Traditional German sweet rolls are soft and fluffy, with a brown sugar and pecan topping for a little crunch.

Old-fashioned schnecken makes a special breakfast or snack that pairs well with hot tea or coffee. Less sweet than cinnamon rolls, they are indulgent without being too heavy.

Close-up view of homemade schnecken sweet rolls on a blue and white striped platter.

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Years ago, I had my first taste of schnecken while visiting my husband’s family in Cincinnati, and I was immediately hooked.

The variety I tasted came from a local bakery, and I was intrigued that it was a sweet roll, similar to a cinnamon roll, but without all the cinnamon and icing.

Recently, I was perusing an old cookbook that belonged to my great-grandmother and was happily surprised to find a recipe for schnecken!

The recipe is a little different than what I had from the bakery, but is more of a traditional version of the classic German treat. As with most regional cuisine, there’s usually more than one way to make something!

page from a vintage cookbook showing an old-fashioned recipe for Schnecken.

I took the recipe from the cookbook and tweaked it a little to streamline the preparation, using my favorite dinner roll dough recipe as the base.

The result was soft and fluffy spiral rolls, with a little sweetness tucked into the coils, with the caramelized pecan topping being the star of the show.

More Delicious Sweet Bread Recipes:

Overhead view of schnecken rolls covered with pecans and caramelized brown sugar.

How to Make Schnecken

It’s easier than you think to make this sweet bread. You’ll need to allow some time for the dough to rise, but the hands-on work is actually pretty minimal.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Water
Active dry yeast
Salt
Sugar
Butter
Egg
Bread flour (can also use all-purpose)
Cinnamon
Brown sugar
Chopped pecans

How to Make It:

Find the full printable recipe available below

Prep the dough. First, you’ll combine warm water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and let sit for about 5 minutes so the yeast can become foamy.

Add in the salt, sugar, softened butter, and egg. Stir to combine. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour to the dough, allowing it to be mixed in.

Let the machine knead the dough on low speed for about 3-5 minutes, then transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it to coat the surface.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and move it to a warm place. Let it rise until the dough has doubled (about an hour or so).

Roll out dough. Then, you’ll punch down the dough and turn it out onto a floured surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out into a large rectangle that’s about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.

Brush some melted butter over the dough.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, then sprinkle over the surface of the buttered dough.

Two photos; one shows dough rolled out onto a piece of floured parchment; the other shows butter and cinnamon sugar sprinkled over the dough.

Cut the rolls. Then, you’ll roll up the dough tightly. Cut it evenly into 12 rounds.

I cut the whole thing in half, then cut those pieces in half, then cut each of those into three pieces. I eyeball mine, which means they’re never perfectly even. You can measure if you prefer!

Two photos; one shows the dough rolled up into a log, the other shows the dough being cut into 12 pieces.

Assemble and rise. In a small bowl, prepare the topping by mixing brown sugar, melted butter, warm water, and chopped pecans.

Divide this mixture among the wells of a greased muffin pan, then place the cut rolls on top of the mixture.

Two photos; one shows brown sugar and pecan mixture in the wells of a muffin pan; the other shows rounds of dough in the pan.

Move to warm place and let rise for about 30 minutes, until they’re nice and puffy. Then pop into a preheated oven and bake for about 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Two photos; one shows an overhead view of German sweet rolls in the pan after the second rise and before baking; the other shows the rolls after being baked to golden-brown perfection.

Remove from oven and invert immediately onto a serving plate.

If any of the pecan mixture remains in the pan, just spoon it out onto the rolls. Then you can serve them warm or let them cool first.

German schnecken snail bread on a white plate with a fork. The roll has been partially uncoiled to show the fluffy interior.

Notes and Adaptations:

As written, there is minimal “filling” in these rolls. The cinnamon sugar sort of soaks into the dough. If you prefer a more noticeable filling, you can double the sugar and cinnamon, or even use brown sugar instead of white sugar.
If you have a bread machine, you can use it to prepare the dough! Simply add the dough ingredients to the pan inside your machine and use the dough setting to mix, knead, and rise the dough. Proceed with rolling out the dough.
Leftovers can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to a couple of days.