Chef Klaus
Bayerische Breze
The Bavarian pretzel lives by its lye bath: a pale dough goes in, a dark glossy Breze comes out, with thin arms, a proud belly, and salt that bites clean.
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Fränkische Kipf
Created by
The Franconian roll with two sharp points and caraway on top, made on a slow poolish so a cheap weeknight bread tastes like something from a proper bakery.
Breads
German
Weeknight
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
35 min
Active Time
22 min cook•15 hr 27 min total
Yield10 rolls
Fränkische Kipf belong to Franconia, and Franconia will remind you that it isn't Bavaria when the bread basket comes out. In Nürnberg you hear Weggla for the sausage roll; elsewhere in Franken a Kipf is longer, pointed at both ends, and often carries caraway and coarse salt. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders, different in the north, different in the south. Even the roll has a border.
I make these for a weeknight soup, for a board of cold cuts, or for a Sunday Bratwurst when the sausage deserves better than a soft white bun from a packet. Nicht aus dem Glas, not from the jar, and not from the plastic bag either. Flour, water, salt, yeast, time. That is the old bargain.
The poolish decides the roll. A small bit of yeast works overnight in equal flour and water, and that slow work gives the dough aroma before the oven ever sees it. Rush it and you get bread that tastes only of yeast. Let it ripen until bubbly and slightly domed, then shape the dough tight in the middle and tapered at the ends; those points bake crisp because they are thin, while the belly stays soft enough to split.
Watch the dough, not the clock. It should feel alive and elastic, not stiff as a board and not slack as batter. Das braucht seine Zeit. Flour is cheap, but time is the ingredient that makes it taste like bread.
The word Kipf is an old German name for a pointed or crescent-shaped baked good, related to Kipfel and Kipferl, and regional bakers used it long before standardised Brötchen names spread through national trade. In Franconia, especially around market towns where sausages, beer, and bread were sold side by side, the Kipf became a practical white roll shaped to hold a Bratwurst or to sit in the bread basket with soup and cold meats. The regional naming matters: Franconian cooks distinguish Kipf, Weggla, Laabla, and Semmel with a seriousness that shows how local German bread culture stayed even inside one federal state.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
wheat flour, German Type 550 or strong white bread flour
Quantity
150g
for the poolish
water
Quantity
150ml
room temperature, for the poolish
instant yeast
Quantity
1g
for the poolish
wheat flour, German Type 550 or strong white bread flour
Quantity
350g
light rye flour (optional)
Quantity
25g
water
Quantity
155ml
lukewarm
instant yeast
Quantity
5g
fine salt
Quantity
10g
barley malt syrup or honey
Quantity
8g
lard or neutral oil
Quantity
15g
caraway seeds
Quantity
1 tablespoon
coarse salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
for topping
flour
Quantity
as needed
for shaping
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| wheat flour, German Type 550 or strong white bread flourfor the poolish | 150g |
| waterroom temperature, for the poolish | 150ml |
| instant yeastfor the poolish | 1g |
| wheat flour, German Type 550 or strong white bread flour | 350g |
| light rye flour (optional) | 25g |
| waterlukewarm | 155ml |
| instant yeast | 5g |
| fine salt | 10g |
| barley malt syrup or honey | 8g |
| lard or neutral oil | 15g |
| caraway seeds | 1 tablespoon |
| coarse saltfor topping | 1 teaspoon |
| flourfor shaping | as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Bench scraper
- •Kitchen scale
- •Baking stone or heavy baking tray
- •Wire cooling rack
Instructions
- 1
Mix the poolish
Stir the 150g flour, 150ml water, and 1g yeast into a loose batter, cover it, and leave it at cool room temperature for 12 to 14 hours. It is ready when the surface is full of small bubbles and the middle has just begun to flatten. That is the yeast using its strength slowly, so the rolls taste of grain and not of raw yeast.
If your kitchen is very warm, use cold water for the poolish. Warmth makes yeast race, and racing yeast spends its flavour before morning. - 2
Build the dough
Add the remaining wheat flour, rye flour if using, lukewarm water, 5g yeast, salt, malt or honey, and lard to the poolish. Mix until no dry flour remains, then knead 8 to 10 minutes by hand or 6 minutes in a mixer on low speed. The dough should be smooth and elastic, because tight gluten gives the Kipf its rounded belly and lets the pointed ends hold their shape.
- 3
First rise
Cover the dough and let it rise about 60 to 75 minutes, folding it once halfway through. The fold lines up the gluten and evens out the gas, so the rolls bake with a fine crumb instead of one big hole under the crust.
- 4
Divide and rest
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and divide it into 10 pieces of about 80g each. Shape each piece into a loose oval, cover, and rest 10 minutes. Resting is not laziness; it lets the dough relax so you can roll sharp points without tearing the surface.
- 5
Shape the Kipf
Roll each oval under your palms into a short spindle, fat in the middle and tapered hard at both ends, about 14 to 16cm long. Keep the middle plump and the tips thin. The plump middle stays tender for splitting, while the thin ends bake crisp, which is the whole character of a Kipf.
- 6
Proof and top
Set the shaped rolls on parchment with space between them, cover, and proof 35 to 45 minutes until slightly swollen and springy. Brush lightly with water, then scatter caraway seeds and a little coarse salt over the tops. The water makes the seeds cling, and the caraway belongs here, sharp and warm against plain wheat bread.
- 7
Bake with heat
Heat the oven to 230C with a baking stone or heavy tray inside. Slide in the Kipf, add a small tray of hot water to the oven floor, and bake 10 minutes; then remove the water tray, lower to 210C, and bake 10 to 12 minutes more until golden with crisp points. The early moisture delays the crust just long enough for the rolls to spring, then the dry finish gives them bite.
- 8
Cool properly
Cool the Kipf on a rack at least 20 minutes before cutting. The crumb is still setting when it comes out of the oven; slice too soon and you press the inside into paste. Serve with butter, cold cuts, lentil soup, or a proper Franconian Bratwurst. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Use German Type 550 flour if you can get it. It has enough strength for a roll with shape, but it doesn't chew like a hard sandwich loaf.
- •The spoon of rye flour is not there to make rye bread. It adds a small sour grain note and a little colour, the way many German white rolls are better for not being purely white.
- •Do not bury the rolls in caraway. A Kipf wants a scatter, not a seed crust. Caraway should meet the sausage or butter, not bully it.
- •For a softer breakfast roll, bake a shade paler and skip the coarse salt. For Bratwurst, keep the salt and bake the points crisp.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the poolish the night before and bake the next day. That is the point of the recipe, not a complication.
- •The shaped rolls can proof overnight in the refrigerator after shaping. Cover them well, bake straight from cold, and add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.
- •Baked Kipf freeze well for up to 1 month. Reheat from frozen at 180C until the crust crisps again; do not microwave them unless you enjoy rubber.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 78g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
2 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
1 mg
Sodium
630 mg
Total Carbohydrates
40 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
6 g
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