Bavarian Soft Pretzels
Chewy, deep-mahogany Bavarian pretzels with a distinct alkaline tang, from a food-grade lye or baking soda bath. Best eaten warm within the hour, with mustard and butter.
Photograph credit: Bavarian Pretzels by Coconut-Cove · CC0 1.0 · Flickr
The alkaline bath raises the surface pH, dramatically accelerating the Maillard reaction so the crust turns deep brown in minutes and develops the distinctive pretzel flavour. Baked baking soda is more alkaline than raw and gets much closer to true lye without the handling risk.
What People Ask
How long does Bavarian Soft Pretzels take to make?
40 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes to 20 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour 30 minutes of proving, so allow 2 hours 25 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Photograph credit: Bavarian Pretzel Factory by Greenville, SC Daily Photo · CC0 1.0 · Flickr
How to Make Bavarian Soft Pretzels
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Set the soda baking first, since it runs while you make and prove the dough: spread the bicarbonate of soda on a foil-lined tray and bake at 120°C / 250°F for 1 hour. This converts it to sodium carbonate, which is far more alkaline. Cool and store carefully.
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Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, add the warm water, and knead for 6 minutes. Add the butter and knead 6 minutes more until smooth and firm.
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Prove, covered, for 1 hour until doubled.
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Divide into eight pieces. Roll each into a 60 cm rope, thick in the middle and tapering at the ends.
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Form a U, cross the ends over each other twice, then fold them down onto the base of the U and press to seal.
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Set the shaped pretzels on lined trays and refrigerate uncovered for 30 minutes — a chilled skin holds its shape in the bath.
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Bring the water to a simmer in a wide pan and carefully whisk in the baked soda. Wear gloves.
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Lower each pretzel in for 30 seconds, turning once, then lift out with a slotted spoon and return to the tray.
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Brush lightly with egg yolk wash, sprinkle generously with coarse salt, and slash the thick part of the base with a blade.
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Bake at 220°C / 430°F for 13 to 16 minutes until deep mahogany. Cool 10 minutes and serve warm.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Getting Right
- Baked bicarbonate of soda is a genuine upgrade over the raw kind and gets you most of the way to lye.
- If using food-grade lye, use a 3% solution, wear gloves and eye protection, and never use aluminium.
- Pretzels stale fast by design. Eat them the day they are baked.
Pairs Well With
A cold wheat beer, obviously · Serve with obatzda, sweet mustard and butter · Follow with schnitzel
Storage
Best within hours. Keeps 1 day in a paper bag; refresh at 180°C / 355°F for 4 minutes. Freezes 1 month.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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