Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Zopf (Butterzopf)
Switzerland's glossy Sunday-morning braid: a soft milk-and-butter bread plaited and glazed to deep mahogany.
Swiss · medium · serves 8
prep 30 min · cook 35 min
~327 cal · 9g protein · 51g carbs · 9g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Every Sunday morning across German-speaking Switzerland, kitchens fill with the smell of a baking Zopf, the butter-and-milk braid also called Butterzopf. Tender, faintly sweet and glazed to a glossy mahogany with beaten egg, it is as fixed a part of the Swiss weekend as a long walk and a longer breakfast, and Bern claims it as its own favourite loaf.
The dough is a simple one, flour, milk, butter, yeast and a little egg, but the ritual is in the two-strand Swiss plait and the egg wash brushed deep into every crevice for that lacquered shine. Bakers argue endlessly over whether the egg belongs in the dough or only on top, but everyone agrees it is torn, not sliced, and eaten with butter and jam.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
4 cups strong white bread flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk, lukewarm
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk, for glazing
Instructions
1
Combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir the melted butter into the lukewarm milk, add the whole egg, then mix into the flour and knead to a smooth, firm, only lightly tacky dough.
2
Cover and let rise about 1 1/2 hours until doubled.
3
Divide the dough in two and roll each into a rope about 18 inches long, slightly thicker in the middle. Plait them into the Swiss two-strand braid and tuck the ends under.
✎ Chef’s note
A firmer dough than brioche holds the braid's definition; if it feels sticky, knead in a little more flour.
4
Transfer to a lined tray, brush with beaten egg yolk, and prove 45 minutes until puffy, glazing a second time for a deeper shine.
5
Bake at 375F for 32 to 38 minutes until deep mahogany and hollow-sounding underneath. Cool before tearing into it.
Swiss (Bern) Sunday tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bern. Rosti began as a farmers' breakfast in this canton, potatoes grated and pressed into a pan of hot fat until a crust forms on both sides, and the Bernese version is made with lard and bacon in it. Most of Switzerland now treats the dish as national rather than Bernese.
🗺️
Switzerland. Rosti belongs to the German-speaking side, so firmly that the cultural line between German and French Switzerland is called the Roestigraben, the rosti ditch. Raclette is both a cheese and a meal, the wheel melted at the cut face and scraped onto potatoes with pickled onions and gherkins beside them.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Switzerland
RöstiSwitzerland’s golden potato cake, crisp outside, tender inside, flipped whole and served with pride.
Swiss Cheese FondueA communal pot of melted Gruyère and Emmental with white wine and garlic, for dipping bread.
ÄlplermagronenAlpine macaroni baked with potato, cream, and cheese, topped with fried onions and served with applesauce.
Browse all Switzerland recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Zopf (Butterzopf)?
Switzerland's glossy Sunday-morning braid: a soft milk-and-butter bread plaited and glazed to deep mahogany.
Where does Zopf (Butterzopf) come from?
Zopf (Butterzopf) is a Swiss dish from Bern, Switzerland.
Can Zopf (Butterzopf) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Zopf (Butterzopf) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Zopf (Butterzopf) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Zopf (Butterzopf) take to make?
About 65 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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