How to make a Grittibänz – Swiss Christmas bread man

One of the traditional Christmas treats in Switzerland (and other Euro countries) is the Grittibänz, the sweet bread man shown here. You’ll see these in every bakery around town, with many different forms. Some have raisins or chocolate for eyes and buttons, some have sugar sprinkled on top, some carry stick or chocolate bar.

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It’s a fun Christmas tradition to make your own with friends or family, so I’m including a super easy recipe below to get you started.

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First, a silly vlog of my son and I making Grittibänz.

Grittibänz tradition

I asked lots of my Swiss friends about Grittibänz traditions and there was no consensus. Sometimes Samichlaus gives children a Grittibänz when he visits them at school or when children visit him in the forest. Some friends have Grittibänz for dinner on 6.Dec, which is St. Nicholas day. Some have a family activity once a season to bake it together with family or friends, like I would with gingerbread houses.

Because I was/am a confused immigrant to this country, in our home, Samichlaus leaves a Grittibänz for the children to be discovered the morning of Dec 6, along with a traditional bag of treats (typically peanuts, chocolate, oranges and maybe Lebkuchen – more about that here).

If Samichlaus’ helper forgets to buy them on 5.Dec, she is up late baking them after the children go to bed. I love this new tradition and hope my kids carry it through to the next generation.

Grittibänz style

Every bakery and grocery around town has their own Grittibänz style and it’s fun to go on a little Grittibänz tour to see the variety. You can see all sorts of crazy Grittibänz on Google Images. Oh, those elves are such good bakers and so creative with their designs.

Most have these elements:

bowed legs – This helpful post from Crawfish & Caramel explained that the name Grittibänz actually means “man with bowed legs”
chocolate or raisin eyes, sometimes buttons as well
scarf – many have a bit of dough wrapped around their neck to look like a scarf
stick – many have a chocolate bar (typically Branche, but we like Twix) sticking out one side, kinda held by his hand. More traditional ones will have a real wood stick, not edible and not fun.
hat and coat – some have elaborate clothing designs with bits of twisted and braided dough

Forming the Grittibänz

My recipe below makes 4 small people (or 2 large ones). After the dough has risen, start by forming a log. Then cut slits as shown below to make a head, arms and legs.

Shape the dough so the head, arms and legs look more proportional. You can snip bits off the ends of the legs and arms to use for decoration (the little balls of dough I have sitting in the corner).

I typically add a triangle hat. Then I roll out long strings to add a scarf and trim to the ankles and wrists so he looks like he’s wearing a suit.

I use kitchen scissors to snip a place for the eyes and mouth, though I’ll add chocolate there later so it’s not so important. I like to snip texture on the pants, even though it gets covered with sugar.

I like to let the dough rise about 30 mins before baking. But if you are in a hurry, you can bake it right away. Before baking, brush the dough with egg white and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Don’t put chocolate on it now, it will burn.

Bake about 20-25 mins. When the people come out of the oven, you can press on chocolate eyes and buttons or other decorations. It’s all about creativity.

My boys play baseball so they made this Gritti baseball player. I tried a Gritti-lady but she looked scary!

Special ingredients

In case you are new to Switzerland, here’s what pearl sugar (aka Hagelzucker) and yeast (aka Hefe) look like in Switzerland.

Grittibänz Recipe

Here’s a very simple and quick dough recipe I got from my Swiss friend. It works great for Grittibänz but also good for Butterzopf and little rolls, aka Zöpfli, covered with Hagelzucker (big sugar bits). I was suspicious of this recipe because it only rises 15 mins. But it totally works and is great for kids that can’t wait very long. I think I might go make some right now…

Using the same dough, I sometimes make these homemade versions of Coop’s “sweeties” that my kids love. These are good treats for playgroups or school. But beware: they might just eat the sugar off the top.