Franzbrötchen are a classic German bake that you will find in most bakeries across the country! Think of them as “cinnamon-bun-meets-croissant” as they are made with flaky pastry and filled with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. They just melt in the mouth and are perfect served when still warm with a big cup of tea or coffee on a Sunday afternoon! Making the pastry is a little time consuming, but it is totally worth it for the end result!
These German Franzbrötchen are best served still warm from the oven! They are so lovely, flaky and buttery and have an amazing crunch from the caramelised sugar! Needless to say, but I LOVE these! Probably one of my favourites alongside another one of my German Baking Classics (which are my Dad´s favourite): Nussschnecken (pastry swirls filled with chocolate and nuts).
How to make the Pastry
Franzbrötchen are made from a flaky pastry that is fairly similar to puff pastry – but not quite! In Germany, this type of pastry is referred to as “Plunderteig”.
The initial dough is an enriched dough leavened with yeast that you make and leave to prove until doubled in size. Once doubled, slabs of butter are then added and rolled into the dough, before starting a folding process in order to create layers of butter and pastry.
Although it´s not exactly the same as puff pastry, which doesn´t involve making a yeasted dough first and requires more folding, you may still want to check out my baking basics post on How To Make Puff Pastry for some useful tips!
The beauty of this type of pastry, is that once you put it into the oven, the butter melts and creates a burst of steam, forcing the layers of pastry apart and making them puff up! That way you end up with a flaky, buttery pastry filled with sugar and cinnamon – what more could you want in life?
How to shape Franzbrötchen – Picture Guide
These little beauties may look like they are hard to shape, but it´s actually really easy once you see how it is done! Just as you would with cinnamon buns, the pastry for the Franzbrötchen is rolled out into a large rectangle. It is then brushed with water before sprinkling generous amounts of sugar and cinnamon on top. Then, you roll up the pastry into a long sausage! And that´s when the fun part starts! The pastry roll is then cut into pieces at an angle, creating “blunted” triangles, with a longer base (about 8cm) and a slightly narrower top (2cm).
Leave the dough to proof… 
Tip: cut the butter slabs thinner than I did here… 
Folding process begins. 
“Letter fold” 
2nd fold 
Chill the pastry before rolling out again. 
Sprinkle with caster sugar and cinnamon. 
Roll. 
Cut into “blunted triangles” 
Shape 
The pastry triangles are then placed onto a baking tray where you will do the final shaping. Flour the end of a wooden spoon and then gently press it down the midline of the pastry, which will push and open up the sides of the pastry (you´ll see what I mean when you do it).
It´s really important to chill the “Franzbrötchen” in the fridge for at least half an hour before baking, as this will firm up the butter again. If it´s too soft it will just melt and run all over the place in the oven and your pastry will lose its shape. The “Franzbrötchen” are a little unpredictable though and may not all turn out beautifully, but they certainly taste good!
More German Baking Classics
There are loads more German baking recipes on my blog if you are interested in trying out some other classic recipes! Check out the list below for some of my favourites:
- Black Forest Gateau | “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte”
- Laugenbrezeln | German Pretzels
- Baked Chocolate Cheesecake | “Russischer Zupfkuchen”
- Seeded and Carrot Loaf | “Muntermacher”
- Strawberry Flan Cake | “Erdbeerboden”
- Marbled Traybake with Cherries and Chocolate | “Donauwellen”
- Beesting Cake | “Bienenstich”
- Enriched Dough Plait filled with Chocolate and Nuts | “Nusszopf”
- German Baked Cheesecake | “Käsekuchen”
- Bauernbrot | Classic German Bread Baking
- “Haselnussbrot” – Hazelnut Shortbread Biscuits dipped in Chocolate
- Chocolate-Orange Crescent Biscuits | Schoko-Orangen Kipferl
- Plum Crumble Cake | Zwetschenkuchen mit Streuseln
- Kirschlikuchen | Cherry and Chocolate Cake
- Neujahrsbrezel | Enriched Dough Plait for New Year’s Day
- Laugenzöpfe | German Breakfast Rolls
- Chocolate and Hazelnut Bundt Cake | Nusskuchen mit Nussglasur
Franzbrötchen | Cinnamon Pastries | German Baking Classic
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE DOUGH:
- 7g (1 sachet) dried fast-action yeast
- 25g lukewarm water
- 50g caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 160g spelt flour
- 160g plain flour
- 140g milk
- Zest of ½ lemon
- 50g butter, melted
FOR THE FILLING:
- 125g butter, cut into thin slabs and chilled
- 110g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Method:
- Combine all the ingredients for the dough except the melted butter in a large mixing bowl and start kneading with the dough-hook attachment of your hand-held or free-standing electric mixer. Once the ingredients start to come together, add the butter and then knead for about 8-10 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth.
- Cover the dough and leave to prove in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size. In the meantime, thinly slice the butter for the filling and chill in the fridge.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, roll it out on a light floured surface until about 0.5cm thick and about 25x40cm in size.
- Place the thinly sliced butter over the top half of the dough, then fold the bottom half over the top and press down the edges to seal. Rotate the pastry by 90° and roll out into a large rectangle again.
- Fold the bottom third of the pastry up, brush off any excess flour, and then fold the top third over the top of that (like folding a letter). Rotate by 90° and roll it out into a rectangle once more, repeat the letter fold and then fold the rectangle in half along the longer side to create a square. Chill in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to let the butter harden again (see picture guide above for more details).
- In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Roll the chilled dough into a large square, roughly 0.5cm thick. Brush the pastry square with some water and then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mix over the pastry in an even layer.
- Starting from the edge closest to you, roll up the pastry to make a long “sausage”. Gently roll and stretch outwards until it is about 5cm in diameter.
Cut into “blunted triangles”
- Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into triangles. Cut the pastry at an angle, alternating between each cut, so that the top and bottom edges are about 2 and 8cm long, respectively. Place the “Franzbrötchen” onto baking trays lined with baking paper, making sure to leave plenty of space between each one.
- Lightly flour the end of a wooden spoon (or similar) and press it down along the middle of the pastries, in order to open them up and create their distinct shapes. Chill the “Franzbrötchen” in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the “Franzbrötchen” for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. They are best served when still warm from the oven😍!
