Skip to content
German Pastry Chef, home

Pastries and Cookies, Basic Recipes, Classics

Classic St. Martin's Bread Men from Soft Yeast Dough, Just Like the Old Days

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Golden brown yeast dough bread men with raisin eyes and small white clay pipes on a baking sheet

4.6 (28)out of 5, 28 ratings

Go to recipePrint
Prep
10 min
Bake
30 min
Total
40 min
Makes
10

St. Martin's Day is just around the corner, and for me these little yeast dough men simply belong on the table. Yeast dough bread men, known in Germany as Weckmänner, are super easy to make and really charming at the same time, especially when they hold their little clay pipe in their arm. Instead of whole eggs I only put six egg yolks into the dough, which makes the crumb a lovely yellow and really moist.

Read more

At first glance it might look as if a lot could go wrong here, but in reality they're done in no time. Only one thing matters: don't add all of the flour to the bowl at once. Hold some back and go by feel to decide how soft the dough can be. Here is my recipe for bread men made from yeast dough:

Ingredients

Makes 10

  • 1 ⅔ cups400 mlmilkwarm
  • 1 stick110 gunsalted butterSoftened. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter; European-style unsalted butter is closest. In the UK, unsalted butter.
  • ¾ tsp5 gsalt
  • 6large egg yolks
  • ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp170 ggranulated sugar
  • 1 cubeyeast1 cube of fresh yeast = 42 g. German recipes use either a 42 g cube of fresh yeast or a 7 g packet of dry yeast; one cube equals about two packets. In the US use active dry or instant yeast; one ¼ oz (7 g) envelope replaces half a cube of fresh yeast. In the UK, fast action dried yeast (7 g sachet per half cube), or fresh yeast from a supermarket bakery counter.
  • 7 ¼ cups900 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.

Optional

  • clay pipesSmall white clay pipes traditionally pressed into Weckmann bread men as decoration; they are not edible. In the US use Weckmann clay pipes ordered online, or leave them out; in the UK, Weckmann clay pipes ordered online, or leave them out.
  • handful of raisins or dried cranberries
  • 1large egg

Method

  1. Put three quarters of the flour into a bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the warm milk into the well, crumble in the yeast and add half of the sugar. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes so the yeast has a chance to become active.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough for 10 minutes, until everything comes together into a smooth, supple dough. If the dough is still very sticky, add the rest of the flour little by little. The dough should still be very soft and slightly sticky, but it shouldn't stick to your fingers in big clumps. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for at least 60 minutes. Before you go on, it should have at least doubled in volume.

  3. After the first rise, punch the dough down completely and turn it out onto a floured work surface. For the bread men, divide the dough into 5 ¼ oz (150 g) pieces, roll them into balls and let them rest for another 10 to 15 minutes.

  4. Shape the balls into bread men and place them on a large baking sheet (about 16 × 14 inches / 40 × 35 cm; a US half sheet pan, 18 × 13 inches, works too) lined with parchment paper. Ideally, brush or spray them with a little water, then let them rise again for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) convection (fan) or 400°F (200°C) conventional (top and bottom heat).

  5. Carefully brush the bread men with the beaten egg and put them into the hot oven. They bake for about 10 minutes and should be a lovely golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet and eat them the same day.

Questions and answers

Which flour works best for yeast dough bread men?
I use plain all-purpose flour, and I don't add the full 7 ¼ cups (900 g) at once but hold some back. How much I really need in the end depends on the size of the eggs, the temperature of the butter and how exactly I measured the milk. I simply go by feel and stop when the dough is nice and supple.
How long does the yeast dough for bread men need to rise?
You should definitely plan on a good hour, give or take. I always check that my dough has completely doubled in volume, and then I'm good to go. It was fairly cool in my bakery, so it even took an hour and a half. After shaping, there's a second rise of about 45 minutes.
What do I need the clay pipes for?
The clay pipes are the classic touch: they're tucked under one arm of each bread man. I found mine online and paid less than five euros for ten. If you don't have any clay pipes, just leave them out and press three raisins into the little man's tummy as buttons instead. That looks cute, too.
Why do my raisins fall out during baking?
That always happens when the raisins are just placed on top. I make sure to press them all the way into the dough, otherwise they pop right out as the dough rises and fall off, which is a shame. If you don't like raisins, you can simply pick them out after baking. I often do that myself.
What can I brush the bread men with so they turn out nice and shiny?
I brush my bread men with a splash of water. That's how I learned it during my training, and it's completely enough for the shine. But you can also use egg yolk, milk or a mixture of milk and egg. The main thing is to give the little men a light glaze so they rise better and look nice and shiny after baking.
Can I bake the bread men a day ahead?
My bread men really taste best fresh and still slightly warm from the baking sheet. I would definitely bake them on the day you plan to eat them; apart from the waiting times, they're done in no time. I gave mine to friends and family and got messages that same evening about how delicious they were. Fresh really is best here.