🇩🇪 GermanyCatalog recipe · Bavaria
Dark mahogany pretzels with a shatter-crisp crust and a soft, chewy crumb, finished with flaky salt — the shape hanging outside every Bavarian bakery window.
For 8 servings.
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Dissolve the yeast in 300ml warm water; mix into the flour, fine salt and melted butter to a soft dough, then knead until smooth and elastic.
Cover and let rise until doubled.
Divide into 8 pieces; roll each into a long rope and twist into the classic pretzel knot, pressing the ends onto the belly.
Let the shaped pretzels rest uncovered while you bring a wide pot of water with the baking soda to a simmer.
💡 A baking soda bath is the practical home version of a bakery's lye dip — less caustic, same deep color and chew.
Dip each pretzel in the simmering soda bath for 20–30 seconds per side, then drain and set on a lined baking sheet.
Slash the thick belly of each pretzel with a sharp blade and scatter with coarse salt.
Bake at 220°C until deeply mahogany.
The pretzel's knotted shape has marked German bakeries since the Middle Ages, but it's the alkaline bath before baking that gives Bavarian brezn their deep color and distinctive crust — bakeries use food-grade lye, home kitchens use a baking soda bath instead. Bakers traditionally slash a 'belly' into the thick loop so it splits open evenly in the oven.
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