Zopf bread, what is that?
Zopf? What is that you ask? Everyone who has ever been to Switzerland has possibly seen or even tried this bread. It is probably one of the most traditional bread types of Switzerland, originally made with milk, eggs & butter. Because of its form they call it Zopf, which means “braid” in german.
My partner’s familiy here in Barcelona fell in love with this bread at the very first time they tried it. They loved this Zopf braided bread so much, hence for every family gathering I must make it, otherwise they are very disappointed. And even my partner himself, when he ate this bread for the first time he could hardly stop and didn’t want to eat any other bread anymore, because it’s literally so good.
Fresh for several days
This bread stays fresh and humid for days unlike other breads you buy from the supermarkets. Yes, they smell yummy the moment you buy them, but one day later they’re hard as a stone, but not this one. I guarantee!
Can be combined with anything
It is soooo good either with chocolate spread or with salty stuff on it. You can eat it just like that or with a few drops of a nice extra virgin olive oil. Oooor: with my vegan nacho cheese sauce or the different hummus you can see here (Pumpkin, Beet & Classic Hummus). I often call this Zopf a live saver, because when hunger strucks, a bit of this Zopf braided bread with some cheese sauce on it and you’re ready to crush it again.
Consequently I absolutely had to veganize this recipe, it is too good to miss out. And I have to say, it is just as good as the original one, if not even better. So here you go with my vegan version of this super yummy Zopf braided bread.
You can be sure that everybody will fall in love with it.
| Prep Time | 25 minutes |
| Cook Time | 40 minutes |
| Passive Time | 60 minutes |
| Servings |
breads
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- 1400 gr white wheat flour
- 275 gr white spelt flour
- 4 tsp salt
- 50 gr fresh yeast
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 750 ml plantbased milk (I used soy, you can also use coconut, or almond milk, too, it should have a certain fat content for better taste)
- 250 ml olive oil
Ingredients
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- Leave the yeast with the maple syrup in a cup and set aside.
- Mix in a big bowl the flour with the salt.
- In a saucepan mix the plantbased milk and olive oil and warm it up (not too hot, otherwise the yeast will be dead ?).
- Add the yeast to the warm oil-milk mix and stir well.
- Add to the flour and mix everything together and knead during 8-10 minutes until a smooth dough forms. If it’s too dry, add a bit of water, is it too sticky, add more flour.
- Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with a wet kitchen cloth.
- Let ferment for about 1 hour.
- Take to dough out of the bowl and cut into 6 equal parts. Roll each part into a long roll/cylinder.
- Form the braids (see my IG stories highlight how to do the braids, see below in notes).
- Bake at 210ºC during 40 min. I put the bread into the cold oven, so it will raise a few minutes more until the oven reaches the temperature. In order to check if the breads are cooked through, knock on them and if you get a hollow sound, then it's ok to take out.
You can serve this Zopf either with sweet spreads like jam and butter, or as PBJ, or also with hummus & smoked paprika, or with tomato, or just with a drizzle of olive oil, basically everything.
For the braiding technique please see the stories highlight "Zopf Swiss braided bread" on my IG account @fabs_good_food.
Do you like this recipe? Feel free to share with your friends & family!
