reading time: 5 min
After watching Galatea's witty and insightful video on Why Are Christmas Movies So Bad? and the kind but fierce Warrior/Magician archetype of Santa Clause or rather Father Christmas last week, which really inspired me in an unexpected way, I felt called to celebrate the dark and cosy, mysterious atmosphere of Christmas once again. (Honestly, go watch her videos, she's awesome!)
A close relative to the pesto flower bread, which I have made before but never shared on the blog so far, I have been wanting to make a sweet variation of this twisted pull-apart bread for a while now, which uses sweet, buttery, caramelized cinnamon as a filling instead of pesto.
This festive cinnamon snowflake bread is not only super cute, but also very delicious. And, of course, vegan!
It's warm, sweet, soft, doughy, with a crunchy exterior, and a fragrant Christmasy interior. It's similar to cinnamon rolls, but in a pull-apart style and also generously dusted with powdered sugar to give it that characteristic snowflake look!
Looking impressive, but actually being not that hard to make, it's the perfect recipe for the holiday season, but also for any other dark and gloomy Sunday morning or afternoon, and a fun thing to make on snow days – or on winter days where I wish it would actually snow. So basically any day, lol!
I highly suggest serving this with some milk tea or hot chocolate, too.
TIP: The dough can also be made a day in advance and can be kept in the refrigerator before proceeding with the assembly. This is very handy if you want to serve this fresh and warm for a brunch.
VEGAN CINNAMON SNOWFLAKE PULL-APART BREAD
Preparation time: 2 1/2 h
Main ingredients: spelt flour, sugar, margarine
difficulty level: easy-moderate
serves: 8-12
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, wheat-free
Ingredients
Dough:
350 g spelt flour (type 630)
35 g cornstarch or potato starch
2 tbsp raw cane sugar, coconut sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
60 ml non-dairy milk
70 g vegan butter or margarine, room temperature
180 ml lukewarm water
1/2 cube of fresh yeast (20 g)
Filling:
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
60 g vegan butter or margarine, softened (I use the German brand Alsan bio)
80 g raw cane sugar, coconut sugar or brown sugar
For brushing:
2 tbsp non-dairy milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
also:
powdered sugar, for dusting
To a separate bowl, add fresh yeast and lukewarm water. Gently stir to dissolve. Add non-dairy milk of your choice.
Use your clean hands or an electric mixer with a dough hook to knead the mixture vigorously for a couple of minutes until the dough is very soft and tender, almost "velvety", and doesn't stick to your hands any more.
If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour. If it is too dry and crumbly, add a splash of non-dairy milk.
Once the dough has risen and doubled in size, lightly dust a clean counter top with flour.
Transfer the dough to the floured surface and knead it again, until it's smooth and elastic again. Roll the dough into a thick sausage and divide into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball.
Roll the first ball into a circle roughly 10–12 inches / 25–30 cm in diameter. Place the circle on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread 1/3 of the filling over the dough, leaving a finger-width boarder around the edge.
Set the baking sheet aside, and roll out another ball of dough into a second circle the same size. Place it on top of the first and spread with another 1/3 of the filling.
Repeating the process, add a third layer of dough on top, and spread with the remaining filling. Finish with a fourth dough circle, leaving it bare.
Don't worry if the circles don't line up exactly because the dough is quite forgiving – I simply tugged gently at the edges where it didn't overlap yet, and shaped the entire stack back into a rough circle with my hands.
Place a small cup or jar in the centre of the dough stack and gently press down to leave a light imprint.
Leaving the centre circle intact, use a sharp knife to cut the layered dough into quarters, making sure to cut through all the layers. Then cut each quarter into 4 equal parts, resulting in a total of 16 sections.
Being very careful and using two hands, pick up two sections of dough that are next to each other, and twist them in the opposite direction, so away from each other. Twist each section 2 or 3 times. On the last time, pinch the ends together to seal and form a point that will give the bread its snowflake/star-like shape.
Repeat with the remaining pairs of dough wedges to create a snowflake pattern.
Preheat the oven to 350 °F / 180 °C.
While waiting for the oven to heat up, mix 2 tbsp of non-dairy milk and 2 tbsp maple syrup.
You may also cover the dough again with the clean kitchen towel to rise until the oven is preheating. Once the oven has reached the temperature, generously brush the dough with the milk/syrup mixture, and pop it in the oven.
Bake the bread in the preheated oven at 350 °F / 180 °C for about 25 minutes, or until the top starts turning golden brown with dark brown cinnamon streaks.
Remove bread from oven, and transfer to a wire rack.
Cool for 10 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar for that snow effect.
Serve warm if possible. Enjoy!
The cinnamon snowflake bread will keep for 2–3 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Freeze for longer storage.
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