Pretzel Pizza with Bratwurst

5 from 1 vote

Pretzel Pizza with Bratwurst

I first had pretzel pizza when I visited my family in Germany and we ordered it at a restaurant in Saarbrücken. I took my famous pretzel recipe and turned the dough into two large pretzel pizzas.

I then added sour cream and Emmentaler cheese (gruyere would be a bit more rustic and perfect as well), USA-made authentic Bratwurst from Schaller & Weber (I used Knackwurst for this recipe), onion, sauerkraut and mustard.

The result is addictive!

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Resting Time30

Total Time1 20

Course: Baking, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Savory Baking, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: Bavarian, German

Keyword: homemade pretzel pizza, pretzel pizza recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 674kcal

Author: Author: Sophie Sadler

Equipment

2 Silicone Baking Mats

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough

500 grams all-purpose flour
15 grams brown sugar
30 grams butter room temperature
10 grams sea salt
4 grams active dry yeast ½ pouch
275 milliliters water luke warm

Lye Solution

12 grams food-grade lye I am using a food-grade lye with a concentration of 100%.
300 milliliters water COLD water

Toppings

200 grams sour cream
200 grams emmentaler cheese or gruyère Swiss cheese for a more rustic version
¼ onion I used red onion for color, but yellow onion will work too.
3 Bratwurst I used Knackwurst by Schaller & Weber, an authentic German-style Bratwurst made from pork and beef.
450 grams sauerkraut net weight
German mustard I used Düsseldorf-style mustard by Schaller & Weber
pretzel salt optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Stir together the Luke warm (barely warm) water, brown sugar and yeast and allow to bubble up, this should take 5 minutes. If it's not getting bubbly, your water may have been too hot or your yeast is bad. You'll have to repeat this step.
15 grams brown sugar, 4 grams active dry yeast, 275 milliliters water
Combine with all other dough ingredients. Knead the dough on the low setting for 8 to 10 minutes using the dough hook.
500 grams all-purpose flour, 10 grams sea salt, 30 grams butter
Cover the dough with a clean linen towel and let it rest while you prep your pretzel pizza toppings.
Cut the Knackwurst into slices, thinly slice the onion (I used about ¼ of a large red onion), drain the sauerkraut. Shred the cheese if you didn't buy a shredded kind.
200 grams emmentaler cheese, 3 Bratwurst, 450 grams sauerkraut, ¼ onion
Divide the dough into quarters and roll out two of the quarters into round circles with about 16 inch (40 cm) diameter.
Place the rolled out pizza circles onto large baking sheets topped with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Top in the following order: sour cream, salt and pepper, shredded cheese, sauerkraut, onion rings, mustard, bratwurst.
200 grams sour cream, German mustard
Shape the other 2 dough pieces into long strings, long enough to wrap around the edge of the pizza crust.
Prepare your lye solution in a well-ventilated area (like standing under a vent hood set to high or ideally being outside) because of potential fumes. Add the premeasured lye (it comes in dry granules) into COLD water, not the over way around. At this point, I like to step to the side for about 10 to 15 seconds to let potential fumes evaporate.
Then carefully combine with a whisk until the solution is clear.
Now add your pretzel strings and leave them in the solution for 5 to 10 seconds, carefully removing them with 2 sets of tongs and placing 2 each on the edge of the pretzel pizza.
12 grams food-grade lye, 300 milliliters water
Optionally top the crust ring with pretzel salt before baking. You could skip adding the salt and add a little shredded cheese onto the crust instead or add nothing at all (Germans don't like a ton of salt on their pretzels and the pizza toppings are already salty enough).
pretzel salt
Bake your pretzel pizza at 355° Fahrenheit or 180° Celsius (convection/Umluft setting) for about 14 to 17 minutes, rotating the 2 pizzas 7 minutes into baking.

Video

Notes

Variations

While my pretzel pizza version uses a white sauce, feel free to use red sauce and experiment with different toppings.
An authentic Flammkuchen version with bacon and onion would be easy and delicious, too.
Or make a pretzel pizza with Weisswurst, sweet mustard, and Obatzda, which would be perfect for Oktoberfest season or a Bavarian brunch.

Reheat

When reheating, I recommend running water over the pretzel crust, then reheating in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit and covering the outer pretzel crust ring slightly with aluminum foil to prevent it from turning too dark.

Nutrition