Bread

Grittibänz

A traditional Swiss/German sweet yeast bread shaped like a little man, typically made for St. Nicholas Day (December 6th).

Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 20-25 minutes Servings: 3
Baked Holiday Swiss
Grittibänz

Preparation Steps

1
  • 500g flour
  • 0.5 cube of fresh yeast, or 1 pack dry yeast
  • 100g butter
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • ½ egg
  • 3 dl milk
Combine all ingredients (flour, yeast, butter, salt, sugar, egg, and milk) and mix with a stand mixer for at least 5 minutes. The dough needs to be stretchy! Add more flour or milk if necessary—it's better to have it too dry than too wet for later shaping.
2
Let the dough rise for 1 hour. Form the dough into equally sized balls (e.g., around 200g each), place them on a tray with parchment paper, and let them rise for another 1 hour. Alternatively, let them rise for 3-5 hours in the fridge and take them out about 30 minutes before shaping.
3
  • Raisins
  • Chocolate
  • Nuts
  • Decorating sugar
Shape the dough balls into Grittibänz (little men shapes) and decorate them with raisins, chocolate, or nuts.
4
  • ½ egg
Beat the remaining ½ egg and apply the egg wash to the shaped breads. Tip: Only sprinkle the decorating sugar after the egg wash is applied.
5
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the Grittibänz for 20–25 minutes. They are done when they sound hollow when knocking on the bottom.