Sunday Zopf: Bake It Yourself or Buy It? The Real Cost

A homemade Sunday Zopf costs just over half as much as a bought one, if you choose budget ingredients. We priced it with the cheapest products in Eini's price data from 23 and 24 September 2026. A Zopf made with 500 g of Zopfmehl then costs CHF 2.72 in ingredients. That is CHF 0.34 per 100 g, compared with CHF 0.63 for the cheapest ready-made Zopf.

With mid-range products from Coop, the same Zopf costs CHF 4.88, or CHF 0.61 per 100 g. That is close to the cheapest ready-made Zopf and below most others. Below: the recipe, both baskets and ten ready-made Zopf loaves compared.

What a Zopf is, and why it belongs to Sunday

The Zopf is a braided milk bread, called tresse in French and treccia in Italian. Its roots are in Bern, where "Züpfe" is mentioned as early as 1470 (Culinary Heritage of Switzerland, rev. 2019). Until 1629, it was made only for St Thomas' Day on 21 December and for New Year. From then on, Bernese bakers were allowed to bake it all year.

Over the following centuries, the Zopf reached the whole country and became the typical Sunday bread. According to the same inventory, many households still bake it themselves, in towns and villages alike.

Most recipes call for Zopfmehl. This is white flour enriched with spelt (Swissmilk). Spelt has more elastic gluten, so the dough shrinks back less and is easier to braid.

The recipe: one Zopf from 500 g Zopfmehl

We use a standard Swiss recipe published by Migros, which makes one Zopf of about 800 g (Migros, Zopf recipe).

• 500 g Zopfmehl
• 2 level teaspoons salt
• 20 g fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 70 g butter
• 3 dl milk
• 1 egg, for brushing

1. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and press a well into the middle. Stir the yeast with the sugar and pour it into the well.
2. Melt the butter, add the milk and pour the liquid onto the flour. Knead everything into a smooth, supple dough.
3. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Let the dough double in size at room temperature.
4. Divide the dough in half and roll two strands of the same length. Lay them in a cross, then braid by folding opposite ends over each other in turn. Press the ends together and tuck them under.
5. Place the Zopf on a tray lined with baking paper. Brush it twice with the beaten egg and let it rest for 10 minutes.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven, preheated to 200 °C fan, for 25 to 30 minutes. Let it cool completely.

To check that it is done, tap the Zopf. If it sounds hollow, it is baked through (Culinary Heritage of Switzerland).

What the ingredients cost

We priced the recipe twice. First with the cheapest suitable product for each ingredient, then with mid-range products, all from Coop. Only the quantity you use is counted. You still buy whole packs, but the leftover flour, butter, milk and eggs go into other meals.

Regular prices from Eini's price data, collected on 23 September 2026 (Aldi, Coop) and 24 September 2026 (Migros). Prices change; promotions and regional offers can differ. Our data page explains how we collect them.

The budget basket uses Kochbutter. According to the Swiss butter industry body quoted by SRF, it works for cooking and for baking (SRF Espresso, 3 May 2021). If you buy everything at Migros, the budget basket comes to CHF 2.73, practically the same. Salt, sugar and the electricity for the oven are not included.

Ready-made Zopf in the supermarket, per 100 g

Ready-made Zopf comes in many sizes, so only the price per 100 g allows a fair comparison. The table lists ready-baked Zopf loaves from Eini's price data for Aldi, Denner and Migros. For Coop, our data for these dates covers flour and other ingredients only.

The cheapest ready-made Zopf per 100 g is the IP-Suisse Butterzopf 600 g at Denner, at CHF 0.63. The Migros Butterzopf loaves of 500 and 700 g in the table cost between CHF 0.70 and CHF 0.72 per 100 g. The Buurezopf and the spelt Urdinkelbutterzopf cost more than CHF 1 per 100 g. For everyday loaves, see our guide to the real cost of bread in Switzerland.

Bake or buy: what the numbers say

• With budget ingredients: at CHF 0.34 per 100 g, your Zopf costs 46% less than the cheapest ready-made one. The same 800 g at the Denner price per 100 g would cost CHF 5.07. You save CHF 2.34 per Zopf, or about CHF 122 if you bake every Sunday for a year at these prices.
• With mid-range ingredients: at CHF 0.61 per 100 g, you pay about as much as for the cheapest ready-made Zopf. You still pay 15% less than for a 500 g Butterzopf at Migros (CHF 3.60). Against the Buurezopf 600 g, you pay 44% less.
• Size: Zopf sold in shops usually weighs 300 to 500 g, while homemade ones are generally bigger, notes the culinary heritage inventory.
• Time: the recipe states 3 hours 25 minutes in total, but only about 15 minutes of active work.

Buying makes sense when you only need a small Zopf, for example for one or two people. A 300 g Butterzopf costs CHF 2.50 at Migros. Leftover homemade Zopf need not go to waste: the culinary heritage inventory lists Eierrösti made with old Zopf and bread soup among its classic uses. More cost comparisons of this kind are in our article Homemade vs ready-made.

Where Eini fits

A homemade Zopf pays off most when the open packs of butter, milk and eggs get used up during the week. Eini's Groceries module plans lunch and dinner for the week around the promotions at Coop, Migros, Lidl, Aldi, Denner and Aligro. You can tell the app what is already in your pantry, and it creates a shopping list grouped by store, category or recipe. The first 3 meal plans are free; after that, the Food plan costs CHF 1 a week.