The Obwarzanek Krakowski is a ring-shaped, braided bread that is boiled and sprinkled with salt and sesame or poppy seeds before being baked.
It has a white, slightly sweet, moist, and chewy crumb beneath a crispy golden crust.
Traditionally sold from street carts, it is a popular snack in the city of Krakow, where it holds the status of a regional food with protected geographical indication.
The Polish noun obwarzanek, or obarzanek, derives from the verb obwarzać, meaning “to parboil,” which refers to the characteristic technique of boiling the dough before baking. The adjective krakowski denotes anything from or related to the city of Krakow.
It is reminiscent of bagels, which were indeed brought to the United States by Polish Jewish immigrants.
I tried a version without gluten using rice flour, which you can substitute with wheat flour for the traditional version.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 50 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 8 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Polish
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups rice flour
- 2 tbsps sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsps nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsps butter
- 1 cup water
- to taste sesame (or poppy seeds)
Steps
Prepare the dough by combining the ingredients.
The dough, once properly kneaded, is set aside for the first rise, which can last from a few minutes in the summer to an hour in the winter.
Divide into 8 portions, which are rolled out and cut into strips.
Twist two or three strips into a spiral and then form a ring by twisting them around your hand and pressing it against the table.
Let rise for 20 minutes.
Boil in water at a temperature of at least 194°F until it rises to the surface. The water can be sweetened with very small amounts of honey.
Decorate with sesame or poppy seeds and bake in the oven at 392°F for 15 minutes.
Storage:
Once cooled, an obwarzanek can be placed in a package. If packaged before it has cooled, it quickly loses its crispness and becomes chewy.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Is it a bagel?
It is closely related, but distinct from the bagel, which contains barley malt or corn syrup, and from the bublik, which is a single ring, not braided, and usually has a drier, denser, and “chewier” texture than bagels, and from the pretzel, which is not boiled and has a completely different shape.
