Then sprinkle with sesame seeds or coarse salt. You can bake them a little less - 12-15 minutes.

Bavarian pretzels need to be sprinkled with sesame seeds and coarse salt.

Pretzels according to this recipe come out with the same golden brown crust, only a little lighter.

Where to try in Germany

For Germans, pretzel is the same as pizza for Italians or croissants for the French, so you can buy and taste this delicious pretzel almost everywhere. But if just going to a bakery or pub near your house doesn’t suit you today, then you can brighten up the evening with friends on the cozy terrace of one of the many Biergarten. There, beer and sausages will be served with pretzels for every taste. There are biergartens in Munich, and in Berlin, and everywhere in Germany.

Berlin

A little history:

According to an old legend, the pretzel was invented by a baker, who was commissioned by the Bavarian king to bake a bun through which you can see the sun 3 times.
Bretzel, from the beginning of the 14th century. to this day, it is the emblem of bakers in Germany and is very often depicted on the signs of bakeries, bakeries and companies engaged in the production of bread, muffins and a variety of bakery products.
In the Middle Ages, the making of pretzels was strictly regulated in time or even allowed only to a narrowly limited circle of people.
The composition of pretzels usually includes: wheat flour, malt, yeast and water. Before baking, the pretzels are dipped in a solution of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) for a few seconds, which gives them their typical brown color when baked, and then sprinkled with coarse salt.

In Bavaria, pretzel is one of the traditional beer snacks at folk festivals (German: Volksfest), such as Oktoberfest. In the Easter tradition of Luxembourg there is the holiday Bretzelsonndeg (Luxemb. Bretzelsonndeg, Bratzelsonndeg - literally “Bretzel Sunday”). On the fourth Sunday of Lent, boys give girls sweet pretzels. If the girls reciprocate their feelings, the boys get their chocolate eggs back on Easter Sunday. During leap years, the order is reversed: girls give pretzels, boys give eggs. Even married Luxembourgers follow this tradition. In the United States, the pretzel incident that occurred with American President George W. Bush became famous.

Bretzel (German: Brezel), also “bretze”, “brets”, “bretsl”, in Bavaria/Austria “bretzn”, in Swabia also “bretzet” or “bretzg/bretzga” (singular/plural), in Luxembourg, “pretzel” is a pretzel, widespread in southern Germany, with a diameter of about 10-15 cm.
Source Wikipedia.

INGREDIENTS:

• warm water (about 40 degrees) 200 gr.
• sugar 1 tbsp. l.
• dry yeast 7 gr.
• flour 300 gr.
• salt 1 tbsp.
• olive oil 2 tbsp.
• baking soda 30 gr.
• yolk 1 pc. (for lubrication, exclude when fasting)
• coarse sea salt 20 gr.
• boiling water 1l.

PREPARATION:

Mix sugar with yeast and pour 200 g. warm (!), but not hot water (about 40 degrees, it’s hard), this will speed up the work of the yeast, but if the water is cold, the work time of the yeast will only increase, but this does not mean that nothing will come of it, so be bold.

Let the yeast disperse for about 10 minutes. Then add 100 grams of flour and 1 tablespoon of salt, mix thoroughly. Add the remaining flour again as needed, if you feel that the dough is too tight, stop adding flour. The dough should be a little sticky.
Knead for 10 minutes with your hands. Afterwards, grease the dough with oil, cover with a towel and place in a warm place for about an hour.

The dough should double in size and become more fluffy and elastic (press with your finger and it will spring back slightly).

Then, grease the baking sheet with oil or cover it with parchment, divide the dough into 8 parts, roll each bun into a sausage and make a pretzel out of it.

Pretzel is nothing other than the popular German pretzel Brezel. It is prepared quite interestingly and the legend of its origin is no less interesting.

Classic pretzels have three holes, which, as legend has it, arose due to the fact that one day the king ordered the baker to bake a bun through which he would see the sun 3 times.

Also, the pretzel is always briefly boiled in a soda solution before baking, this gives it an appetizing brown crust. According to one legend, this method originated with an absent-minded baker's assistant who mistakenly put pretzels in an alkaline dishwashing solution instead of sugar syrup. This is how sometimes absent-mindedness becomes the reason for culinary masterpieces, as in the story with the pie :).

This pretzel recipe was sent by our reader Victoria Shcherbakova:

In ordinary life, we eat whole grain, yeast-free bread. But sometimes, especially around the holidays, it's nice to treat yourself to these pretzels. I don’t like long and complicated recipes, so this recipe is suitable for all busy, lazy people like me, and young mothers like me :).

The pretzels come out unsweetened with a crispy crust and soft crumb and go well with butter, cheese, and, which I sent to the last New Year's competition.

Pretzel – German pretzel

Compound:

• 500 g flour
• 350 ml milk
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 50 g butter or margarine
• 2-3 tbsp. spoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1.5 liters of water
• 2 tbsp. spoons of soda
• sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coarse salt, pumpkin seeds - for sprinkling

How to cook Pretzel - recipe:

And enjoy!

Pretzels

Bon appetit!

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Julia author of the recipe

Pretzel is a classic Bavarian pastry, a salty pretzel served with beer. However, not necessarily Bavarian, not necessarily salty and not necessarily with beer - pretzels are baked all over Europe, and thanks to immigrants they have gained popularity in the States, and of course, there are countless recipes for pretzels: large and small, salty and sweet, with fillings and without. Only the shape of the pretzel remains unchanged.

The secret of pretzel is in its texture: a firm crust, a fluffy and pliable crumb and thin, crispy “handles”. Pretzels can be baked every week, using different toppings and fillings each time, and not be repeated for a long time, but the basis should still be a reliable recipe, such as this one. It has been tested for years, and your pretzels will be a treat, no worse than those you can try in one of the old Munich beer halls.

Homemade pretzels

Pour sugar into 200 g of warm water, add yeast and leave for 10-15 minutes in a warm place. When the surface foams slightly - a sure sign that the yeast has awakened from sleep - add melted butter, salt and flour, and knead an elastic dough that will not stick to your hands (the consistency of the dough can always be changed by adding a little water if it turns out too dry , and a little flour if it continues to stick even after kneading).

Roll the dough into a tight ball, place in a bowl, cover with a towel and leave in a warm place for 40-60 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Knock out all the air from the dough, divide into 8 equal parts and roll each into a rope about 40-50 cm long, the middle of which is slightly thicker than its ends. Overlap the ends of the rope, leaving about 5-7 cm on each side, and stick them to the central part so that you have 3 holes of approximately the same area - or watch the video at the end of the recipe to clearly see how the professionals do it.

Place the pretzels on a baking sheet so that they do not touch each other and leave in a warm place for another 40-60 minutes, as a result of which they should increase noticeably. Now put the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 1 hour without covering it - this will make the pretzels easier to handle, and their surface will be slightly airy, which will ultimately give a denser, crispier crust.

Add 500 ml. water to a boil, dissolve baking soda in it and lower the pretzels into this water one at a time for a few seconds, catching them with a slotted spoon and placing them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Score the thick part of each pretzel with a sharp knife or razor, as you would when baking bread, and sprinkle with sea salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried herbs, or other seasonings of your choice.

Bake the pretzels in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes, depending on how dark you want your dream pretzel to be. Then you can do whatever you want with them - for example, eat them right away with or without beer, or let them cool a little, cut them lengthwise, brush them with butter, add cheese and ham and eat them like a sandwich.

Well, in conclusion, I invite you to see how German pretzels are made with an Italian accent at a street market in the city of Verona: