Covrigi polonezi, sweet twisted buns

Ingredients

For the dough

• 550 g flour
• 50 g fresh yeast
• 75 g sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 250 ml milk
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• 100 g butter

For the filling

• 50 g butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla powdered sugar

For brushing

• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons milk

For the syrup or glaze

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 100 ml water
• 100 g chocolate sauce

Preparation

1. Crumble the yeast into a bowl with 50 ml lukewarm milk, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir and leave for 10 minutes, until it swells and gets foamy. 2. Add the sifted flour, then the remaining 200 ml milk, 50 g sugar and the vanilla sugar. Knead, work in the melted and cooled butter, then keep kneading until you have an elastic dough that doesn’t stick to your hands. 3. Cover the dough and leave it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until it has doubled in size. 4. Knead the dough briefly to knock out the air, then divide it in two. Roll out the first half into a rectangle and spread it with half of the filling, made from the softened butter and vanilla powdered sugar. Fold the dough in half. 5. Cut it into strips about two fingers wide. Slit each strip lengthwise without cutting all the way through, twist the two sides and join the ends to make a pretzel shape. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. 6. Arrange the pretzels on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Mix the egg yolk with 3 tablespoons milk and brush them with it. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes, until golden. 7. To make the syrup, heat the honey and water in a small saucepan for 2 minutes, just until the honey dissolves, without letting it boil. Pour the syrup over the pretzels as soon as they come out of the oven. If you choose chocolate sauce, pour it straight over the warm pretzels.