Laugenzöpfe | German Bread Baking

Laugenzöpfe, Laugenstangen, Laugenbrezeln, Laugenknoten – the Germans really do love their “Laugengebäck“. Laugengebäck refers to every German bread roll made from the same dough you may recognise from a traditional German pretzel (or Laugenbrezel as it would be called in German) – fluffy white dough, with a golden brown and chewy crust. This is where the baked good gets the name “Laugen-“ from. And then depending on the way the roll is then finally shaped, the roll is either named “Laugenbrezel” (pretzel-shaped), “Laugenstange” (baton-shaped), “Laugenknoten” (knot-shaped), or as in the recipe here, plaited, a “Laugenzopf” (Laugenzöpfe is the plural).

The first part of the name, “Lauge” is the German word for an alkaline solution. This name is given to these rolls, as they are boiled in an alkaline solution (water mixed with bicarbonate of soda). This gives the rolls a coating that allows the formation of a chewy exterior, and also ensures that the Laugenzöpfe turn a lovely rich brown colour in the oven. For the science behind it, make sure to check out the recipe for German pretzels that is already on my blog here! But for now, let’s get cracking with the recipe and make sure to also check out the video on how to make the Laugenzöpfe as well!

Check out the video here:

How do you make these German Laugenzöpfe?

There are four main stages to making German Laugenzöpfe: making the dough, shaping the dough, boiling the Laugenzöpfe and then finally baking them!

You can make these Laugenzöpfe in one day, however, I often like to prepare the dough the night before. That way I can have freshly-baked Laugenzöpfe in the morning, without the hassle of getting up early to make a dough and leaving it to prove. So to prepare the dough the night before, simply put the dough in the fridge to prove overnight rather than leaving it at room temperature, and it’ll be good to go in the morning!

MAKING THE DOUGH

Making the dough is fairly straightforward. I use fresh yeast in my recipe, as I find it gives a better taste, as well as helps the dough rise better. You can try asking for fresh yeast at a local bakery or in-store bakery in a supermarket. However, you can also use dried yeast (I have done it before and it still works) instead. To start off the dough, you’ll need to activate the yeast by crumbling it into some lukewarm milk with some sugar and flour. After 20 minutes the yeast/milk mix will have frothed up and be ready to use! You also add some melted butter to the dough, which you can melt and leave to cool while waiting for the milk.

Once everything is ready, the yeast/milk and butter is added to the remaining flour and salt, and kneaded into a smooth dough for about 5-10 minutes. This is a slightly sticky dough which is why I would recommend using a hand-held or free-standing mixer for kneading, but after proving it will be a lot easier to work with.

For your proof, you can either do it at room temperature for around an hour, use my easy proofing hack to speed up the process shown in the video here, or prove in the fridge overnight for baking the next day.

SHAPING THE LAUGENZÖPFE

It’s very difficult to explain how to shape the Laugenzöpfe, however, it’s easier to do than you might think! It would probably be best for you to watch the video above to see the shaping process, as that is easier to follow than the written explanation – but I’ll still give it a try!

To shape the Laugenzöpfe, start by rolling each piece of dough into a long sausage, around 1cm in diameter. Lay the strand of dough in a straight line in front of you. Take the left end of the strand and place it over the strand about 2/3 of the way along at a 90° angle, creating a loop. Then take the other end of the strand and thread it through the loop, making sure it is tight and securing the other end of the dough. Twist the remaining loop part of the dough by 180°, before threading what used to be the right end of the strand through the remaining hole from above (does make any sense?).

BOILING THE LAUGENZÖPFE

Boiling the Laugenzöpfe is a very important step in the process. Briefly blanching them in an alkaline fluid not only creates a film around the dough that will allow the formation of a slightly chewy crust, but will also make sure the Laugenzöpfe get their amazing brown colour once in the oven. You can read more about the actual chemical reaction that occurs in my post on German Pretzels here.

The alkaline solution is simply made by adding bicarbonate of soda to boiling water. BE VERY CAREFUL when you do this, as the water will foam up as soon as you add the bicarb. Make sure not to get too much on your hands or any in your eyes. You then want to blanch the Laugenzöpfe for about 30 seconds on either side, before removing them from the liquid with a slotted spoon and setting them on the baking tray. Once you are done, just leave the water in the pot until cooled, then simply pour it down the sink.

BAKING THE LAUGENZÖPFE

Baking the Laugenzöpfe is what gives them their lovely colour. Before baking, you may want to top your Laugenzöpfe in some seeds. Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds, poppy seeds or just flaked sea salt all work really well with this recipe, although sunflower and pumpkin seeds are my favourite. You can also mix multiple different seeds together for a mixed seeds option! If you are using sunflower or pumpkin seeds, I would recommend soaking them in some water for about an hour, or even overnight if you are planning to bake the next morning. This will allow the seeds to plump up, and prevent them from burning in the oven.

Bake the Laugenzöpfe in a hot oven for 15-25 minutes (depending on your oven), making sure they are nicely golden and baked through, but not burned. They should also have browned from below and sound hollow when you peel them off the baking paper. If you like, you could also only half-bake some of the Laugenzöpfe and then freeze them once cold, to bake up in the oven another time.

Once baked, either leave the Laugenzöpfe to cool completely on a wire rack – or eat them when they are still warm from the oven! They taste amazing while still warm, especially if you put on some butter and it melts into the Laugenzopf! YUMMY!

How to make a Traditional German Breakfast

I love a good German Sunday morning breakfast, in fact, I think that is one of the things I miss most about no longer living in Germany.

A typical Sunday breakfast would usually involve fresh rolls from the bakery, a boiled egg, cold meats and cheese, and of course something sweet (jam, Nutella, honey, etc.) to finish! These Laugenzöpfe would always be a special treat for my mum and I on a Sunday morning – and they are perfect for dipping in a runny boiled egg! If you would like to learn a little bit more about how you can recreate your own traditional German breakfast, I have a more detailed post on it here. And below I’ll share with you a few other traditional German recipes you could make to accompany your breakfast or to have a classic German afternoon “Kaffee und Kuchen” (coffee and cake)!

German Laugenzöpfe | Classic German Baking Recipe

Recipe

Ingredients:

FOR THE DOUGH

500g plain flour
350 ml milk (lukewarm)
15g fresh yeast (or 7g dried fast-action)
1 tsp caster sugar
12g fine sea salt
50g unsalted butter, melted

TO BOIL

1-1.5 L boiling water (depending on the size of your pot)
50g bicarbonate of soda

TO FINISH

Mixed seeds, soaked in water for min. 1 hour
Flaked sea salt

Method:

If you are planning to top your Laugenzöpfe with sunflower or pumpkin seeds, start by pouring them into a small bowl and covering them with water. Allow the seeds to soak for at least one hour (you can also leave them overnight) before using.
Next, measure out the milk in a jug, then crumble in the fresh yeast, followed by the caster sugar and about 3 tbsp of the flour. Mix well until the yeast has fully dissolved and there are no lumps of flour. Cover with a tea towel and leave for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, melt the butter and leave it to cool to room temperature. Put the remaining flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and set aside until needed.
Once bubbly, pour the activated yeast mixture and melted butter into the bowl with the flour. Use an electric hand-held/free-standing mixer with the dough hooks attached to knead the mix for about 5-10 minutes until the dough is soft, less sticky, comes away from the edges of the bowl and starts to wrap itself in a ball of dough around the dough hooks. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm place for 60 minutes until doubled in size, or leave in the fridge overnight to prove.
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions (around 115g each). To shape the Laugenzöpfe, start by rolling each piece of dough into a long sausage, around 1cm in diameter. Lay the strand of dough in a straight line in front of you. Take the left end of the strand and place it over the strand about 2/3 of the way along at a 90° angle, creating a loop. Then take the other end of the strand and thread it through the loop, making sure it is tight and securing the other end of the dough. Twist the remaining loop part of the dough by 180°, before threading what used to be the right end of the strand through the remaining hole from above. Please watch the video (linked above) for a visual representation of the shaping – it’s very hard to explain!
Once shaped, place the Laugenzöpfe on a tray lined with baking paper and preheat the oven to 190°C.
Before baking, you want to blanch the Laugenzöpfe in alkaline fluid. For this, use a saucepan that is deep but has a fairly narrow base (~2-3L pot). Make sure that once you have added 1L – 1.5L of water, it doesn´t fill more than ¾ of the pot. Once boiling, very CAREFULLY AND GRADUALLY add the bicarbonate of soda as the mix will foam up once you add it! Be careful not to get anything in your eye and avoid touching the liquid too much with your hands.
Next, carefully add one or two Laugenzöpfe (depending on the size of your pot) and boil them for 30 seconds, before flipping over and leaving for a further 30 seconds. Use the slotted spoon or fish slicer to remove the Laugenzöpfe from the liquid and place them back onto the baking trays.
Drain the soaked sunflower and pumpkin seeds (if using), and cover the Laugenzöpfe in sunflower, pumpkin or sesame (no need to soak them) seeds, or some flaked sea salt once you remove them from the pot.
Bake the Laugenzöpfe in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, until they are a dark golden-brown colour. Serve warm and leave them on a wire rack to cool.

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