Easy Bavarian Pretzel Rolls

You will love these soft, fairly light bread buns with a chewy and salty pretzel-like crust around the outside that’s perfectly golden brown too.

Use pretzel rolls for sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, or dip them in some grainy mustard. They are delicious on their own too!

Pretzel rolls, aka Laugenbrötchen, are a standard item in German bakeries.

Walking down the road to get a fresh pretzel roll was my favorite thing to do while I lived there.

Now it takes a car-ride to the nearest Ben's Soft Pretzel shop or to settle for store-bought Pretzilla buns. They're both delicious, but nothing beats the taste and convenience of homemade pastries!

🥨What are pretzels?

Originally, pretzels (Brezel) are baked goods made from dough that’s usually shaped into a knot - the famous pretzel knot.

They are traditionally dipped in lye, which is alkaline (sodium or potassium hydroxide solution).

Now, this may sound a little alarming and technical, but don’t worry!

1. Lye is only dangerous in very high concentrations - far higher than any amount you’d find in food!
2. We aren’t going to use lye in this recipe anyway - we’re going to use baking soda.

During baking, the lye (caustic soda) reacts with the pastry's surface and accelerates the Maillard reaction responsible for browning. This gives pretzels their beautiful brown color and special taste.

📜Laugenbrötchen History  

In Bavaria (an area in Southern Germany), pretzel (Brezel) was used as an emblem for bakers since at least the 1200s.

Bavarian pretzels aren’t just popular there, though! They may have always been associated with the region, but the whole country runs on pretzels and beer during Oktoberfest!

It sounds like my kind of party, if I’m honest! It was actually burger joints and pubs with the genius idea to include hot pretzels in their menus.

After all, salty bar snacks always go down well, and it’s nice to be able to enjoy giant hot pretzels with spicy mustard dipping sauce or ranch without having to attend a baseball game!

The good news is that now you can get these pretzel rolls (sometimes called Laugensemmerl) without even having to leave the house!

🛒Ingredients and Notes

• All-purpose flour - also known as regular flour.
• Active dry yeast - this recipe doesn’t require fresh yeast or a sourdough starter either, which helps to keep things cheap since most bakers usually have yeast in the pantry!
• Egg - We used an egg wash to brush the rolls before baking, but it is totally optional.
• Coarse sea salt - also known as pretzel salt for sprinkling over the top.

🧂Salting the pretzel buns

A pretzel not topped with coarse salt is actually called a “baldie”! So, if you make this recipe without sprinkling the coarse salt on top, then you have made a “Bavarian baldie!”

🔪Step by Step Instructions

Step 1

1. Mix the yeast with lukewarm milk and let it rest for 10 minutes. Add the canola oil and warm water.
2. In a bowl of a stand mixer, whisk flour and salt.
3. Mix in the yeast mixture, oil, and water.

Step 2

1. Knead the dough with a stand mixer or your hand until mostly smooth.
2. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size.
3. Punch down the dough and knead it in the bowl for another minute.

Step 3

1. Cut the dough into 16 pieces, then form balls by pulling the dough under. Place the balls on a well-greased surface and let them rise for 15 minutes.
2. Get the pretzel “bath” ready by bringing water, salt, and baking soda to a rolling boil. Put dough balls into the water in batches and briefly boil.
3. Transfer them to a well-greased baking sheet with a slotted spoon, then cut an x across each roll with a serrated knife or using scissors. Brush with egg wash if desired. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
4. Bake in preheated oven to 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the pretzels are a rich brown color.

👩‍🍳Top Tips

• The amount of flour will vary depending on many factors such as humidity, temperature, and altitude.
• If your dough is too sticky, add more flour until it’s slightly stiffer than for regular rolls but still relatively soft. Go by the appearance and texture of the dough rather than a strict quantity.
• Before covering the bowl with the dough with plastic wrap, spray it lightly with cooking spray so that your risen dough doesn't stick to it.
• To speed up the process of dough rising, you can place the bowl near a warm source: a sunny window or a hot dish cooking on your stove. You can also heat your oven to no more than 275 F, turn it off, and place your bowl (make sure it's not plastic!) on the middle rack with the oven door slightly ajar. It works wonders!
• To cut the dough into equally-sized pieces, first cut in half, then in half again. Roll each piece into a log, then cut each log into 4 pieces.
• When placing the rolls into the lye "bath," don't crowd them. Always put so many into the pot that there is still some space in between. 
• The egg glaze is optional. It gives the buns a shiny look. You can lightly brush them with melted butter when you take them out of the oven instead.
• You can shape the dough any way you want. Try traditional pretzel knots, hot dog buns, mini rolls for sliders, pretzel sticks, or pretzel bites. Just make sure to adjust the baking time.
• You can sprinkle the rolls with other things: poppy seeds, sesame seeds, herbal salt, or fennel seeds.
• You can bake the rolls without sprinkling with salt, but then double the dough's salt amount.

🍽 How To Serve It

• Pretzel rolls are absolutely perfect for sandwiches! I like mine with plenty of salty butter or mayo, juicy tomato slices, lettuce, and bacon - a BLT is great on a pretzel roll! This is especially true if said bacon is lovely and hot so that the fat melts into the soft inside of the chewy pretzel buns!
• Or, you can pull these rolls apart to dip in any of your favorite dips. Try mustard, ranch dressing, or nacho cheese. Even chocolate dip would be perfect too!
• You can get these pretzel pastries served in pubs on a tray as an appetizer or even served as a hamburger bun! The golden outside with fluffy, steamy center is absolutely perfect with a nice juicy burger piled high with all the essentials!
• Personally, though, I like to serve mine with a nice hearty stew as this is how many Germans would typically eat them - something like this traditional German Hunter Cabbage Stew or Instant Pot Beef Stew.
• They’re especially perfect with this beer and cheddar soup - after all, it’s not a party without beer, cheese, and pretzels! This combination is perfect for game day parties in particular.

❓FAQs

😋 Other Amazing Recipes to Try

• German Soft Pretzel Corners - Laugenecken
• Bavarian Apple Oatmeal Streusel Cheesecake
• Croatian Quick No Yeast Milk Bread
• Baker's Tips: How to Use The 4 Types of Yeast

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Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in February 2012 and updated in March of 2021 with new photos and recipe tips.