According to Betty Bossi (The queen of the Swiss kitchen), Grittbänz were not always sweet, but started out being made from a normal bread dough. Today the dough traditionally used for Grittibänz is sweeter and is easy to make. The kids will love to help create a little man (or woman) with raisins for eyes, dough for a hat and scarf and decorated with rocks of sugar. But there is also nothing to stop you from using a traditional Zopf recipe, especially if you want to serve it for dinner on the 6th.
While you can buy a Grittibänz at bakeries and supermarkets all over Switzerland, I find the very best Grittibänz is the one you make at home. So if you have a spare moment to spend in the kitchen this week – give one of these recipe a try:
- Helvetic Kitchen: This is my go to recipe but I add in a little more sugar
- Fooby: The recipe website from the Supermarket Coop
- Moms Tots Zurich: this is a good recipe if you don’t have access to fresh yeast
And here is a video I put together:
