Swabian Pretzels (Schwäbische Brezeln)
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Rest/Chill Time 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
The Swabian pretzel is a soft, golden-brown pretzel with a distinctive fat middle and thin, crispy arms. Enjoy it with butter, cheese, or cold cuts—perfect as a snack, for lunch, or alongside soup or beer.
Ingredients
Servings: 9
- 500 gram all purpose flour
- 10 gram dry yeast or 20g fresh yeast
- 10 gram salt
- 25 gram butter
- 15 gram malt syrup or granulated sugar
- 135 gram milk
- 130 gram cold water use ice water if possible
Lye Bath & Topping
- 4 cups cold water
- 2 tbsp food-grade lye
- Pretzel salt as needed
Instructions
- Add flour, yeast, salt butter, malt syrup, milk and water in mixing bowl and mix for 15 minutes in stand mixer. The dough needs to be very smooth.
- Once mixed, take the dough out and let rest for about 20 minutes on a wooden board or on the counter. Make sure to cover it with a kitchen towel.
- Divide dough in 9 pieces, each weighing about 90g.
- Roll them into smooth balls. Cover them with a kitchen towel again and let rest for 20 minutes on counter.
- Roll them into 12 inch (approx) long rope-like shape. Again cover with towel an let rest 15 minutes on counter.
- Leave about 3-4 inches in the middle of the rope untouched and roll out each side to a thin string. Total length about 24 inches.
- Twist the ends around each other twice, to form a circle at the top. Secure the ends, one on each side, on the top.
- Take a large cutting board and cover it with a kitchen towel. You might need two of them. Lay the shaped pretzels on it. Once all pretzels are shaped, cover with a kitchen towel an let them rest for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, take the top kitchen towel off the pretzels and store them in the fridge for at least 1 hour. It is ok if you leave them in there longer, even overnight.
- Prepare lye bath. 4 cups of cold water. Add the water to a glass or plastic container. (Make sure it can store lye). Mix two tablespoons of food-grade lye until it is fully dissolved. Make sure you mix the lye into the water, not the other way around!
- After 1 hour take the pretzels out of the fridge. Wear gloves and eye protection, lye will cause harm to your skin.
- Pre-heat oven to 450°F and either use a pizza stone if you have one. If not use a sheet pan.
- Take each pretzel, they should be fairly stiff now and carefully put them into the lye bath. Make sure they are totally submerged for at least 10 seconds. Take them out and lay them on a parchment paper.
- Once all of the pretzel are done, use pretzel salt and sprinkle it over the big belly of the pretzel. Take a lame and score the big part at least 1 inch deep.
- Once the oven has reach it's temperature bake the pretzels for 10 minutes.
- Let them cool on a cooling rack.
- In Germany we eat them still slightly warm with butter on it. Enjoy!