Bier, Bratwurst and Brezeln – the perfect combination

„Back einen Kuchen lieber Freund, durch den die Sonne dreimal scheint, dann wirst du nicht gehenkt, dein Leben sei dir frei geschenkt.“

“Bake a cake, dear friend, through which the sun shines thrice, and you will not be hung, your life is yet young”

The baker went to work and according to local legend, made the first Brezel. There are similar stories from Unterelsass (Alsace) and Altenried in Germany.


Though there are differing stories about the provenance of the Brezel, one thing remains the same. Particularly in Southern Germany, it is as present as the croissant in France, the scone in Scotland, the muffin in America. Every baker offers Brezel – most often Laugenbrezel – in which the dough is first dunked in a lye solution before baking. Sometimes you can find sweet brezeln, covered with sugar or almonds. 


The first step is the making of the dough, basically flour, yeast, sugar  then depending on the recipe, sometimes butter, sometimes milk, sometimes both. 

In the baking soda/water solution

Dried off, ready to go into oven

Second batch, slightly smaller

Bite sized Brezeln Soft Bretzel Recipe Serves: 36 | Prep time: minutes Ingredients 1 tbsp Yeast 1 tbsp Sugar 2 tbsp softened butter or softened margarine < 1 cup warm (115-+ deg F) water 2 3/4 cups flour Coarse Salt to sprinkle on Pretzels before baking  5 tsp baking soda mixed in 4 cups water in a non-aluminum saucepan.  1 large slotted spoon to “go fishing”  Greased cookie sheet   Directions Preheat oven to 475 F Put yeast, sugar, salt, butter/marg, water and ONE CUP of the flour into a medium mixing bowl and pour in the water. Stir till all smooth, and yeast starts to bubble. At this point add the rest of the flour, stir till it is mixed in. When mixture is too stiff to stir with a spoon, begin kneading. Knead dough till smooth and till it no longer sticks to the bowl and your hands Allow dough to rise to about double its height. EDIT: I used instant yeast so just bunged it all in the food processor. While dough is rising, grease the cookie sheet. and prepare the baking soda-water mixture and bring to a boil on stove. When dough is risen enough, punch down, knead for a minute or so, then divide and roll the 6-inch sticks with your hands, to about 1/2 inch in diameter, or 12-15-inch long rolls to make into the pretzel shape. Allow sticks or pretzels to sit for about 1-2 mins.  Place them into boiling water-baking soda mixture one or two at a time. Let the pretzels boil for 1 minute 10 seconds, then flip them over with the slotted spoon and boil on the other side for 1 minute and 10 seconds. This boiling step gives them a firm skin and adds some flavour. Not boiling long enough leaves them too soft and allows them to rise too much. Boiling too long makes them tough. Fish them out of the water, let them drip off and place them on the greased cookie sheet.  When all the pretzels or sticks are done, sprinkle the coarse salt on them. Bake for 12-15 minutes or till sticks or pretzels are golden brown. You can double the recipe in proportion. ENJOY!!