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Bretzel - Sweet Luxembourgish Pretzel

Bretzel is a sweet Luxembourgish Pretzel made for Bretzelsonndeg (Pretzel Sunday), an Easter festivity on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This traditional sweet pretzel is made from puff pastry with icing and flaked almonds on top. 
Prep Time2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Resting Time2 days
Total Time2 days 2 hours 45 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: Luxembourgish
Keyword: Almonds, Pretzel, Sweet potato
Servings: 10 pretzels

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 500 g bread flour T55
  • 62 g sugar
  • 150 g milk lukewarm
  • 100 g water lukewarm
  • 35 g soft butter cubed
  • 10 g salt
  • 8 g active dry yeast

For the lamination

  • 275 g butter

Icing glaze

  • 60 g icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp  water
  • 100 g almond flakes

Egg wash

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp whole milk

Instructions

Day 1

  • In a small bowl mix together the lukewarm water, milk, yeast and 10g of the sugar. Set the mixture aside until it froths. This usually takes about 15 minutes.
  • In a mixer fixed with a dough attachment, add the flour, salt and the remaining sugar. Mix well until the sugar and salt are evenly dispersed in the flour.
  • Add the yeast mixture to the dry mixture and mix on the lowest setting for about 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Once the dough starts taking shape, gently add the cubed butter a piece at a time.
  • As soon as all the butter is incorporated, switch to a medium setting on your mixer and mix for 10 minutes.
  • Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
  • After letting the dough rest, shape the dough into a 20cmx20cm square. Wrap the dough into wax paper and measure the sides to give it its shape. Roll the dough in the wax paper to fill the whole square equally, do this gently so that you don't tear the wax paper. Put the dough in cling film and store the dough overnight in the fridge.

Day 2

  • Using the same technique as with the dough, shape the butter for lamination into the wax paper. This time it should measure 15cmx15cm. Place equally cut pieces of butter and wrap them in the wax paper. Gently pound them down so that the butter is equal on all sides. Roll it out until it's smooth. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
  • While the butter is resting in the fridge, roll out the dough slightly. Don't go further than 2 cm more than it's original shape.
  • Place the cooled butter diagonally on the square shaped dough and seal the dough tight over the butter so that no butter oozes out of the dough. You should close it as if it's an envelope. 
  • Roll out the dough lengthwise from one side only until it's about 45cm long. This will be our first folding of the dough. Start by folding 3/4 of the dough on itself, fold the remaining 1/4 to meet the other piece of folded dough. Afterwards grab the longest side of the dough and fold it in half on top of itself.  Gently press the dough down together, wrap it in cling film and let it rest for an hour.
  • For the second folding, you have to roll the dough out again to 45cm and fold it in three. Grab 1/3 of the dough and fold it, grab the remaining unfolded 1/3 of the dough and place it on top of the other two layers. Gently press the dough down again and let it rest in the fridge from 1 to 12 hours. The longer you let it rest, the fluffier and light the dough will be once it’s baked.

Day 2 or 3 (this depends on how long you will let your laminated dough rest)

  • On a lightly floured surface, roll the laminated dough to 50cm by 25cm long rectangle. Cut lengthwise 10 strips, 50cm x 2.5cm.
  • Roll each strip on itself, tight it up lightly, and form into a pretzel shape. To get the pretzel shape twist the strip in a loop and intertwine the ends together. Then fold the ends under the loop side and gently press it down to secure it.
  • Place the pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. It's important to give them ample of space between one another as they will rise and expand. I suggest using two different large baking trays. Give the pretzels their first light egg wash, cover and let them rest for 2 hours in a warm place.
  • While the pretzels are resting, preheat the oven to 200°C or 390°F.
  • As soon as they are ready to be baked, give them another gentle egg wash. Bake the pretzels for about 7 minutes, as soon as they get their golden hue, lower your oven to 180°C or 350°F, and let them cook for another 8 minutes.
  • Once done, let the pretzels cool on the baking sheet for some minutes before removing.
  • As soon as they cool down, mix the icing sugar with the water, and drizzle it on top. Before it starts to set, sprinkle the flaked almonds on top and gently press them down so that they stick.
  • Enjoy your hard earned bretzel with some coffee and give another to someone you love :)