Although many people look to cut carbs out at the start of the new year, we tend to do things a little differently by starting the first breakfast of the year with a giant, delicious pretzel.
Yup, you read that correctly.
Neujahrsbrezel is a sweet dough braided into a large pretzel that represents good luck in the new year.
Supposedly, the "Neujahrsbrezel" was popularized in the Rheinland and other parts of southwestern Germany. Although I am not sure how common this is throughout all of Germany now, according to my grandparents, this has been a common tradition in our family for years.
I was, however, curious to find the story behind this luck-bringing pretzel, but I couldn't seem to find anything online. Unfortunately, my grandparents didn't really have an answer either.
From what I have seen, there are two ways that the pretzel can be braided:
1) The entire dough is braided and then tied into the pretzel shape (which is what I most often saw sold in bakeries in Germany as a kid).
2) The dough is tied into a pretzel shape and then with a smaller portion of dough, a braid is formed and then placed on top of the thicker, lower half the pretzel (this is the version that will be shown below).
The braids of a German New Year's Pretzel symbolizes "Verbundenheit" or connectedness, as Germans typically break the bread with family or friends either at midnight on New Year's Eve or on New Year's Day, as we do at my home.
Traditionally, for some extra luck, a one-cent Euro (or an American penny) is wrapped in foil and hidden inside the dough for a special surprise for someone to find later. Although this is not something that we do, no reason why you can't shoot your shot for some extra luck!
No matter how you celebrate, I wish you all good luck and"Einen Guten Rutsch" (a good slide) into the new year. May 2020 be filled with lots more yummy carbs.
Neujahrsbrezel
(German New Year's Pretzel)
Prep time: 25 MINS Cook Time: 30 MINS Resting Time: 50 MINS
Total Time: 1HR 45MINS
INGREDIENTS
1 cup (250 ml) milk
1 packet yeast
4 cups (500 g) flour
7 Tbsp (100 g) butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 egg
salt
For coating:
1 egg or egg yolk
1 Tbsp milk
DIRECTIONS
1. Warm milk a small saucepan until lukewarm. While waiting for the milk to warm, take a bowl and add the flour, butter, sugar, egg, salt, and yeast. Knead for 5 minutes by hand (or use a hand mixer if it gets too hard). Let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
2. Afterward, weigh out about 10.5 oz (300g) of the dough. Roll out the dough by hand until it is 32in (80cm). Shape into a pretzel. Transfer pretzel to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. With the rest of the dough, split into three equal parts. Roll out the parts by hand until each one is about 18in (46cm). Braid the three pieces together.
4. Lightly brush on water on the bottom part of the large pretzel. Then, transfer the braided dough on top and lightly press. Let the dough rise for 20 minutes. Set oven to 340F (150C).
Tip: If you want the pretzel to keep shape and not close, add balls of foil in the holes.
5. In a small bowl, mix egg (or egg yolk) with milk. Brush onto the entire pretzel. Bake pretzel for about 30mins. After, let it cool and enjoy.
*Recipe adapted from Einfach Baken
