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Home » Baking » Bread

Published: Apr 7, 2017 · Modified: Feb 25, 2021 by Sandhya Ramakrishnan · This post may contain affiliate links

Franzbrötchen - German Croissant Recipe

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franzbrotchen

Franzbrötchen is a German Croissant Recipe and is similar to French croissant. They are mildly sweet but is not as laborious to make as traditional croissant.

Franzbrötchen in a tray

Franzbrötchen, literally translated as "little French Breads", is a German cousin of the famous French Croissant. When I first looked into the description, I had to think twice, if I was going to make something similar to the Croissant.

I have made Croissants before and have to admit that they were one of the best breads I have made and the process is quite time consuming. I was not ready to make a bread that was going to be as time consuming as the Croissant.

Only when I read through the description, I saw that they were much easier to make and was totally up my alley. The Croissants and the Franzbrötchen are similar because they both are made with dough that is laminated with butter.

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They are then rolled, chilled and then rolled again. The Franzbrötchen though does not need the 3 days of work as the croissants. Also there is no pounding of chilled butter involved (which I thought was the hardest in croissant).

  German Croissant served in a tray

The Franzbrötchen has cold butter that is thinly sliced and placed inside the rolled dough and then folded over and rolled as much as it allows and the chilled for about 30 minutes and then rolled again. The Franzbrötchen is also mildly sweetened with cinnamon sugar.

The texture of this bread is very flaky, but not quite as much as its cousin, the Croissant. I really loved the mild sweetness and that made it even more addictive for me.

German Croissant originated in the city of Hamburg in Germany and was originally only found there. Now the pastry can be found in the other German cities as well. It is commonly eaten for breakfast , but are served any time with coffee as well.

The best part about making the Franzbrötchen was to squeeze the center of the cut jelly roll dough using a wooden stick ( I used chopsticks ). It just gave this inner pleasure, squeezing each and every piece of dough and seeing it flare and open up from both the sides.

I had made only 9 Franzbrötchen, this is one bread that I will go back and bake again very soon. My MIL is here with us now who really enjoyed the flaky bread and she has been talking about it for couple of days now.

This is my second recipe from Germany already in the A to Z Baking around the World. The first recipe that I baked from Germany was the Bretzel Roll. After the couple of German bakes, I have to admit that I have become a big fan of them and I am really looking forward to trying a few more from the country.

Franzbrötchen in a bowl

Preparation time - 20 minutes plus about 2 hours of resting time
Baking time - 20 to 25 minutes
Difficulty level - Intermediate
Recipe adapted from - A Bread a Day

 German Croissant served in a bowl with milk

Ingredients to make Franzbrötchen - Makes 8

For the dough -

  • All purpose flour - 2 cups
  • Instant yeast - ½ tbsp
  • Sugar - 2 tbsp
  • Salt - ½ tbsp
  • Milk - ½ cup to ¾ cup (lukewarm)
  • Unsalted butter - 2 tablespoon (melted and slightly cooled)

For the Filling -

  • Butter (chill) - 6 tbsp
  • Sugar - ¼ cup
  • Cinnamon - 2 tsp

Procedure to make the Franzbrötchen -

To make the dough -

  • I made the dough in my food processor. Add the flour, sugar, salt and yeast to the jar of the food processor or in a large bowl if mixing by hand.
  • To this add the melted and cooled butter and pulse it for a minute.
  • Now add about ½ cup of the lukewarm milk and mix. If needed add a little more milk and knead the mixture into a soft dough. .
  • Cover the dough with plastic wrap and then with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft free place until double in volume. It took about an hour and a half for my dough to rise.
Kneading a dough in a bowl

Shaping the Franzbrötchen -

  • Gently punch down the dough and roll it into a 8 x 12 rectangle. Use a little flour to help roll the dough.
  • Thinly slice the chilled butter into several pieces. Make sure that the slices are thin and not chunky. Also having the butter really cold helps in slicing them neatly.
  • Place the sliced butter over ⅔rd of the rolled dough. Bring the remaining ⅓ rd of the dough over the butter and then fold the dough over itself one more time, making a tri-fold.
  • Pinch the edges to seal well, so that the butter does not ooze out when we roll again.
Shaping the dough
  • Dust the surface with more flour and roll the dough gently again to form a 8 x 12 rectangle. Try to keep the edges straight.
Measuring the dough size
  • Now tri-fold the dough again and wrap it plastic and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to chill.
Folding the dough with wraper
  • When the dough is chilling, prepare the cinnamon sugar by mixing the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
  • Also preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a tray with parchment and keep it ready.
  • When the dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and roll it into a 10 X 15 rectangle.
  • Brush the surface of the dough with little water and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly.
  • Start rolling the dough tightly, like a jelly roll and form a tight log. Pinch the edges to seal and with the sealed side facing down, slice the log into 1 inch pieces. I got about 9 pieces from my dough.
Slicing the dough
  • Using a rounded wooden stick or the handle of a wooden ladle/spoon, press on the center of each piece strongly and all the way down. You will see the dough flare out and spread on each side like a wing of the bird. This is a step that I really enjoyed as it was very pleasurable to watch the dough spread out.
Pressing the dough with wooden stick

