Traditional German New Year Pretzel Pastry
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla bean
- 200 ml milk
- 1 organic lemon
- 400 g wheat flour (Type 405 or 550)
- 100 g spelt flour (Type 630)
- 90 g sugar
- 1/2 fresh yeast cube (about 21 g, or 1 packet dry yeast)
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 egg yolks (medium)
- 1 packet bourbon vanilla sugar
- 110 g soft butter
- 1 egg white (medium)
- 30 g sliced almonds for sprinkling
- 2-3 tablespoons pearl sugar for sprinkling
- flour for dusting
Preparation
Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Place the vanilla seeds and pod in a saucepan, pour in the milk, and gently warm. Remove from heat and let the mixture steep for about 5 minutes.
Wash the lemon with hot water, dry it, and finely grate the zest. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flours, lemon zest, and all but about 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Press a well into the flour. Crumble the yeast into the well, pour in some of the vanilla milk. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over. Mix the milk, yeast, sugar, and some flour from the edge of the well to form a thick batter. Cover and let rise for about 10 minutes.
Remove the vanilla pod from the remaining milk. Sprinkle salt over the flour. Add the milk, egg yolks, and vanilla sugar to the starter dough. Using the dough hook, knead gently for about 8 minutes, adding 80 g of the butter gradually. Then knead vigorously for about 3 minutes until an elastic, silky-smooth, but not too soft dough forms. Cover and let rise for another 60 minutes in a warm place (e.g., in an oven preheated to 25-30°C).
Shape the dough into pretzel shapes.
Let the pretzels rest for 10 minutes.
Brush with egg white.
Sprinkle with sliced almonds and pearl sugar.
Bake in a preheated oven until golden brown.
Notes
Also known as 'Neujährchen', this pretzel is traditionally believed to bring health and luck for the New Year.
Photo credit: @maria.panzer
Recipe credit: @franziska_klausmann
