Steps for Homemade German Pretzel Recipe

• PHASE 1 – WATER INTO THE FLOUR

  This is what we’ll call this first step of the recipe. If you have a stand mixer read here.

  So take the stand mixer and pour the lukewarm water into its bowl and dissolve the yeast in it, in my case dry yeast. Fresh yeast is also fine, respecting the dose indicated in the ingredient list. Then add the all-purpose flour all at once. I chose a flour with great leavening strength. You can find the power indications on the flour package. Let it rest like this, without covering or mixing, for about 15 minutes. After this time, start the stand mixer at the lowest power with the bread-kneading hook. The hook in a few words. Activate and work for about 7 minutes. I recommend, you will see that the dough will start to detach itself from the walls of the bowl and will become nice and stiff. It’s time to add the dose of salt and the butter cubes at room temperature. One at a time until fully absorbed. Once the butter is finished, turn off the stand mixer, transfer the mixture to a lightly floured wooden work surface, and shape the dough to create a nice ball. Cover with a bowl, in my case, I used a glass one. Leave it covered to rest for about 15 minutes.

  If you choose to knead by hand, read here.

  Take a nice wide bowl and pour the lukewarm water into it, dissolve the yeast in it. In my case dry yeast, but fresh yeast is also fine with the dose indicated in the ingredient list. Then pour the type 1 flour into the bowl. I chose soft wheat flour type 1 with great leavening strength. You can find the power indications on the flour package itself. Let it rest for about 15 minutes. After this time, start working first with your hands in the bowl and then directly on the lightly floured wooden board. Now add the salt and butter cubes, one at a time until fully absorbed. You should get a hard and slightly sticky ball of dough. I recommend not adding flour, grease your hands with butter or seed oil if necessary. Then leave the dough on the board, cover with the bowl, and let it rest for another 15 minutes.

  From here on, the procedure is the same for everyone, because we will no longer need the stand mixer, so you can wash it and put it away. We will only need the wooden board with seed oil or butter to proceed.

  

• It’s time for the FOLDS! And the first Long Rise!

  Yes friends, I am not an expert in folds as you can easily guess from the video recipe above, but it’s necessary, we cannot skip this step. So with slightly greased hands, let’s make some folds in our dough. It’s easier to see in the video than to explain it in writing. Fold the dough over itself three or four times then form a ball again, place it in the glass bowl, cover with a dishcloth and place it to rest in the oven turned off but with the light on for two hours. In the majority of recipes I read, it was written an hour, I took my time. I used this time to: wash the bowl and tidy up the stand mixer, walk the dog, fold the laundry, and organize the house. So if you’re not in a hurry and want to work much better with the dough in the next steps, wait two hours like I did!

  After this time, we will have a well-risen dough, watch the video to understand, I love leavened products, and this pretzel recipe gave me great satisfaction. Place the dough again on the lightly greased or buttered wooden board. Then take a kitchen scale and a dough scraper. Divide the dough into small portions of about 100 grams each. Don’t worry if some balls are 90 and others 110 grams, they are perfectly fine.

  SECOND SHORT RISE!

  Transform the balls into small and fat sausages of about 2 to 2.5 inches in length. Do not add flour during this step, you will harden our dough too much. In the video, you can see well how I created the sausages. Then place them on one or more wooden surfaces and cover with dishcloths. It is not necessary that they are moistened, just covering them will prevent them from being in direct contact with the air. Wait about 20 – 30 minutes.

  After this time, we will stretch our sausages. We need to reach a length of about 23.5 inches. Do you know when you prepare gnocchi and stretch the dough into a snake? Here, we must do the same thing but leave a more “belly” in the center, which will then be the base of our pretzel. This step is also shown very well in the video of the homemade German bread recipe. Take the baking sheets and cover the bottom with parchment paper. I chose the simpler sheets to handle with greased hands.

  It’s finally time to create our Pretzels!!! Plus third rise!

  From our snakes, create the Pretzels with two simple steps. Take the two ends and cross them, cross again, and fold towards you making the two ends adhere to the belly we left on each snake. I also recommend watching this step well in the video, it is easier to show you than to explain it in words! Place all the pretzels on the baking sheets and let rise on the kitchen counter or table, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.

  What to do in the meantime? Prepare the refrigerator to accommodate our pretzels for the fourth and final rise needed for this recipe! We’re almost there, it’s almost done, hang in there!!!

  

• Fourth and Final Rise in the Refrigerator for Homemade German Pretzels Recipe!

  Yes, we will need a lot of space in the fridge, I learned at my own expense that this step is as fundamental as all the others for the successful result of this Trentino bread recipe. If you don’t have enough space, ring the neighbor’s door, call your mother, your grandmother, or a friend who has some space in the refrigerator! Better the neighbor/or because it’s quicker and you won’t have to take the pretzels around half the city. Then place the baking sheets with the pretzels in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes, without covering. We are almost there, the countdown has started that will take us straight to the bath for the bow-shaped salty bread!

  Almost at the end of this fourth and final rise turn on the oven. In my case, I chose the static mode (since we are dealing with a leavened product) and brought it to 410°F. The correct temperature for German pretzels baking ranges from 392°F to 428°F. I settled in the middle. Let’s now focus on the last step.

  Prepare the water for the pretzel bath. So take a pot with high sides, pour 4 liters of water and 4 heaping tablespoons of baking soda into it. Bring to a boil. Take one baking sheet at a time from the refrigerator. In my case, there were two Pretzels for each baking sheet. Cut the parchment paper with scissors. Now you have a pretzel positioned in the center of each square. With a non-serrated knife cut the belly of each single pretzel, the classic cut that characterizes them. Do not apply too much pressure and do not break it.

  Take a slotted spoon and let’s begin this last and crucial step before baking. Again, I recommend watching the video recipe of the pretzels very carefully. Few and simple gestures but very important. We must flip one pretzel at a time into the boiling water. 20 seconds per side, drain them, and place them back on the parchment paper. Sprinkle with coarse salt, as in my case, or with salt flakes. Bake each single baking sheet, one at a time and placed in the middle of the oven, for about 20 to a maximum of 22 minutes. You will see the surface of the pretzels puff up first and then brown. Remove from the oven and place the pretzels on a cooling rack, removing the parchment paper.

  Proceed this way with each single baking sheet, taking it from the fridge, cutting the belly, bathing, sprinkling with salt, and into the oven. Don’t you think they are gorgeous? And the scent in your kitchen? Eaten warm and super crunchy are out of this world! My word and my colleague Samantha who helped me with the final video and the construction of the photo set of the Homemade German Pretzel Recipe! I just have to remind you that I’m waiting for you here in my kitchen with many other easy, quick, economical, and delicious recipes! I wish you bon appétit!!!