It´s New Year´s Eve and this is when the Germans would bake a traditional Neujahrsbrezel – a New Year´s Pretzel. It´s usually brought out just before midnight, or as a treat once you come back inside after the fireworks! A lot of people also keep it for breakfast on New Year´s Day.
The Neujahrsbrezel is a very simple New Year´s treat and is made with an enriched dough, known as “Hefeteig” in Germany. It´s gently flavoured with vanilla and lemon zest, then shaped into a plaited, Pretzel shape. Easy, eh? Let me share with you how I make it!
German Hefeteig – the Basis of the Neujahrsbrezel
All good Germans love a good Hefeteig-bake. The beauty really lies in its simplicity because it really doesn´t have anything fancy about it! Just a lightly flavoured, sweetened dough that tastes great on its own or with a little butter and jam! The recipe below uses basic store cupboard ingredients, so you can probably get up and get baking as soon as you have read the recipe below!
Like I said, Hefeteig is very common in German baking, and one of my favourite things to make with it are a “Nusszopf” or “Nussschnecken”. The Hefeteig is filled with a chocolate and nut filling before it is plaited or shaped into swirls. You should definitely give those recipes a try, too! You can even use the Hefeteig to make a German flaky pastry (so-called “Plunderteig”) which you can use to make “Franzbrötchen”. Think cinnamon bun meets croissant – AMAZING!
How to shape the Neujahrsbrezel
There are two ways in which I like to shape my Neujahrsbrezel. The first, is to create a pretzel shape that is plaited throughout. The other is to create a plain pretzel shape with the majority of the dough, and use a small part of the dough to create a separate plait to lay on top. Check out my homemade German Laugenbrezel recipe if you need a reminder of what a pretzel looks like!
Depending on the bakery, you will also find different versions of the Neujahrsbrezel, using the same dough but making different shapes. You might find it in other shapes associated with good luck symbols for New Year in Germany, such as pigs, four leaf clover or a chimney sweep (don´t ask me where that comes from….)! So feel free to be creative!
To ensure the Neujahrsbrezel stays beautifully soft inside but has a lovely golden shine on top, don´t forget to brush it with a mixture of egg and milk before baking! I also like to decorate the Neujahrsbrezel by sprinkling a few sugar nibs and almonds over the top.
More Festive Recipes
If you are looking for more festive recipes to serve for New Year´s Eve make sure you check out some of my other crowd-pleasing desserts!
- Chocolate Pavlova with Bailey´s Irish Cream
- Meringue Roulade filled with Strawberries and Cream
- Lighter Tiramisu
- Classic British No-Bake Trifle
- No-bake Lemon Cheesecake with a Gingernut Base
- Chocolate Orange Trifle with Bailey´s Irish Cream
German Neujahrsbrezel | New Year Baking Classic
Recipe
Ingredients:
- 250ml milk
- 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 42g fresh yeast or 1 sachet of dried yeast)
- 500g plain flour
- 100g butter, softened
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 M egg
- Pinch of salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
TO FINISH:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp milk
- Sugar nibs (“Hagelzucker”)
- Blanched almonds, roughly sliced
Method:
- Pour the milk into a small saucepan. Slice the vanilla pod lengthwise and add it to the milk, or stir in a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. Gently warm the milk and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Then remove the vanilla pod if using.
- Crumble the fresh yeast (or dried) into the milk and stir until dissolved. Add in the flour, egg, softened butter, sugar, lemon zest and salt to make the dough. Knead for about 5-10 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
- Cover the bowl and leave the pastry to rise for 30-60 minutes until doubled in size.
- Line a larging baking tray with baking paper and dust your work surface liberally with flour.
- You can now decide how you would like to shape your Neujahrsbrezel. Either divide the dough into three even portions, roll into long strands and plait together. Then create a pretzel shape and lay it on the baking tray. Alternatively, remove about 300g of dough and use the remaining dough to shape your pretzel. Take the reserved dough, divide into three and create a smaller and shorter plait. Brush the pretzel with some water to stick the smaller plait onto the bottom, thicker part of the pretzel shape.
- Cover and leave to prove for a further 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- Beat together the egg and milk in a small bowl to make the glaze. Then brush it over the Neujahrsbrezel and sprinkle the sugar nibs and almonds over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until well-risen and golden. Leave to cool completely or serve when still lukewarm.
