Swiss Grittibänz St. Nicholas Bread Men with Soft Tangzhong Dough

Step-by-step method

At a glance

You're making charming Swiss bread men with a specially treated tangzhong dough that keeps them incredibly soft and tender. The trickiest part is working the butter in gradually—it takes a bit of patience, but the result is dough that's wonderfully rich and stretchy. With proper rising times, you can have these adorable, golden-crusted treats ready in an afternoon, perfect for St. Nicholas Day or getting the kids involved in decorating.

1/10

Cook the tangzhong

In a small saucepan, whisk the flour with the milk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it turns into a thick paste. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface, and let it cool to lukewarm.

For this step
0/2

25 gram
All-purpose wheat flour

125 milliliter
Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)
2/10

Mix the dough

Put the flour, sugar and dried yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the cooled tangzhong, lukewarm milk, honey, egg and vanilla. Knead on low speed for about 3 minutes, until everything comes together.

For this step
0/7

475 gram
All-purpose wheat flour

50 gram
Granulated Sugar

5 gram
Dried Yeast

150 milliliter
Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)

1 tablespoon
Honey

1 piece
Chicken Eggs

1 teaspoon
Vanilla Extract
3/10

Add the salt

Sprinkle in the salt and knead on medium speed for about 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

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9 gram
Salt

4/10

Work in the butter

Add the softened butter piece by piece, adding the next piece only once the previous one has been incorporated. Knead for about 8 minutes, until you can stretch the dough into a thin, translucent membrane that doesn't tear.

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80 gram
Unsalted Butter
5/10

Let the dough rise

Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a greased bowl and cover. Let it rise in a warm place for about 1.5 hours, until doubled in size. A slightly warmed oven works well for this.
6/10

Divide the dough

Divide the dough into 3 pieces of 317 g each. From each piece, set aside 225 g for the body, 75 g for the head and 17 g for decorations. Keep the pieces you're not working with covered.
7/10

Shape the bread men

Roll the body out into an oval, snip the legs, then snip the arms at the sides and pull them away from the body. Press the head onto the body and brush the join with water. Add a scarf or hat and press in raisins for the eyes and buttons.

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15 gram
Seedless Raisins
8/10

Let the bread men proof

Transfer the bread men to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, at least 5 cm apart. Cover with a kitchen towel and let them rise in a warm place for 45–60 minutes, until puffy. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 °C.
9/10

Brush and sprinkle

Whisk the egg with a pinch of salt and brush it gently over the bread men so you don't deflate them. Sprinkle with pearl sugar and nuts.

For this step
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1 piece
Chicken Eggs

20 gram
Pearl Sugar

10 gram
Peeled Hazelnuts
10/10

Bake the bread men

Bake at 180 °C for 22–26 minutes, until golden brown. They're done when they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Let them cool on a wire rack.

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Swiss Grittibänz St. Nicholas Bread Men with Soft Tangzhong Dough

Name: Fluffy Swiss Grittibänz St. Nicholas Bread Men
Prep time: 37 min
Cook time: 24 min
Total time: 214 min
Yield: 3
Cuisine: Swiss
Ingredients: 500 gram All-purpose wheat flour; 275 milliliter Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat); 50 gram Granulated Sugar; 5 gram Dried Yeast; 1 tablespoon Honey; 2 piece Chicken Eggs; 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract; 9 gram Salt; 80 gram Unsalted Butter; 15 gram Seedless Raisins; 20 gram Pearl Sugar; 10 gram Peeled Hazelnuts

everydaybyyumsto

Prep 37 min Cook 24 min

Plus 2 h 23 min of resting (not counted in active time)

12 Ingredients

10 Steps

Hard Difficulty

Equipment

What you'll need besides the ingredients.

Stand mixer

Baking sheet

Baking paper

Tea towel

Cooling rack

Pastry brush

What's in it?

1057 kcal

Calories

164 g

Carbohydrates

33 g

Fats

29 g

Proteins

The nutritional information is an estimate and may vary based on the specific ingredients used.

About this recipe

Soft, buttery dough, a golden crust and crunchy pearl sugar ✨ Grittibänz are traditional Swiss yeasted bread men, baked and sold all over Switzerland around December 6th for St. Nicholas Day 🇨🇭 Want to try something new for St. Nicholas Day this year? Bake these adorable little bread men! Their shape is part of the St. Nicholas tradition, and making them is a great way to get the kids involved in the baking. Everyone can shape and decorate their own little man however they like. Then all that's left is to decide who gets to take the first bite out of his head 😄 I added a tangzhong to the dough, which is flour briefly cooked with milk. It keeps the bread men wonderfully soft and tender even the next day. All you need to do is work the butter in properly and let the shaped bread men rise fully. You can bake them in a single afternoon. So let's get baking 💜

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Step-by-step method

At a glance

Cook the tangzhong

For this step

Mix the dough

For this step

Add the salt

For this step

Work in the butter

For this step

Let the dough rise

Divide the dough

Shape the bread men

For this step

Let the bread men proof

Brush and sprinkle

For this step

Bake the bread men

How it went

Nobody has tried this recipe yet

Swiss Grittibänz St. Nicholas Bread Men with Soft Tangzhong Dough

Ingredients — what you'll need

Equipment

What's in it?

About this recipe

Want a recipe like this every Thursday?

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