Chocolate chip soft pretzels not only sounded good in head, but also tasted amazing (especially the lye-dipped kind inspired by my authentic German pretzel recipe)! I know I'll make these Schokobrezeln over and over again and I hope you will, too.
I made half the recipe as sweet pretzels (basically leaving the lye solution off) and brushed the other half with a lye solution (just like I do with my traditional pretzels) and sprinkled them with sea salt for a sweet-and-salty touch.
My taste testers all agreed. The salted pretzel won. Believe me, they are both exceptionally good, so if you can, try them both!
It's best to let the dough rest overnight after preparing the pretzels to allow the chocolate chips to be chilled completely. Otherwise you will end up with a very messy dough. If you don't want to wait all night, try to have the dough cool down in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Easy Chocolate Chip Pretzels (Schokobrezeln)
Ingredients
- 500 grams all-purpose flour
- 7 grams active dry yeast 1 small pouch
- 150 milliliters milk luke warm
- 150 grams greek yogurt
- 4 egg yolks size US large
- 80 grams granulated sugar
- 60 grams butter softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt a pinch
- 100 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips
Salty-Sweet Version
- 4 grams food-grade lye
- 100 grams cold water
- coarse sea salt or pretzel salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Combine the luke warm milk and yeast and set aside for 5 minutes until starting to bubble.7 grams active dry yeast, 150 milliliters milk
- In the bowl of a standmixer, combine all ingredients (except chocolate chips) for the dough and knead for 10 minutes on the medium-low setting. Add in chocolate chips, and knead on low for 30 more seconds.500 grams all-purpose flour, 150 grams greek yogurt, 4 egg yolks, 80 grams granulated sugar, 60 grams butter, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 100 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Cover the bowl and allow to rest in a warm spot until doubled in size, about one hour. Transfer the dough in the fridge and allow to rest and cool overnight or at least 2 hours, so that your chocolate chips won't melt.
- Divide the dough up into 8 equal pieces (best to use a kitchen scale, but you can eyeball it).
- Shape pretzels with flour, let rest - on parchment paper and loosely covered with a clean linen towel - for 30 minutes before brushing with lye solution or egg wash. Sprinkle with salt (I used grey celtic sea salt - so good!) if brushing with lye solution.4 grams food-grade lye, 100 grams cold water, coarse sea salt or pretzel salt
- If not dipping in lye, prepare an egg wash of one yolk and equal amounts of water, then brush onto the pretzels before baking.
- Preheat oven to 355 Fahrenheit on the convection setting (180 Celsius) and put a small bowl of water on the bottom rack. Bake for 15 minutes (remove water bowl after 4 minutes).
- Best enjoyed right out of the oven (and definitely the same day - you did something wrong if they last past the first day!). If reheating the next day, run some water over the each pretzel and bake for 6 to 8 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit.