Baking the Franzbrötchen -

  • Place the shaped pastry on the prepared baking tray and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Beware that the sugar would melt and puddle around the bread when baking, but would all be absorbed back by the end of the baking time.
  • Remove the German Croissant from the oven when it is golden brown and cool them on a rack. Serve warm.
Franzbrötchen is served in a tray

More Similar Recipes

  • Classic French Croissants | Flaky Butter Croissants
  • Hot Cross Buns | Eggless Recipe
  • Hawaiian Buns | King Hawaiian Sweet Buns | Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
  • No Knead Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls

 If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter

Franzbrötchen – German Croissant in a tray

Franzbrötchen – German Croissant Recipe

Franzbrötchen is a German Croissant Recipe and is similar to French croissant. They are mildly sweet but is not as laborious to make as traditional croissant.
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Print Pin Rate
Course: Baking, Bread, Breakfast, bun, Dessert, Kids Friendly, Pastries, Snacks
Cuisine: European
Diet: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 261kcal
Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Equipment

  • bowl
  • Oven

Ingredients

For the dough -

  • 2 cups All purpose flour
  • ½ tablespoon Instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoon Sugar
  • ½ tablespoon Salt
  • ½ -¾ cup Milk lukewarm
  • 2 tablespoon Unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled

For the Filling -

  • 6 tablespoon Butter chill
  • ¼ cup Sugar
  • 2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Instructions

To make the dough -

  • I made the dough in my food processor. Add the flour, sugar, salt and yeast to the jar of the food processor or in a large bowl if mixing by hand.
  • To this add the melted and cooled butter and pulse it for a minute.
  • Now add about ½ cup of the lukewarm milk and mix. If needed add a little more milk and knead the mixture into a soft dough. .
  • Cover the dough with plastic wrap and then with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft free place until double in volume. It took about an hour and a half for my dough to rise.

Shaping the Franzbrötchen -

  • Gently punch down the dough and roll it into a 8 x 12 rectangle. Use a little flour to help roll the dough.
  • Thinly slice the chilled butter into several pieces. Make sure that the slices are thin and not chunky. Also having the butter really cold helps in slicing them neatly.
  • Place the sliced butter over ⅔rd of the rolled dough. Bring the remaining ⅓ rd of the dough over the butter and then fold the dough over itself one more time, making a tri-fold.
  • Pinch the edges to seal well, so that the butter does not ooze out when we roll again.
  • Dust the surface with more flour and roll the dough gently again to form a 8 x 12 rectangle. Try to keep the edges straight.
  • Now tri-fold the dough again and wrap it plastic and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to chill.
  • When the dough is chilling, prepare the cinnamon sugar by mixing the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
  • Also preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a tray with parchment and keep it ready.
  • When the dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and roll it into a 10 X 15 rectangle.
  • Brush the surface of the dough with little water and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly.
  • Start rolling the dough tightly, like a jelly roll and form a tight log. Pinch the edges to seal and with the sealed side facing down, slice the log into 1 inch pieces. I got about 9 pieces from my dough.
  • Using a rounded wooden stick or the handle of a wooden ladle/spoon, press on the center of each piece strongly and all the way down. You will see the dough flare out and spread on each side like a wing of the bird. This is a step that I really enjoyed as it was very pleasurable to watch the dough spread out.

Baking the Franzbrötchen -

  • Place the shaped pastry on the prepared baking tray and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Beware that the sugar would melt and puddle around the bread when baking, but would all be absorbed back by the end of the baking time.
  • Remove them from the oven when it is golden brown and cool them on a rack. Serve warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 261kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 519mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 376IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @Sandhya.Ramakrishnan or tag #MyCookingJourney!
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sailakshmi says

    April 28, 2019 at 12:21 am

    Cinnamon is tsp or cup??

    Reply
    • Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      April 30, 2019 at 9:58 am

      Sailakshmi, thanks a lot for pointing out. That was a total typo. It is 2 tsp. I have updated the recipe now.

      Reply
  2. Sapna says

    May 07, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    I can never imagine baking them at home. Looks super delicious and so beautifully baked.

    Reply
  3. chei says

    April 22, 2017 at 1:56 am

    Wow this looks so tasty! Urgh! Im getting hungry!

    Reply
  4. Molly Kumar says

    April 21, 2017 at 1:32 am

    OMG, If I would have seen it in a bakery, I would have never thought of making it as it looks so tough to make. But you make it look so easy with step by step pictures. They look fab and i'm saving to try later.

