A traditional dessert of Luxembourg, these Sweet Love Pretzels are soft with a delightful chewiness of almond and cinnamon.

I would just love to be in the kitchen with my great, great grandma in Luxembourg as she made these Sweet Love Pretzels during lent time to celebrate Pretzel Sunday.

This recipe was tucked in an away within in grandma’s ‘special days’ recipes. I can’t wait to share more of these with you!

‘Bretzelsonndeg’

Pretzel Sunday or ‘Bretzelsonndeg’ as the locals called it, is a celebration of love taking place on the 4th Sunday of Lent. Traditionally a man would offer a pretzel (this sweet puff pastry with icing and almonds) to his sweetheart as a token of his love.

If the woman accepts it, she will reciprocate with offering him an egg on Easter Day.

In the unfortunate event that she is not interested, the man will be given an empty basket. Hence the Luxembourgish expression ‘De Kuerf kreien’ (to be given the basket).

These Luxembourg Sweet Love Pretzels are not over sweet. I would categorize them similar to as cinnamon roll or danish. All of the ingredients are well balanced including that bit of glaze and the crunch of the sliced almonds.

The dough of the pretzel is light and crispy and the hearty inside reminds me of a nutty/ cinnamon marzipan of sorts.

Making Luxembourg Sweet Love Pretzels the Video!

Why You’ll Love These Sweet Love Pretzels

• Light and not too sweet, similar to a cinnamon roll

• Add as much or as little glaze

• We like to use them during brunch or as a fine dessert

Materials we used to make this

1. Mortar and pestle to ground almonds
2. Food scale
3. Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer with dough hook

Making the Pretzel Dough

The dough will be dense but soft and chewy. I love using my stand mixer for this.

First met the butter and add egg and milk and wisk.

Combine the dry ingredients, flour, instant yeast, sugar, and vanilla sugar into the mixing bow and mix on low.

Then add the butter/egg mixture to the dry flour mixture with the dough hook knead for 5 minutes or until the ball is smooth. Add more milk if your dough seems to dry to stick together.

With your hands, shape the dough into a ball, set in bowl, cover with a clean towel and allow to rise for 1.5-2 hours.

Prepare the Filling

In a bowl, mix together the ground almonds (almond flour), brown sugar, cinnamon, egg white and apricot jam.

Roll out Pretzel Dough

After the dough has risen, roll out on a floured surface and cut into 2 halves.

Spread the filling out on one side and cover with the other half of dough.

Then using a sharp knife or pizza cutter slice into 1/2″ strips.

Twist and Shape the Pretzels

Twist the strips like a twisty straw, and shape into a pretzel shape.

Place the pretzels on a lined baking sheet and cover with a towel for another 15 minutes.

Bake Sweet Love Pretzels

Bake Pretzels at 350° for 10-15 Minutes.

Glaze and Sprinkle with Almonds

Prepare your glaze by mixing up the powdered sugar and milk and drizzle over cooled pretzels.

Sprinkle almond slices on top.

Enjoy!

Questions People are asking about

Tips about This

• Using almond flour will help you not have to crush the sliced almonds and give you a smoother filling.

• Store them in an airtight container to keep them moist.

• Place them in a basket and take them to a neighbor who you think might enjoy this tradition!

• Using a food scale really helps get precise measurements for the dough and ensures that once mixed together your dough will rise!

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