Vegan Stollen Bars

Vegan stollen bars - these easy vegan stollen bites are based on German quark stollen and are made without yeast, meaning that they are quick and easy to make. They are rich, moist, dense and packed with marzipan, fruit, nuts and warming spices. Eggless and dairy-free.

These vegan stollen bars may just be my favourite stollen recipe that I have made yet!

I do love a home-made traditional stollen, but it is quite a long process to make one because it is a very heavily enriched yeasted dough so requires several long rises.

These vegan stollen bars however are made not with yeast, but with baking powder, so there is no need to wait for them to rise. You just whip up the dough, transfer it to the tin and bake right away!

The resulting bars are moist, dense and so full of Christmassy flavour! The texture is somewhere between bread and cake; buttery and soft with just a hint of chew, and they are packed with tasty dried fruits, nuts and, most importantly, chunks of gooey marzipan.

I veganised this orange and pistachio stollen bars recipe by Dan Lepard. The original recipe contains egg, cream cheese and butter but it was fairly easy to swap these out and I don't think that anybody would be able to tell that my version is vegan!

It is a version of quark stollen, which is a type of German stollen that is made using quark, which is a type of cottage/cream cheese. It is often made with baking powder rather than yeast, as a quicker version of stollen.

It is usually still formed into the traditional stollen 'log', but I think I like it better in this bar form. They are easy to serve, can be cut into small squares for canapes or party food, and you get a more even distribution of marzipan, rather than just in a central log.

What Do I Need To Make Vegan Stollen Bars?:

Thick vegan yogurt: The recipe this is based on used cream cheese, and this kind of non-yeasted stollen is traditionally made using quark, which is a type of low fat cottage cheese which is often used in baking in Germany.

A thick, Greek-style yogurt makes a great substitute. I use The Coconut Collaborative vanilla yogurt. I haven't tested these using a runny yogurt so I'm not sure how well that would work, stick to a thick one if possible.

Theoretically either vegan quark or vegan cream cheese should also work but I haven't tested either of these so can't say for sure.

Vegan block butter: Ideally you should use a block butter/margarine in the dough rather than the spreadable kind in a tub for the best texture; I use Naturli Vegan Block.

Once they are baked, the stollen bars are brushed liberally with melted butter. This helps to keep them soft and moist. Before serving, brush them with a little more melted butter then dust them with icing sugar. Either a block or tub butter is fine for the melted butter brushing.

Caster sugar and icing sugar: I use caster (superfine) sugar in the dough and the bars are dusting with icing (powdered) sugar before serving. Granulated sugar will work in place of the caster if you don't have any.

White bread flour: I use bread flour rather than plain flour here as it gives you more of a classic stollen texture. Plain flour will work if that is all you have but I do recommend using white bread flour if possible.

Ground almonds: the addition of ground almonds as well as flour gives these stollen bars a lovely moist, dense texture. I haven't tested the recipe without them so I'm not sure how well it would work. Honestly, what with the ground almonds, marzipan and almond extract if you can't have almonds then I don't think that this is the recipe for you.

Baking powder: instead of the usual yeast this recipe uses baking powder to provide the lift.

Spices: I use mixed spice and freshly ground cardamom but do feel free to switch up the spices to suit you. Pumpkin spice is a decent substitute for mixed spice if you are unable to get hold of it.

Orange extract and almond extract: I adore almond so added a bit of extra almondy flavour in the form of almond extract. Dan Lepard added orange extract to his recipe so I used that as well. You could swap the orange extract for the finely grated zest of an orange, or use vanilla extract instead.

Marzipan: marzipan is hands down the best thing about stollen in my opinion so I added loads of it. You can use a bit less if you aren't as much of a fan as I am.

It is chopped into 1-2cm dice so that it is evenly dispersed throughout the bars, and I like to chop it up then freeze it before adding it to the dough, which makes it easier to stir through without it getting squished. Either shop-bought or homemade marzipan work great.

Pistachios: I love the flavour and colour of pistachios in these vegan stollen bars but you can use any kind of nut you like. Almonds would be most traditional. (I actually ran out of pistachios so did part pistachio, part almond).

Dried cranberries and sultanas: I like a mix of dried cranberries and sultanas, but you can use any kind of dried fruit you want really - raisins, currants, dried cherries, mixed peel, chopped apricots etc.

Glycerine: this is totally optional but adding a teaspoon of glycerine helps to keep the bars soft for longer.

How To Make Vegan Stollen Bars:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

Chop your marzipan into 1-2 cm dice, spread it out on a tray and pop it in the freezer while you get on with making the dough,

Whisk together caster sugar, melted vegan block butter, thick non-dairy yogurt, orange extract, almond extract, glycerine, mixed spice, ground cardamom and salt in a large bowl until well combined.

Whisk in ground almonds and baking powder then stir through dried cranberries, sultanas and roughly chopped pistachios.

Add white bread flour and stir until it is well combined and no dry paches remain, it should be a very soft dough or extremely thick batter consistency. Fold through the frozen marzipan.

Transfer the dough to a greased and lined 20cm/8inch square cake tin and spread it out firmly and evenly, pressing it right into the corners. If you are struggling to do this, you may find it easier to wet your hands and spread it out by hand.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until it is golden brown and firmish to the touch. If you can find a spot without any marzipan then a skewer should come out clean. Bear in mind that if it goes into a piece of marzipan it will come out sticky however so it is a bit tricky to judge!

Leave the stollen to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then brush it very generously with melted butter. It may look like too much butter but keep going and use all of it! It helps to keep the stollen moist.

Leave the stollen to cool in the tin completely then wrap it tightly in tin foil and store at cool room temperature.

When you are ready to serve it, brush the stollen with a bit more melted butter and dust it with a thick layer of icing sugar before using a sharp knife to slice it into bars or squares.

Top Tips:

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

I have only tested the recipe with the exact ingredients mentioned. Substitute them at your own risk.

It can be a bit tricky to tell when the vegan stollen bars are baked as they contain so much marzipan - if you insert a skewer it may come out sticky with marzipan even if the bars are baked. If you are able to find a spot without marzipan then a skewer should come out clean when they are ready. Otherwise, they should be golden on top and firmish to the touch. They will firm up further as they cool.

I like them sliced into bars but you can also cut them into small squares which would be great as finger food for parties. This recipe will make 18 bars or up to 36 squares.

How To Store Vegan Stollen Bars:

These vegan stollen bars can be eaten as soon as they have cooled, but I think that they are best a day or two after baking.

Once they have had their coating of melted butter and have cooled completely, wrap the slab well in tin foil and store at cool room temperature.

Once you have dusted the stollen with icing sugar and sliced it into bars, keep them wrapped tightly in tin foil at cool room temperature. They should keep for about a week, probably longer.

I haven't tried freezing it but I see no reason why it wouldn't work!

More Festive Vegan Bread Recipes:

Traditional vegan stollen

Vegan chocolate babka

Gingerbread cinnamon rolls

Mincemeat, marzipan and apple bread wreath

Vegan stollen wreath

Maple pecan bread wreath

Mincemeat and marzipan cinnamon buns

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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