🥨 Brezel (German pretzel)
The Brezel is the soft German pretzel: a knotted yeast-dough bread with a shiny, deep-brown crust, coarse salt on top and a soft, chewy crumb inside. The characteristic crust comes from dipping the dough in an alkaline bath before baking. It is eaten fresh at breakfast or as a snack, often split and spread with butter.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g plain flour
- 280 ml lukewarm water
- 7 g dried yeast
- 30 g soft butter
- 10 g salt, plus coarse salt for topping
- For the bath: 1 litre water and 3 tbsp baking soda
Method
- Mix the flour, yeast, salt, butter and water and knead for 10 minutes into a smooth, firm dough. Let it rise for 1 hour.
- Divide into 8 pieces, roll each into a 60 cm rope, thicker in the middle, and twist into a pretzel shape.
- Rest uncovered for 20 minutes, then chill for 15 minutes so the surface dries a little.
- Bring the water and baking soda to a simmer and dip each pretzel for 30 seconds; drain on a lined tray.
- Sprinkle with coarse salt, cut a slit in the thick part and bake at 220 °C for 15–18 minutes until deep brown.
How to make it lighter
- A pretzel is mostly carbohydrate — one is a snack, and pairing it with a protein-rich food keeps you full longer.
- Spread butter thinly or skip it: 10 g of butter adds about 75 kcal.
- Brush off some of the coarse salt if watching salt intake.
History
The pretzel shape is usually linked to monasteries in medieval Europe, and the story goes that it represents arms crossed in prayer; it appears as a bakers' guild emblem in southern Germany from the Middle Ages on. Bavaria and Swabia each have their own style — Swabian pretzels have thin arms and a fat “belly”. Today the Brezel is an everyday bakery staple throughout southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →