There is no better combination!
Oktoberfest, one of my favorite times of year! It inspires me to throw on my dirndl and cook up some authentic bratwurst and pretzels! This year my husband even surprised the family with some traditional oompah music to complete the celebration. I decided to mix things up a little by shaping the pretzels into a more functional crescent shaped roll to accommodate my favorite Saag’s brats. (This is not a paid endorsement. I grew up on these tasty traditional brats working in my mom’s European delicatessen, and they are the best. ) I’ve also added a little wheat flour and flaxseed meal (which is not very traditional) but I wanted to give them a little more substance and remove a little more guilt when I eat too many. They are so good that they might even make you get up and do the chicken dance!
Cut into eight equal pieces.
Twist into desired shape.
Try not to eat them all at once!
- 1½ cups warm water between 100ºF - 110ºF
- 1 Tbsp white sugar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 package or 1 Tbsp active dry yeast (Not rapid rise)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (or 3 c AP flour and 1c Wheat flour)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- olive oil for bowl
- 3 cups hot water (microwave until boiling)
- ¼ cup baking soda
- Course sea salt
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp water
- Prep time includes one hour for the dough to proof.
- In a mixer bowl, stir sugar into the warm water (ideal temperature is around 110 degrees) .
- Dissolve yeast in the same bowl and let sit about 5 minutes until yeast foams. This will let you know that the yeast is alive and well.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir in the all-purpose flour, salt and 1 tbsp olive oil until wet and dry ingredients begin to form a rough shaggy dough.
- At this stage, using the dough hook attachment for your mixer, knead dough at medium speed until smooth and elastic, about four minutes.
- Place the dough into a well oiled bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about an hour. I usually place it in my warming drawer on proof or in a preheated oven that has been turned off. The ideal temperature should be between 80F and 90F. It should at least double in size.
- Next, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Now its time to form your dough into your desired shape. I needed longer, slightly curved rolls to go with the German Oktoberfest bratwurst I was serving. You could also make round rolls or a traditional pretzel shape. They are amazingly tasty in any form!
- Place the dough on an oiled surface. Cut the dough into eight fairly equal pieces.
- Roll each piece into a rope using your hands. You want them to be about two feet long. For the long rolls, I fold the rope into equal halves and overlap the sides like a braid and then stick both ends to each other and press together firmly.
- Place 3 cups water into a wide microwaveable bowl large enough to dip pretzel rolls. Microwave until water begins to boil. Carefully remove from microwave and add the ¼ cup baking soda. Stir to dissolve. One by one, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution for approximately 20 seconds. Remove to parchment covered baking sheet.
- Make an egg wash by beating one egg with 2 tablespoons of water. Brush on pretzels and sprinkle with sea salt before baking.
- Bake in 450 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
- Once you remove them from the oven transfer to a cooling rack to keep moisture from softening the bottoms.
If you plan on turning it into a meal, you might try bratwurst and a tasty potato salad to keep it authentic!
