The German New Year’s Pretzel is a sweet bread braided into the shape of a pretzel and topped with sugar or glaze for extra sweetness.
At home with my husband’s family, I have only had the sugar-glazed version of the German New Year’s Pretzel on New Year’s Day. Alternatively, for this version, I used pearl sugar and butter to top the pretzel. Additionally, the pretzel gets an egg white wash before baking.
I’ve heard that the braiding of the German New Year’s pretzel symbolizes “Verbundenheit” or connectedness. The pretzel itself represents good luck or prosperity in the new year. Back at our home in Germany, we eat it on New Year’s Day. However many Germans break this bread with their friends and family at midnight on New Year’s Eve. So eat this with coffee or champagne. Your choice.
For extra luck, often a one-cent piece is wrapped in foil and then tucked into a secret part of the German New Year’s Pretzel before baking. For my version, I used both an American penny and a one-cent Euro piece. Why not have twice the chance for luck and surprise two of your guests instead of one?
Whether you are ringing in the new year with German or your traditions, I wish you all, Einen Guten Rutsch (a good slide) into the New Year. May 2019 bring health, peace, happiness, and of course, more deliciousness for everyone.
German New Year’s Pretzel
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg separated
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 8 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup pearl sugar
Instructions
-
Heat the milk and vanilla, stirring to combine in a small saucepan until warm. Do not boil.
-
Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm temperature.
-
In the bowl of your mixer, whisk together the lemon zest, flour, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar.
-
Make a well in the middle of the mixture and sprinkle the yeast into the well.
-
Pour about 1/4 cup of the vanilla milk on top of the yeast to dissolve it. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the top.
-
Scrape some flour off of the sides of the bowl with your hands and mix everything together to form ragged dough.
-
Cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel and let rest for 10 minutes
-
Sprinkle the dough with the salt. Add the rest of the milk and the 4 egg yolks. Use the dough hook attachment of your mixer (or your hands) to knead everything into a smooth dough (about 8 minutes)
-
Add 5 tablespoons of the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Knead again for 3 minutes until the dough becomes elastic.
-
Cover the bowl again with the dishtowel and let stand for 1 hour in a warm place.
-
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
Knead the dough again for a few minutes.
-
Divide the dough into three equal portions (use a kitchen scale).
-
On a lightly floured work surface, roll each portion out into a log 2 feet long.
-
Braid the three dough strands together.
-
On the last 4 inches of both ends, roll them out 8 inches long (4+3/4 inches wide) and use a sharp knife to cut the ends into three strands. Roll each stand to create log shapes, then braid them together.
-
The result should be a long fat braid in the middle with small long, thinner braids on the ends.
-
Transfer the entire dough braid to the prepared baking sheet. Pull both ends down and tuck them under the fat middle braid, forming two loops.
-
Cover with the dishtowel and let rest for 15 minutes.
-
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
-
Beat the egg white in a small separate dish.
-
Brush the braided dough with the egg white and sprinkle the pearl sugar over the top.
-
Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and scatter over the top.
-
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the pretzel is golden brown.
-
Remove from oven and let cool to warm before serving.
-
Serve with butter and jam.
Recipe Notes
Note: Many people like to tuck a 1 cent coin into the pretzel before baking guaranteeing extra luck for the person who finds it. If you do this, wrap the coin in aluminum foil before tucking into the dough.
Like this German New Year’s Pretzel Recipe? Try some of these others:
