Palm pretzels have always been my favourite thing about Lent. They’re sweet pretzels with raisins that are traditionally eaten on Palm Sunday, a week before Easter. So you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when I moved away from the deeply Catholic region I grew up in and realized that palm pretzels were not, in fact, a thing everywhere. How shocking. I was, and still am, flabbergasted about this distinct lack of culinary culture!
That’s why, appallingly, I’ve went without palm pretzels for many years. Not anymore though! This year I decided that even though I still live in a heretically Protestant region* that is entirely palm pretzel-less, I wouldn’t let that stop me from enjoying them. After all, I could just bake them myself! I used this recipe. They turned out delicious, although I’ll have to work on the pretzel form … but nevermind aesthetic quibbles! I’m in heaven that I can finally enjoy a palm pretzel again, it’s made my entire week. And with that, I wish everyone who celebrates a happy Easter!
* For the record, I’m Protestant myself. I just think the Catholics have better food.
Swabian palm pretzels
Ingredients for the yeast dough
- 500g wheat flour
- 21g fresh yeast
- 1tsp of sugar
- 4 tbsp of warm milk
Additional ingredients
- 1tsp of salt
- 40g sugar
- 1pck of vanilla sugar
- 2 eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 50g butter
- 150ml warm milk
- 75-100g raisins
- 1tbsp of corn starch
Directions
- Sift the flour into the mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and put the crumbled yeast into it. Then add the sugar and the milk. Mix the ingredients in the well. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 15-20min.
- Afterwards, add the salt, sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon zest, butter, eggs, and the warm milk. Mix all the ingredients. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size.
- In the meantime, wash the raisins with warm water and pat them dry with a paper towel. Cover two baking trays with backing paper. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Knead the dough by hand on a flour-covered surface. Dust the raisins with corn starch, then work them into the dough. Divide the dough into six portions that are roughly the same size. Make a roll out of each portion that measures about 45-50cm. The middle of the roll has to be three times the size as the ends! Then take the left end of the roll and make a loop, pressing it into the left side of the middle part. Take the right end, loop it under the left end, and press it into the right side of the middle part. You now should have six pretzels.
- Put the pretzels on the baking trays and let them rise again for about 15min. Coat the pretzels with warm milk. Bake them in the oven for 22-25min.
2 responses to “Palm pretzels”
Yummy😋
They’re so delicious!