    Reply
  5. Priya Srinivasan says

    April 19, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    Wow sandhya, looks very pretty, all that butter and the flakiness of the final product, oh my you are tempting me to make this!! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says

    April 18, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    These look so light and flaky. I love the cinnamon in these and I can only imagine that they taste amazing!

    Reply
  7. Uma Srinivas says

    April 18, 2017 at 12:31 pm

    What an interesting recipe. I never tried this kind of recipe, this making me more comfortable to do. Thanks for step by step photos.

    Reply
  8. Kathy McDaniel says

    April 18, 2017 at 12:10 pm

    Wow they look so perfect! You are a great baker. What a delicious recipe.

    Reply
  9. swathi says

    April 18, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    German Crossiant looks really nice, kids will love it as it has cinnamon and sugar with buttery layers is best treat any day.

    Reply
  10. Kelly @ trial and eater says

    April 18, 2017 at 9:38 am

    I LOVE croissants so these sound amazing as well! Of course butter, cinnamon and sugar sound delicious. They are super cute too.

    Reply
  11. Renz says

    April 18, 2017 at 6:43 am

    Oh these are gorgeous little things. Im sure they taste amazing. The process reminds me of a dessert we make called currants roll. Saving to try!

    Reply
  12. Pam says

    April 17, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    These sound really good. I like that they are easier to make than croissants, but they still look light and flaky.

    Reply
  13. Veena Azmanov says

    April 17, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    Oh I love the German Croissants - have not eaten them since my trip to Germany. Love them when they are especially hot!! Brings so many good memories of my travel to Germany. Yum.

    Reply
  14. Traditionallymodernfood says

    April 17, 2017 at 4:17 pm

    I have never heard about this . Looks like croissant cousin.i m not sure if I can perfect the shape like urs

    Reply
  15. Megan Marlowe says

    April 17, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    These look absolutely delicious! As for croissants, I always buy them at the store because I do not have the patience to wait 3 days. But these franzbrotchen are totally right up my alley!

    Reply
  16. srividhya says

    April 17, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    Wow I have a croissant lover at home. Everytime I bake, I miss the shape. Now this sounds interesting and thanks for the step by step picture. Love it. Great pick for F

    Reply
  17. Adriana Lopez Martn says

    April 17, 2017 at 11:33 am

    Beautiful idea and that technique for making the Franzbrötchen is amazing. I need to try this yummy treat!

    Reply
  18. Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner says

    April 10, 2017 at 2:32 am

    Love that detailed step by step description.. I am book marking.. Awesome bake to the detail and perfect!!

    Reply
  19. Srivalli Jetti says

    April 10, 2017 at 12:58 am

    These franzbrotchen look fantastic Sandhya, even though you said croissants are tough, your step by step pictures made it look simple and these are just the same, I don't think I can possibly do this, though I am so tempted!...love the shape on how pretty they have proofed!..very good choice.

    Reply
  20. kalyani says

    April 09, 2017 at 9:29 am

    saw this in my FB feed - the pictures look really inviting and bookmarked this recipe to try sometime. good job, Sandhya ! MIL approval is so welcome, isnt it ? :-))

    Reply
  21. Ritu Tangri says

    April 08, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    I bookmarked these cute looking croissants even without reading anything about them 'cause I know I'm going to make it today only for my kids. so reading will continue afterwards 😀

    Reply
  22. Priya Suresh says

    April 08, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    Am bookmarking this franzbrotchen, cant wait to give a try. Since we are great fans of crossiant am sure this German croissant will definitely please our tastebuds. Loved all your great efforts to bring this absolutely stunning Franzbrotchen Sandhya, kudos to u.

    Reply
  23. Vaishali Sabnani says

    April 07, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    The first glance you have to say WOW!..seriously I am amazed by your baking skills and if your mil has approved , you have to give a pat on the back..super efforts and a dream bread Sandhya.

    Reply
  24. Pavani says

    April 07, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    This is a completely new dish for me Sandhya. They look very similar to croissants but with much less butter and effort to make. Will have to try these out some time. Pinned!!

    Reply
  25. PRADNYA says

    April 07, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    very nice find Sandhya, learnt about a new recipe, also they are baked beautifully

    Reply
  26. harini says

    April 07, 2017 at 10:04 am

    WOW! such a beautiful German Croissant, Sandhya. Very inviting one.

    Reply
    • Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      April 07, 2017 at 12:48 pm

      Thanks Harini!

      Reply
  27. Sowmya says

    April 07, 2017 at 6:55 am

    Love these German croissants! They look delicious and tempting. Praise from the MIL is surely the cherry on top for you!

    Reply
    • Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      April 07, 2017 at 12:47 pm

      Thanks Sowmya! I agree....I was very happy that my MIL enjoyed it.

      Reply

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I am Sandhya Ramakrishnan, author, recipe developer and photographer in this journey! 'My Cooking Journey' is all about family friendly Vegetarian and Vegan recipes from around the World with focus on Indian cuisine.

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