Pretzels and bagels, it seems, are quite closely related: both are given a particular and highly symbolic shape, and they are also boiled prior to baking. But when I came across Irina’s beautiful post about obwarzanki, the twisted breads sold in Krakow during Lent, I knew I was onto something promising …

Obwarzanki are a speciality of Krakow, baked traditionally during Lent, and date back as far as the 17th century. They are so similar to bagels – and, indeed, pretzels – that one has to assume they are all linked, somewhere, somehow. Check out the wonderful article in the Wall Street Journal about obwarzanki and their history, which even includes a recipe. I’ll keep that one in mind for a future post – they are just too beautiful!

As much as I loved the Krakow-style twisted ringbreads, I decided that for now I would simply team up my American-style sourdough bagels with German soft pretzels. To this end I used my rye-based German-style sourdough starter, adapting my bagels to include milk and butter in a further nod towards my Brezels. The result? Chewy and soft bagels, the flavour of the lye complimented by the sourness of the rye starter. Perfect for a healthy-ish Lenten breakfast 😉

Pretzel Bagels (makes 12)

Sponge:

• 100g strong white bread flour
• 300g rye-based sourdough starter
• 1 tbs sugar
• 250ml warm water

Mix the starter and with the sugar and water, as well as some of the flour. Cover with a lid or a tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Dough:

• 400g strong white bread flour
• 50g soft butter
• 120ml lukewarm milk
• 1 tsp dry active yeast
• 3 tsp salt
• 60g bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tbs cornflour or semolina, for dusting the baking sheets
• 1 tbs coarse sea salt

Add the ingredients to your sponge and knead until the dough comes off the bowl – it should take around 10 minutes. Depending on your flour, you might want to add more water or flour. Knead it well to ensure the bagels won’t disintegrate when you boil them. Cover and rest for 3-4 hours at room temperature, until doubled in size.

Lightly dust your work surface and split the dough into 12 pieces, roll them into sausages and form little rings by crossing the ends over. Put the finished bagels on a baking sheet covered with oiled parchment paper. Cover with your tea towel and let them rest for 1-2 hours or over night.

Preheat the oven to 240C. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir.

Drop a few of the bagels into the boiling water and let them boil for about a minute before flipping them over to boil for another minute. Sprinkle a bit of cornflour on the parchment paper before you put the boiled bagels back; sprinkle the coarse sea salt on top of the still wet bagels before popping them in the oven.

Bake at 240C for ca. 20 minutes; you might need to turn them at some point to ensure they are baked evenly.

I’m bringing them to Brotzeitliebe‘s and Zorra‘s Bread Baking Day event, which is dedicated to lye breads. I hope they enjoy this Swabian-American take on fusion food (which leaves me wondering whether or not people in Stuttgart, Arkansas have come up with this already …?)

Happy lye bread baking!