Baking

Vegan stollen – this vegan version of a traditional German Dresden Stollen is a wonderful treat for Christmas. You can eat it right away or make it in advance and let it mature for a couple of weeks before serving for the best flavour.

One of my absolute favourite Christmas treats (of which I have many…) is stollen; the dense, cakey, fruity, preferably marzipan filled festive German bread.

While it is possible to buy vegan stollen from lots of supermarkets, I was determined to make my own version as homemade is always better.

It took me four attempts to get the perfect texture but the end result is perfect – a dense, moist, flavourful loaf filled with rum soaked fruit and a marzipan centre.

Stollen isn’t a light and fluffy bread, it is designed to have a very high fat content which allows it to be kept for a long time without drying out. This means that the texture is almost dense cake-like rather than bread.

I’m not going to lie, this recipe is a bit of a labour of love but the results are so, so worth it! Because it is such a heavily enriched dough it takes a long time to rise and you will need to make the bread over the course of three days.

Don’t worry though, there is very little active work involved, just a whole lot of leaving the dough alone to rise! The recipe also makes two loaves of stollen so the time spent is doubly worth it.

I did try making a couple of loaves with a shorter rising time but the results were overly heavy and dense so I’m afraid that the long rise is necessary!

How To Make Vegan Stollen:

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

*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.*

You need to make this stollen over the course of three days. On the evening of the first day, mix together raisins, candied mixed peel and rum. Give it a good stir, cover and leave to soak overnight.

The following day, stir some chopped almonds into the fruit mixture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together plain flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg.

Add lukewarm unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy is best), vanilla and almond extracts, grated orange and lemon zest and lots of softened vegan block butter. You ideally want to use a block butter/margarine rather than the spreadable kind in a tub for the best texture; I use Naturli Vegan Block.

Give it a good mix until it forms a rough dough then knead with the mixer on a high speed for about 10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and elastic and it comes away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.

You can knead the dough by hand on an unfloured surface if you don’t have a stand mixer.

Add the soaked fruit and nut mixture and knead until it is well distributed.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl and set aside to rise in a warm spot until it has almost doubled in size. This can take 5-8 hours depending on how warm it is.

Once the dough has risen, place the covered bowl in the fridge overnight.

The following day, remove the bowl from the fridge and leave it to come up to room temperature for 2 hours.

Knock the dough back and divide it into two equal pieces (I use a scale for accuracy).

Roll each ball of dough out on a lightly floured surface to a rough rectangle about 1 – 1 1/2 cm thick.

Divide your marzipan in half and roll each half into a log a little shorter than your dough rectangles. Place the marzipan logs just off centre on the dough.

Fold the smaller half of dough over the marzipan then fold the other half over the top and press gently to seal. Make sure that the ends are also sealed.

Place the logs well spaced apart on a greaseproof paper lined baking sheet and loosely cover. Set aside to rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours until they have increased in size by 50%. They will not double. Meanwhile preheat the oven.

Once the logs are puffy, bake them for 40-45 minutes until the internal temperature reaches at least 94°C/201°F on a probe thermometer. If they start to become too dark before they are ready you can loosely cover them with tin foil.

Once the stollen are baked, remove the logs from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Pick off any raisins that are on the surface as they will be burnt and bitter.

Brush the stollen very generously with melted vegan butter and leave it to set.

Once the butter has set, sprinkle them with a thick layer of icing sugar and leave to cool completely before wrapping and storing.

Top Tips:

Stollen is supposed to have a very high fat content – half fat to flour. DO NOT reduce it otherwise the bread will be dry and won’t keep.

I usually use bread flour when baking bread, but because we want a more cake-like texture here, plain (all-purpose) flour is the best choice.

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

If it is a really cold day and you want to speed up the rising time of the dough a bit, you can warm up the oven a bit on a low heat, switch it off and open the door for 30 seconds to let out some of the heat then place the (covered) dough in the oven with the door slightly ajar.

The best way to tell if bread is baked properly is to check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. It should reach at least 94°C/201°F.

You can eat the stollen right away if you want (let it cool completely first though!) but it will have the best flavour and texture if you wrap it up in baking parchment and tin foil and let it mature in a cool, dry place for one to two weeks before you slice it.

Provided it is well wrapped, the stollen will keep for up to six weeks so it is perfect to give as gifts for Christmas.

How To Store Vegan Stollen:

Once the loaves of stollen are baked, brush them generously all over with melted vegan butter while they are still warm. