Burger joints and grub pubs had the genius idea to incorporate pretzels into their menus. You no longer need to attend a baseball game to get a giant, hot pretzel with some ranch or spicy mustard dipping sauce. You can get these bad boys served on a tray as an appetizer, and even served as a hamburger pretzel bun. A perfectly browned outside hugging a fluffy, steamy center = dreamy. Here’s more good news, you can now make an entire batch, by yourself, at home.
Bavarian pretzel rolls are perfect for your sandwiches, to be pulled apart and dipped, or munched into on their own. For anyone who loves to bake, and is looking for a new recipe, this one is an addictive savory direction for you to try and re-make again and again. Like the Germans, enjoy them also with a bowl of hearty soup like beer and cheddar soup that is perfect for GAME-DAY PARTY, or cozy up with this traditional sauerkraut soup.
Coming from a culture where bread is eaten with everything, once we moved to Germany we happily added this (to us new) type of bread to accompany our meals. Pretzel rolls are not just popular in Bavaria, although they are almost always associated with that region. Come Oktoberfest, the country runs on pretzels and beer.
Bavarian pretzels were traditionally dipped in lye, which is a sodium hydroxide solution. This sounds alarming to some people; however, lye is only dangerous in very high concentrations, which is far above its food-grade ratio. Plus, we’re not using lye in this recipe, only baking soda.
Here’s a little pretzel rolls fun fact:
A pretzel not topped with coarse salt is called a “baldie.” If you make this recipe without the coarse salt added on top is called, you guessed it, a “Bavarian baldie.”
I know what you’re thinking – a 2 hour-long recipe? No thanks. Don’t worry, these Bavarian pretzels rolls are not THAT much work, but they would be totally worth it anyway. So don’t get yourself twisted (get it?)
It is recommended that these be eaten the same day, as they are the best when they are the freshest, of course. I only made half of a batch, about 8 rolls, when I first made the recipe, not because I didn’t think they’d be eaten in one day, but because I know I wouldn’t be able to control myself!
If you’ve ever had a baking phase in the past, get ready to enter another one after you make this pretzel roll recipe. Hungry yet? Let’s get started!
Easy Bavarian Pretzel Rolls Recipe
Homemade Bavarian #pretzel rolls are soft on the inside with a salty chewy crust and super #easy to make. #bread #buns #recipe Click To Tweet
INGREDIENTS:
Makes 15 rolls
The Dough
- 6 – 7 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 cup milk, slightly warmed
- 1 cup water, slightly warmed
- Coarse sea salt for sprinkling
The “Bath”
- 7 cups water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 4 tablespoons baking soda
DIRECTIONS:
- In a small container, mix yeast with warmed milk and let rest for 10 minutes. Whisk 5 3/4 cups of flour and teaspoon of salt in a large bowl.
- Add canola oil and warm water to the yeast mixture. Pour into bowl with flour and salt. Knead in the bowl until dough is mostly smooth. Only add more flour if your dough cannot be easily handled. The dough will be somewhat stiff. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and put in a warm place to rise for one hour.
- Punch down dough and knead in bowl for one minute. Cut dough into 15 pieces. (Cut more pieces if you would like smaller size rolls.) Form balls by pulling the dough under. Place on a well-greased surface. Let the dough balls rise for 15 minutes.
- While the dough balls are rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get the pretzel “bath” ready. In a large pot, bring water, salt, and baking soda to a rolling boil. Plunge three dough balls into the water and let them “poach” for 1 minute total. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a well-greased baking sheet. With a serrated knife, cut 2-3 lines across each roll and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pretzels are a rich brown.
nom nom nom
If you like these pretzel rolls, you will love PRETZEL CORNERS
Easy Bavarian Pretzel Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
The Dough
- 6 - 7 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 cups milk slightly warmed
- 1 cup water slightly warmed
- Coarse sea salt for sprinkling
The "Bath"
- 7 cups water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 4 tablespoons baking soda
Instructions
- In a small container, mix yeast with warmed milk and let rest for 10 minutes. Whisk 5 3/4 cups of flour and teaspoon of salt in a large bowl.
- Add canola oil and warm water to the yeast mixture. Pour into bowl with flour and salt. Knead in the bowl until dough is mostly smooth. Only add more flour if your dough cannot be easily handled. The dough will be somewhat stiff. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and put in a warm place to rise for one hour.
- Punch down dough and knead in bowl for one minute. Cut dough into 15 pieces. (Cut more pieces if you would like smaller size rolls.) Form balls by pulling the dough under. Place on a well-greased surface. Let the dough balls rise for 15 minutes.
- While the dough balls are rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get the pretzel "bath" ready. In a large pot, bring water, salt, and baking soda to a rolling boil. Plunge three dough balls into the water and let them "poach" for 1 minute total. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a well-greased baking sheet. With a serrated knife, cut 2-3 lines across each roll and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pretzels are a rich brown
Notes
Nutrition
Featured on: Cookin’ Mimi, The Sweet Sensations, and Happily Homegrown.
Can you substitute the milk with a non dairy one?
I don’t see why not! 🙂
Hi, is the yeast supposed to proof in the milk on the first step? Should it be foamy? I didn’t know if it needed sugar to do this. I was going to check before going through with the rest of the recipe!
Yes, you should leave it for 10 minutes to rest as instructed. No sugar necessary. 🙂
After the rolls rise, when I pick them up they simply deflate and I need to roll them againg to get them into the bath. Is this normal? The recipe steps don’t say.
They deflate somewhat but not to the extent that you need to roll them again. Perhaps your dough is a bit softer, but it should rise in the oven.
Hi, just wondering if you can use a different oil other than canola? Just realized I ran out.
Thanks!
Of course, use vegetable or corn oil, or whatever you have on hand! 🙂
I followed your recipe but my dough never formed into a ball. Even after rising the dough was too sticky to knead it form into balls. What did I do wrong?
So sorry to hear that! The dough is a finicky creature. The type of yeast, flour, and even the condition of the air can all contribute to the dough to turn out differently every time. Kneading long enough helps or adding more flour as indicated in directions (#2): “Only add more flour if your dough cannot be easily handled.”
Hope you’ll give it another chance. 🙂
You recipe got incorrect fluid volume. 2 1/2 cup milk + 1 cup warm water is too much for 7 1/2 cup of flour.
It does seem like a lot, but it’s not. You can always add more flour. Check out the notes in the recipe box. 🙂
Please check again on your fluid to flour ratio: 2 1/2 cup milk + 1 cup water is 3.5 cup of fluid = 28 fl oz. Your maximum flour in recipe is 7 1/2 cup. Therefore your recipe got approximately 87.5% fluid-to-flour ratio, which made the flour extremely sticky. You also mentioned add flour as need, but how much flour one should add? Even we take the maximum flour which is 7 1/2 cup of flour as initial dough, that would be 10 oz additional flour to be added until the flour is not sticky. Why don’t you do your maths and experiments before you post the recipe?
I’m really sorry, but there are so many happy bakers who recreated this recipe and shared their photos with me on Pinterest. Wish you could see it! ♀️
Can this recipe be halved? And can they be frozen? If so, when & how TY so much.
Hi, Marilyn! Thanks for your question. Yes, you can definitely half or double the recipe as needed.
I always freeze my bread and buns after they’re baked and cooled down. I reheat frozen rolls wrapped in foil, in a 350 F hot oven for 5-10 minutes. If you want a crispy crust, you can also unwrap for just a few minutes. 🙂
These are beautiful. I want to stick my nose in them!! I have a really coarse salt, but it’s too big and hurts my teeth – like biting on a grain of sand! I need to track down the baldie salt… thanks!!!
Hi, Mimi! Try grinding the salt or put it in a ziplock and crush with a rolling pin or meat mallet (cheaper than buying new salt). 🙂 Thanks for visiting!
That’s true. But there is something so great about the salt on pretzel breads !
These look SO good! Thanks for sharing with Thursday Favorite Things! I’m featuring you this week and am so happy you joined us! Angelina @ Petite Haus!
Thank you, Angelina! I’m thrilled about the feature 😀
Hi Jas,
Your Bavarian Pretzel Rolls look beautiful! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday!
Miz Helen
Thank you much, Miz Helen!
These look SO yummy!
Fascinating history on these, regarding using diluted lye to make these (although great to know your recipe and others don’t call for that!) These look quite tasty, especially ( I am guessing) warm… Thanks for sharing with Fiesta Friday!
Right? Nope, no lye here. 🙂 They are exceptionally good warm!
The perfect roll!!! Really…I could eat these all up by myself!!!
Thanks, Colleen. They do go down easy 😀
I am such a sucker for anything served on a pretzel roll, but I had never considered making my own. Thank so much for the recipe, I can’t wait to give it a shot.
Thank you, Kristen! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Wow, these look so yummy. I love when I go to a restaurant and they have pretzel buns. I bet these are even better. I saw your post on FIesta Friday and it caught my eye. I thought I would drop a line to let you know. Thanks again.
Many thanks for visiting and the review, Ronnie! They are quite addictive 🙂