Bavarian mini pretzel burgers

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 8 pretzel sticks, frozen
• 1 kg Leberkäse (liver sausage) in one piece (for home baking or already baked)
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 onions
• 2 tsp sugar
• 4 tbsp mustard, sweet
• e.g. salt and pepper
• possibly sugar
• possibly lemon juice
• n. B. pickle(s)
• e.g. tomato(s)
• n. B. egg(s)

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

The hit for every finger food buffet

First, thaw the frozen pretzel sticks completely (either the night before or the morning if preparing the burgers in the evening). If using Leberkäse (meat sausage meat), bake the Leberkäse fresh in the oven (approx. 160°C, approx. 1.5 hours), let it cool, and then cut into thin slices (I always use two small 500g trays of Leberkäse, which is just the right diameter for the burger buns). Cut the thawed pretzel sticks into 3 pieces with a knife and carefully shape each piece into a small ball. Make sure that the outer surface of the pretzel sticks stays on the outside (so that the burger buns brown nicely). Place the formed mini burger buns on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, sprinkle with salt, and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (top/bottom heat) for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, finely dice the onions and sauté in 1 teaspoon of butter until translucent. Add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar and let it caramelize. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly, then stir in the sweet mustard. Season to taste with salt, pepper, more sugar, and lemon juice if needed. Cut the pretzel burger buns crosswise, top with a thin slice of Leberkäse (a kind of meatloaf), and add a small teaspoon of the sweet onion and mustard sauce. If desired, you can also top with finely sliced ​​gherkins, tomato slices, or, in typical Bavarian style, even a fried egg. (To do this: Briefly fry the fried eggs in a hot pan until the egg whites are already white. Then carefully pierce the yolk with a fork and spread it all over the egg whites and finish frying.) Then place the “top” of the pretzel buns on top and refrigerate until ready to serve. We love our pretzel burgers when they’re well chilled—but often we can’t wait for everything to cool down. Note: If we’re “just” serving pretzel burgers, the quantities listed above are enough for about 6 people. As part of a finger food buffet with a wider selection, the serving size will be correspondingly larger.