Laugen bites are small soft rolls with a classic crunchy brown crust, enriched with various seeds. During our trip to Germany at Carnival, we ate them practically every day. They are known and sold in bakeries as ‘Laugenkastanien’, or ‘Laugen chestnuts’, because their appearance, with the typical brown surface and white side, resembles that of chestnuts.
They are very easy to prepare. You start with a fairly classic leavened dough, from which you form little sausages. Before baking in the oven, these sausages are simmered in water and baking soda for about 1 minute, then rolled in the chosen seeds and finally cut into bites. That’s it! The crunchy brown part is the one that came into contact with the baking soda water, the light part did not. But to see this magic, you will have to wait until almost the end of baking in the oven. Only then does the crust become darker, giving the bites the typical appearance of Laugen rolls!
If you like homemade bread, try these recipes of mine too:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: approx. 60 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: German
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup water (warm)
- 3 tablespoons milk (warm)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 1/2 tablespoons butter (soft)
- 8 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- as needed flaxseeds
- as needed sunflower seeds
- as needed sesame seeds
Steps
To prepare the Laugen bites, place the all-purpose flour, cake flour, dry yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix. Add the warm water and milk and start the mixer. After a few moments, also add the salt. Knead until a smooth dough is obtained.
At this point, add the soft butter in cubes, one cube at a time. Knead everything until the dough is smooth and elastic, and it pulls away from the sides and bottom of the bowl, wrapping around the hook.
Form a ball with the dough, place it back in the bowl, and let it rise, covered, in a warm place until doubled, which will take about 2.5-3 hours.
When the dough has doubled in volume, divide it into 6 equal pieces and form a sausage (about 3/4 inch in diameter) with each piece of dough. Place the sausages on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them rest, covered, in a warm place, for another 30 minutes or so.
Shortly before the time is up, preheat the oven to 355 degrees Fahrenheit (static) and bring the water together with the baking soda to a boil in a large pot. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a minimum.
On a piece of parchment paper, prepare a bed of flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, or sesame seeds.
Dip 2 dough sausages in the boiling water with the baking soda and let simmer for 1 minute, turning halfway through cooking.
Remove them from the water with the help of two slotted spoons, let them drain for a few moments, then place them on the prepared seed base on the parchment paper. Roll the sausages so that they are covered with seeds on the entire surface, then cut them into pieces about 1-1.25 inches wide and place them on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Proceed the same way with the remaining dough, alternating the seeds to roll it in as desired or also using a seed mix.
When all the Laugen bites are ready on the tray, bake them at 355 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes, until they take on their typical shiny brown color on the surface.
Remove from the oven and enjoy your Laugen bites hot or even cold.
If you want, you can easily freeze them in food bags and defrost them when needed.
Tips
These Laugen bites can be flavored with various seeds, in fact, in addition to flax, sesame, and sunflower seeds, they are also excellent with pumpkin seeds or poppy seeds.
