Grittibänz
Grittibänz is a fun and traditional holiday treat the whole family can make together. A sweet and delicious bun in the shape of a person.
One of Switzerland’s main traditional Christmas treats is the Grittibänz or sweet breadman. Every bakery and grocery store has them. So all around the country, kids (and adults, or is it just me??😃) get excited when the Grittibänz starts appearing in bakeries and grocery stores; it’s a sign that Christmas is around the corner.
What is a Grittibänz?
A Grittibänz is a sweetened, brioche-like bun in the shape of a person. Bakeries sell this traditional sweet treat in the weeks leading up to St. Nicholas Day throughout Switzerland. They come in many different shapes and forms. Some have raisins or chocolate chips for their eyes and buttons; some have granular sugar on top, and some carry sticks or a small chocolate bar.
It is traditionally eaten on St. Nicholas day, which is on December 6th of every year. For breakfast, as a snack, or even dinner. In Switzerland, the children receive a bag filled with nuts, mandarin oranges, chocolates, gingerbread, and a Grittibänz from St. Nicholas.
The taste is similar to the Sunday Bread – Zopf recipe; it’s just sweeter.
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Shaping the Grittibänz
Get your whole family together and have fun shaping and decorating. If you invent some great ideas, please share them with me. I’d love to see how creative you are!
My kids love to make their own little figures. They come up with the most extraordinary creations. Oftentimes their piece of dough transforms into an animal or a vehicle or whatever else their creative minds come up with rather than a person. It’s all about having fun 😁
My recipe below makes four small dough persons or two large ones. Take the risen dough and cut it into four equal pieces. Leave some extra dough for decorating the scarf, belt, hat, and nose.
Roll each dough piece into an elongated torso. Put a little more pressure on one side to form the head.
Cut the legs and arms using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. With the extra dough, form a triangle for the hat and roll a long string for the scarf and a bigger string (flattened) for the belt. Make a small dough ball for the nose. Decorate however you feel like; there are endless different ways – be creative!
Add raisins, cranberries, or chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons (make sure you push them deep into the dough so that they don’t fall out or burn during baking. Brush the whole Grittibänz with egg wash.
Finally, take kitchen scissors, snip a place for the mouth, and add some texture to the legs. Optional: sprinkle sugar crystals on top.
E Guete (Bon appétit)!! Don’t forget to share some pictures with me and tell me how you liked this Grittibänz. It would make my day if you tag @mirjamskitchenyodel on Instagram, share on Facebook or pin on Pinterest.
You might also like the following recipes:
- Best Mother’s Day Desserts
- Strawberry Blondies
- Classic Swiss Carrot Cake
- Chocolate Baileys Cupcakes
- Apple Cinnamon Crisp
Grittibänz
Ingredients
- 500 g All-purpose flour
- 50 g Sugar
- 2 tsp Instant dry yeast
- 1½ tsp Salt
- 320 ml Milk
- 60 g Butter melted
- Sugar crystals optional
Instructions
Make dough
- Add melted butter and milk to the flour mixture and knead the dough until it is soft and smooth. A good rule to see if the dough is kneaded enough is the newspaper test. If you can stretch out the dough so thin that you can read the newspaper through it, without it tearing, your dough is kneaded enough!
- Place the dough into a big bowl and cover it up with a damp kitchen towel.
- Let it rest on the kitchen counter for 1½ hours.
Form the Grittibänz
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and cut it into 4 equal pieces (or 2 large ones if you prefer a bigger Grittibänz). Leave some extra dough for decorations – hat, scarf, belt, and nose.
- Roll each dough piece into an elongated torso. Put a little more pressure on one side to form the head.
- Cut the legs and arms using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Then, with the extra dough, form a triangle for the hat and roll a long string for the scarf and a bigger string (flattened) for the belt. Make a small dough ball for the nose. Decorate however you feel like; there are endless different ways – be creative!
- Place them on the lined baking sheet.
- Add raisins, cranberries, or chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons (make sure you push them deep into the dough so that they don't fall out or burn during baking. Brush the whole Grittibänz with egg wash.
- Take kitchen scissors and snip a place for the mouth and add some texture to the legs. Optional: sprinkle some sugar crystals on top.
- Preheat your oven to 395°F or 200°C.
- Let the Grittibänz sit for 30 minutes before you bake them.
- After 30min, place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 20min. Baking time varies depending on your range. Keep a close eye on the Grittibänz; take them out of the oven when they are golden brown.
