German Pretzel Rolls Recipe

German pretzel rolls

These rolls are soft and taste just like pretzels. I always like to serve mine with my German Sauerbraten and German Spaetzle and German Apple Strudel.

Tools Needed

Parchment paper

Baking pan or pizza stone

Rectangular pan

Large boiler to boil rolls

Medium Bowl

Fork

¼ cup measuring cup

1 cup measuring cup

Kitchen Aide Mixer and Bowl

Kitchen Aide Mixer dough hook

Pastry brush

Kitchen towel (optional)

List of Ingredients to Purchase

Grocery store items (by location where I find them)

Spice / sugar/flour section

Brown sugar

Kosher or sea Salt

3 Cups Bread flour

Baking soda

Active dry yeast (not instant)

Other aisles

1 egg

Canola or vegetable oil

Recipe steps:

Ingredients needed

3 tablespoons (41grams) brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon active dry yeast (not instant)

¼ cup canola or vegetable oil

1 cup water that is about 90 degrees. It will feel neither hot nor cold to your hands.

¼ cup measuring cup

1 cup measuring cup

Small bowl

Kitchenaid mixer bowl

Fork

First place 3 tablespoons (41grams) brown sugar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast (not instant) into small bowl. Stir with a fork to mix well.

Next using the mixer bowl, mix together the ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil with the 1 cup water that is about 90 degrees. It will feel neither hot nor cold to your hands. If it is too hot or too cold, the yeast will not work correctly.

Now add the yeast mixture to the oil and water in the mixer bowl. Stir together well. Then let the oil, water, and yeast mixture sit for about 5 minutes.

Add the flour.

Ingredients needed

3 cups (390g) bread flour

Medium bowl

Kitchenaide mixer and bowl

Dough hook

Measure out 3 cups of bread flour into a medium bowl. Be sure to level the cup of flour so that you have the right amount of flour. To level the flour, fill the 1 cup measuring cup with flour to overflowing. Take a knife and using the flat side of the knife, scrape off any flour that is above the cup. You will now have 1 cup of flour. Use a piece of parchment paper to catch the excess flour. Repeat the above process to get the other cups of flour. When you are done, carefully fold over and crease the parchment paper in the middle and pour the excess flour back into your flour container.

Another easy way to get the correct amount of flour is to just weigh the flour with a scale. Place the flour into a medium bowl. Gradually add the flour into the mixer bowl with the yeast mixture. Mix with the dough hook for about 6 minutes until the dough is mixed together well and the dough does no stick to your hands when touched. If it is still very sticky after mixing with the dough hook, add a tablespoon of flour at a time to the mixture and mix again for a couple of minutes with the dough hook until it is not sticky when you touch it.

Shape rolls.

Ingredients needed

dough mixture above

parchment paper

rectangular pan for oven

Break off a piece of dough that is about 2 inches in diameter across the piece of dough and form into a ball that is about 2 inches in diameter across the roll. Place a piece of parchment paper onto the oven pan. Lay the newly formed roll out onto the piece of parchment paper leaving about 1 inch of space around the roll to allow it to rise and get larger. Continue breaking off pieces and shaping them into rolls and placing them on the parchment paper, until all of the dough is gone. If you run out of room on your pan, just get another pan and more parchment paper.

Once all of the rolls are formed, let the rolls sit in a warm place around 85 degrees of higher in order to rise. If it is cool is your kitchen, you can turn the oven to 170 degrees, let it reach 170 degrees, then turn off your oven and place the rolls into the oven to rise. Let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes to an hour. They should be a little larger after that.

Boil Rolls.

Ingredients needed

Rolls

12 cups water

6 tablespoons baking soda

Parchment paper and pans to lay out rolls once boiled

Kitchen towel (optional)

Large boiler

While the rolls are rising, place 12 cups water and 6 tablespoons baking soda into a large boiler. Make sure that whatever boiler you use has at least 2 ½ inches of space at the top of the boiler. If you have a boiler that needs more or less water use one tablespoon of baking soda for two cups of water. Heat the boiler over high heat until the water starts to boil. Adjust the heat so that the water keep small bubbles coming to the top of the water as it simmers.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees for the next step.

Once the rolls have risen for 30 minutes. Place 4 to 6 rolls into the water and simmer for 1 minute. Then turn the rolls over and cook at a simmer for 1 more minute.

Using a slotted spatula or spoon, remove the rolls from the water and shake off any excess water. Carefully place the boiled rolls onto the parchment paper. If the rolls are still very moist, place them onto a clean non lint kitchen towel for a few minutes. I keep a set of kitchen towels just for cooking. If they are too moist when baked, they will not brown properly on the bottom.

Continue boiling the remaining rolls until all the rolls are boiled.

Bake rolls.

Ingredients needed

Rolls

1egg white

1tabelspoon water

Kosher salt

Small bowl

Pastry brush

Parchment paper

Baking pan or pizza stone

Combine 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon of water into a small bowl.

Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the rolls with the egg white water mixture and sprinkle them with kosher salt. If desired, you can use a knife and by making 2 slits,cut an X pattern into the top of the roll. They taste just as good with or without the s
lits; so most of the time I do not bother to do the slits.

Place the rolls onto a baking pan that is covered with parchment paper. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 375 degrees until they are a nice golden brown. I like to bake my rolls on a pizza stone not covered in parchment paper, but another pan covered with parchment paper will work nicely as well.