New Year’s Pretzel
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Celebrate the new year with a delicious New Year’s Pretzel! This sweet dough is baked in the oven and topped with a sweet almond glaze and cherries.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and we have a few traditional foods that we eat for the new year. My parents would always make kielbasa and sauerkraut and hot sausage for dinner on New Year’s Eve and then we would have Pork and Sauerkraut on New Year’s Day.
I feel like both of those things are pretty traditionally throughout the country. The one thing we would have on New Year’s Day that many people ask about is a New Year’s Pretzel.
What is a New year’s Pretzel?
A New Year’s pretzel is a tradition in some cultures, particularly in parts of Germany in Europe and in the Pennsylvania Dutch communities in the United States. The tradition involves making and eating a special pretzel to welcome the new year. The New Year’s pretzel is often shaped into either a ring, which represents continuity or eternity, or it has the traditional pretzel shape. It is made from a sweet yeast dough and has a glaze or frosting on top along with cherries, nuts, or sprinkles.
Growing up we would always get our New Year’s pretzels from Giant Eagle. I’m happy to report that they are still selling them there to this day.
Since I now live in Maryland no one has ever heard of them and there is nowhere nearby to find one. I’ve never made one before but I decided that it was time to change that.
This is a yeast dough so you need to make sure you have enough time to make it. I like to make mine on New Year’s Eve so it’s ready at midnight or the following day.
What toppings do you put on the pretzel?
Most New Year’s Pretzels I’ve had are topped with a thick frosting or glaze and cherries on top. Other classic toppings include sprinkles and chopped nuts. You can also top it with cinnamon sugar, a chocolate drizzle, fruit, or toffee.
I thought about making a few variations of this pretzel but at the end of the day I decided to make my first one in the tradition way. I topped it with almond frosting, cherries, and sliced almonds.
Ingredients:
- granulated sugar (this makes the dough a bit on the sweet side)
- salt (don’t skip the salt as it brings out all of the other flavors)
- allspice or cinnamon (I prefer allspice over cinnamon but you don’t have to use either one)
- active dry yeast (make sure it is fresh)
- warm water (best temperature is between 110-120 degrees)
- salted butter (you can also use unsalted butter)
- whole milk (you can also use low fat milk or plant based milk)
- eggs
- all purpose flour
- powdered sugar
- almond extract (or vanilla extract if you prefer)
- maraschino cherries (optional)
- sliced almonds (optional)
To make the pretzel dissolve the yeast, a teaspoon of sugar, and warm water in a large bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and add sugar, salt, and allspice.
Add in the eggs and yeast mixture and mix well. Add the flour and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise 1-2 hours or until it doubles.
What do you use to cover your bowl?
Many people use a dish cloth but that is one of the worst things to use. Cover the bowl with a dough cap, plastic wrap, or a a lid from a pan. This will help keep the dough warmer for a longer period of time which will help the dough rise quicker.
Remove the dough and knead for 3-4 minutes. Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a 36 inch rope. Form a pretzel and place each pretzel on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise 1-2 hours or until doubled.
When ready to make preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush with a baking soda and water mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Cool completely then frost and decorate.
I was excited by big and golden this pretzel baked up. It didn’t rise as much as I would have liked but it certainly finished the rise in the oven.
Once it cooled I mixed up a thick powdered sugar glaze and used almond extract to flavor it. I was going to go with vanilla but I went with almond at the last minute and I’m so glad I did.
I didn’t have candied cherries so I used maraschino cherries instead and they ended up working well. Then I sprinkled the pretzel with gold and silver sprinkled and sliced almonds as well.
The pretzel had a delicious texture that was part pretzel and part sweet roll. The glaze on top sweetened it up and added a bit of almond flavor. I liked it with the cherries and almonds and without so I was glad I didn’t use a ton of either.
This pretzel will stay fresh for 3-5 days. If it starts to get hard warm it up in an air fryer or microwave to soften it up.
New Year’s Pretzel
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon allspice optional
- 2 packages dry active yeast
- 1/3 cup warm water 110-120 degrees
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 eggs beaten
- 4 1/2- 5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- maraschino cherries (optional)
- sliced almonds (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, and warm water. Let it 5 minutes while you continue the recipe.
- In a small saucepan combine the milk and butter over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in sugar, salt, and allspice. Mix well.
- Add in the eggs and yeast mixture and mix well to combine.
- Add the flour a cup at a time, mixing after each addition, until a dough has formed.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let sit 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
- Place the dough onto a floured surface and cut in half. Roll each dough half into a 36 inch long rope.
- Form the rope into a large pretzel and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise 1-2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the pretzels for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
- To make the glaze combine the powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract in a small bowl. Pour over top of the pretzel or spread it on with a knife. It should be thick.
- Immediately sprinkle with sprinkles and sliced almonds if using. Push cherries into the frosting.
- Cut into pieces and serve.