These traditional figures, which have many other names in various Swiss dialects -- such as hanselmanne and bonhomme -- start turning up in bakeries in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland around December 6th, which is the feast of St. Nicholas...

and is celebrated as a sort of "children's Christmas" in various parts of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Families and kids' classes at school tend to bake grittibänzen on December 6th.

What the name "grittibänz" means is subject to some discussion, but the word appears to come from central Swiss dialect: "gritti" seems to mean something like "standing astraddle" -- with the legs apart -- and "Bänz" is a short version of the name "Benedict".

Grittibänzen are often said to represent Saint Nicholas (in Swiss German, "Samichlaus"), but they're also often simply described as "bread men", When making them at home, some people like to go out of their way to make them look like St. Nick, but others simply turn out a gingerbread-man-like shape. Occasionally these are decorated with little twigs of pine or fir, though simple decorations involving raisins or candies seem as popular. This Google search shows some of the many variations on the theme.

Many grittibänzen are made of a sweet yeast dough similar to the one used for challah -- though there's some discussion about this too: many families have a tradition of doing salty or savory grittibänzen instead, like the savory grittibänzen (the unusually energetic-looking gritti you see below and to the right). Swiss supermarkets seem to steer a middle course, doing plain bread grittibänzen as well as sweet ones. The Swiss seem to get fairly passionate about having their grittibänzen done right: here you can see a Swiss newspaper's feature comparing the grittibänzen produced by the country's big supermarket chains.

The recipe below is for a very basic type of grittibänzen -- though of course the decoration can be much more elaborate, depending on the baker's preferences. The recipe is below, as are links to some web-bakers' efforts.

Ingredients:

• One recipe sweet yeast dough
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4-6 small sprigs of evergreen, to decorate

Prepare the dough the day before, according to the instructions in the master recipe, re-kneading it briefly and letting it warm up a little before use. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough into 4 or 6 rectangles, depending on whether you are making small or medium-sized figures. Leave a small amount of dough for decoration.

Using a sharp knife, cut out a round head. (You can also use a very small scone cutter, as we did: or even cut around a bottlecap or jar lid with a scissor, making sure to leave the head attached to the neck.) Pull aside the two pieces of dough on either side of the head and stretch and mold them into arms. Then make a slash up the rectangle's middle, almost to the waist, to form the leds: stretch these out until they're a good length.

The original recipe here suggests that you roll a small piece of dough into a very thin strand, cut off three pieces, and coil them to form two eyes and a nose. This may work for really large grittibaenzen, but EuroCuisineLady found it a serious pain in the fundament: next tile we'll use raisins or small ovenproof candies, and you might want to do the same. If you go the thread-of-dough route, though, brush the face of the figure well with egg, let it dry enough to go tacky, and stick the tiny rings onto the face.

Now roll another thin string of dough into another thin strand about the height of the figure. Loop it around the front of the figure's head, like a headband: then, behind the head, twist the strand once around itself and bring it around either side of the neck to the figure's front. Twist it again so that it looks like a little neckerchief hanging down on the bread-man's chest.

Now things get a little more exciting. Take the bread man's body at the waist and twist it around once so that what were the backs of the legs are now the front. Roll out another thin strand of dough and fasten it around the bread man's waist like a belt, pinching the ends together well so they don't come undone while the figure rises. Roll another longer strand, cut it in half, and fasten each of these around the bread man's arms at the wrist to simulate cuffs. Roll one more strand and fasten it around each leg to look like the top cuff of a boot. Bend the knees so that the bread man looks like he's heading to your right (or your left if you twisted him that way). Tuck one arm behind his hip and pull the other up by his head as if he's waving. Brush the figure well with beaten egg.

Added decorations after this are up to you. If you're using raisins or small candies, it might be smart to cut or poke in a small aperture for them to be nestled into, as otherwise they may pop out while the bread rises.

Once you're finished decorating your bread man, place each one of the Grittibänzen on a buttered baking sheets with 2 1/2 inches between each one. Leave them in a warm place until they have risen noticeably -- approximately 20-25 minutes. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to help them keep their shape during baking.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400° F / 200° C / gas mark 6. Brush the figures once more with beaten egg. Bake in the bottom third of the oven until golden -- approximately 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Place a piece of evergreen in the arm of each one.

German-speaking readers might like to check out this recipe for "Pikante Grittibänzen" at the Spar.ch site. Also: the Vogt Family bakes Grittibänzen in Santa Monica, California: Merlikin shows us before-and-after pictures.