Evelyns German Pretzel Recipes

GERMAN PRETZELS (LAUGENBREZELN)

Steps:

• Add the flour to a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and sugar and give everything a good stir.
• Sprinkle the instant yeast on top, then give it another stir.
• Add the butter. Then slowly pour in the warm milk and water a little bit at a time while kneading the dough with the spiral dough hooks of your electric mixer. Alternatively, you can use your hands - you just might have to knead a bit longer.
• Keep kneading until you have an elastic-feeling dough that forms a ball and doesn't stick to the side of the bowl anymore. If your dough is too dry, add a little bit more water. On the other hand, if it is too sticky, add a little bit more flour.
• Form a nice ball with your hands and cover the bowl with the dough inside with a dishtowel or a lid. Place it in a warm spot without draft for an hour to allow the dough to rise.
• Once the hour is over and the dough has noticeably increased in size, sprinkle a little bit of flour onto your countertop. Knead the dough briefly with your hands, then cut or rip it into eight equal pieces.
• Using your hands, roll out these pieces into at least 26 inch long rolls. Make sure that the two ends are thinner than the middle to give the pretzels their distinct shape. If it is difficult to roll the dough/make it longer, lightly wet your hands with water - a little bit (but not too much!) of moisture can really help.
• Once you have rolled the dough pieces into long "sausages" with tapered ends, give them their unique pretzel shape. Just remember to follow "loop, loop, twist, press". If you need help, see the photo above for reference.
• Place the pretzels on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and let them rest for another 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, preheat your oven to 390 degrees Fahrenheit and bring approximately 4 cups of water to a boil in a large, flat pot.
• Once the 15 minutes are up and the water is boiling, add the baking soda, give it a stir with a spoon and remove the pot from heat.
• With a flipper or straining spoon, lower each pretzel into the baking soda mixture and allow for a 30-second bath. Make sure the whole pretzel is covered in liquid. If it isn't you, can flip the pretzel over after 15 seconds or baste the top of the pretzel with water in the pot. With a straining spoon, carefully remove the pretzel and allow excess water to drip off.
• Place the pretzel back on the parchment paper and sprinkle it with coarse salt, if desired. Some people like lots of salt, others like just a little bit - so this is really up to personal preference. Repeat these steps until all pretzels had their bath and are sprinkled with salt.
• Bake the pretzels in the middle rack of your oven for approximately 20 minutes until they are nicely brown in color. If your pretzels don't fit onto one baking sheet (and they probably won't), we'd recommend baking the pretzels in two rounds so that they get the heat they need (having two baking sheets in the oven can block the heat if you are using top and bottom heat).
• Remove the pretzels from the oven and let them sit for around 5-10 minutes. They can be enjoyed warm or cold - and taste delicious with a little bit of butter.

EVELYN'S GERMAN PRETZEL RECIPE

Steps:

• Mix dry ingredients together. Add liquid ingredients and mix on medium speed in Kitchen Aid Mixer until a ball forms.
• Let dough rise until double in size -- about one hour.
• Form into pretzel shapes, sticks or rolls.
• To shape pretzels, roll dough (about 2 ounces) into an 18 inch rope (leave the middle a little fatter than the ends), form into a circle with about a 2 inch tail on each end, twist the cross over twice, fold in half, and press the end of the tails into the circle.
• Refrigerate pretzels for about 10 minutes, let rolls or sticks rise for 10-15 minutes.
• Dip in Lye bath for 10 seconds or boiling baking soda mixture for 30 seconds. Place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Slit with a sharp knife or razor blade. Sprinkle with pretzel salt.
• Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

GERMAN PRETZELS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, then add salt & sugar to the yeast mixture.
• Blend in the flour & knead the dough until smooth, about 7 or 8 minutes.
• Cover & let dough rise for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until double in bulk.
• Grease several cookie sheets, then punch dough down & cut it into 12 pieces.
• Slightly beat the egg & set aside.
• Roll each piece of dough into a thin rope about as round as your little finger, then twist each into pretzel shapes before placing them on a greased cookie sheet.
• Using a pastry brish, coat the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg & sprinkle with coarse salt, before allowing the pretzels to rise until almost double in bulk.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F & bake the pretzels for 10 to 15 minutes, or until browned.
• Best if eaten while stlil warm, but if allowed to cool, store in an airtight container.

PAPA DREXLER'S BAVARIAN PRETZELS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 1 1/3 cup water. Let this mixture stand until bubble begin to form, about 15 minutes. Stir in the salt and gradually stir in the remaining flour until dough can be picked up and kneaded on the counter. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes, adding more flour if needed.
• Divide the dough into 6 pieces and let them rest for a few minutes. Roll out one piece at a time into a rope about 15 inches long. Loop and twist into that cool pretzel shape. Set on a baking sheet while you roll out the remaining portions.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). Bring the remaining 3 cups of water to a boil and add the baking soda. Remove from the heat. Dip pretzels into the water bath for about 45 seconds, flipping over about halfway through. Place the soaked pretzels on a greased baking sheet. Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

DELICIOUS GERMAN PRETZELS

Steps:

• preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• mix all together till forms a ball.
• mix dough for 5 mintues.
• cut dough into 8 or more pieces.
• roll out into strips about 15 inches long.
• go ahead and twist into pretzel shapes.
• bring a pot of water to a boil.
• dunk each pretzel into the boiling water for 5 seconds.
• place on ungreased pan after dunking.
• after you have dunked each pretzel in the boiling water, brush with an egg and sprinkle with a coarse salt.
• bake for 8-10 minutes.

BAVARIAN-STYLE SOFT PRETZELS

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl (or bowl of a mixer), stir together syrup, lard or butter, yeast, 2 cups warm water and half the flour. Add kosher salt and remaining flour and stir just until mixture comes together in a shaggy mass.
• Turn out onto counter (or attach dough hook to mixer) and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and supple. Cut into 12 pieces and let rest 5 minutes.
• Roll out each piece into a rope about 22 inches long. (For traditional shape, the ends should be thin and the center fat.) Lift both ends, twist them around each other once, then bring ends back and press them on either side of fat "belly," at about 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock. Then gently spread out "shoulders" of pretzel. Transfer shaped pretzels to an ungreased baking sheet. (Alternatively, form each piece into a round or oval to make laugenbrötchen, rolls.)
• Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a deep bowl, wearing rubber or latex gloves, make a solution of 1/2 cup lye and 10 cups water (or 1 part lye to 20 parts water); pour lye carefully into water to avoid splashing. Dip each pretzel in solution, turning it over for 10 to 15 seconds, and place back on baking sheet.
• Sprinkle pretzels with salt. Bake about 15 minutes or until deep brown. Remove to a rack and serve warm.