Franzbrötchen – Sweet Cinnamon Pastry from Hamburg

Franzbrötchen is a small, sweet pastry, baked with butter and cinnamon. Sometimes other ingredients are used as well, such as chocolate or raisins. It is a type of pastry commonly found in northern Germany, especially Hamburg, and it is usually served for breakfast, but is also enjoyed along with coffee and cake.

As its name indicates, the Franzbrötchen was probably inspired by French pastries. Originally, it could be found only in the region of Hamburg, but now Franzbrötchen are also sold in Bremen, Berlin and other German cities.

Ingredients:

Dough

• 500 g flour
• 40 g yeast
• 70 g sugar
• 250 ml lukewarm milk
• 70 g butter
• 1 pinch salt

Filling

• 100 g cold butter
• 100 g sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough together – flour, yeast, sugar, lukewarm milk, butter and some salt. Mix it until it becomes a nice dough.
2. Now roll the dough on a floured working surface in the shape of a rectangle, it should be about the size of a baking sheet.
3. Cut the cold butter into multiple thin slices and place all of them on one-half of the rolled-out dough, and flip the other side over.
4. Roll the dough again, to an approx. size of 50 x 30 cm. Take one-third of the dough from the narrow side towards the middle, beat the remaining third, so that three layers lie on top of each other. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
5. Now roll the dough to an approximate size of 80 x 40 cm and coat it gently with water.
6. Mix cinnamon and sugar and spread the mix evenly over the dough.
7. Roll the dough up from the long side and press down slightly. Cut the roll about every 4 cm and press it down in the middle with a spoon, so it looks about like a butterfly.
8. Place them on a baking sheet with sufficient distance and let them rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime, you can preheat the oven to 200°C, and bake the Franzbrötchen for about 25 minutes until golden.