Laugenbrezel
Soft German pretzels: a firm butter dough twisted, dipped in an alkaline bath and baked dark, with coarse salt on the belly.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 18 min
- Rest
- 1 hr 40 min
- Total
- 2 hr 38 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Laugenbrezeln are the dark, glossy, salt-flecked pretzels of southern Germany. A firm yeast dough with a little butter is shaped into the loop, left to dry so the skin sets, dipped in an alkaline bath and baked hot. Bakeries use food-grade lye. This version uses baking soda that has been baked on a tray for an hour to make it more alkaline, then dissolved in water: safe to handle at home and good for most of the colour and a fair share of the flavour. Slash the fat belly, scatter coarse salt and bake until mahogany. Eat with butter, with Weisswurst and sweet mustard, or split and buttered for a Butterbrezel.
What you'll need
9 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Ingredients
- Dough
- Bath
- Topping
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Wheat flour, strong bread flour500 g
- Yeast, instant dried7 g
Bath
- Baking soda, baked on a foil-lined tray at 120°C for 1 hour60 g
- Water1½ l
Topping
- Salt, coarse flakes or pretzel salt, to top15 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix flour, yeast, sugar and salt, add water and butter and knead 8 to 10 minutes into a firm, smooth dough. It should feel tighter than bread dough. Cover and rise 45 minutes until not quite doubled.
55 min
Step 2
Divide into 8 pieces of about 100 g. Roll each into a rope 60 cm long, fat in the middle and tapering to the ends. Form a U, cross the ends twice, fold them down onto the belly and press to stick.
20 min
Tip: If the dough fights you, let the ropes rest 5 minutes and roll again.
Step 3
Put the shaped pretzels on a lined tray and leave uncovered in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour so the surface dries and firms. This is what lets them survive the bath.
50 min
Step 4
Heat the oven to 220°C. Bring the bath water to a simmer in a wide pan and stir in the baked soda off the heat; it foams. Lower each pretzel in with a slotted spoon for 30 seconds, lift, drain and return to the tray.
10 min220°C
Watch: Baked soda is caustic enough to irritate skin. Use a spoon, not fingers, and rinse any splashes.
Step 5
Slash the belly of each pretzel once with a razor or sharp knife, scatter with coarse salt and bake 15 to 18 minutes until deep mahogany. Cool on a rack 10 minutes before eating.
18 min220°C
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 283 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 50.9 g
- Fat
- 4.4 g
- Saturated fat
- 2.1 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
- Sugar
- 1.5 g
- Sodium
- 1661 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Vegetarian
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Baked baking soda bath → Food-grade lye at 4 percent, with gloves and goggles
The real thing, for those who know how to handle it. Follow the supplier's safety sheet.
Tips
- Baking the soda first is not fussiness. It converts some of it to sodium carbonate, which is more alkaline and gives a darker, more pretzel-like crust.
- They stale by evening. Freeze any you will not eat the same day and refresh in a hot oven for 5 minutes.
- Brush the salt off a leftover pretzel and use it for Brezenknödel, the Bavarian pretzel dumpling.
History & culture
Bavaria and Swabia eat them daily, from every bakery, with morning coffee and at the beer garden with Obatzda. Oktoberfest gets through hundreds of thousands. Bakers hand them to children to stop them crying. Swabian pretzels have thin crunchy arms and a fat soft belly; Bavarian ones are even all round. Each side considers the other mistaken.
Twisted dough rings as monastery bread go back to the early Middle Ages, and the pretzel hangs on bakers' guild signs from the 12th century. A Munich baker's accident with cleaning lye in 1839 is the legend for the Laugen bath; a good story with no documents behind it. Lye-dipping and pretzel salt have been standard since the 19th century.
Modern adaptation — Bakeries dip in 3 to 4 percent sodium hydroxide. The baked-soda bath here is the safe home substitute; the crust is a little less deep in colour and flavour than a real Laugenbrezel.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Laugenbrezel take?
2 hr 38 min all in — 40 min prep, 18 min cook, 1 hr 40 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 8 pretzels. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian.
9 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Baking tray, Oven, Saucepan, Kitchen scale, Timer.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 10 g.
How much sugar?
1 tsp of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Baked baking soda bath → Food-grade lye at 4 percent, with gloves and goggles. The real thing, for those who know how to handle it. Follow the supplier's safety sheet.
What should I watch for?
Baked soda is caustic enough to irritate skin. Use a spoon, not fingers, and rinse any splashes.
Any tips from this recipe?
Baking the soda first is not fussiness. It converts some of it to sodium carbonate, which is more alkaline and gives a darker, more pretzel-like crust. They stale by evening. Freeze any you will not eat the same day and refresh in a hot oven for 5 minutes. Brush the salt off a leftover pretzel and use it for Brezenknödel, the Bavarian pretzel dumpling.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Brush the salt off a leftover pretzel and use it for Brezenknödel, the Bavarian pretzel dumpling.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
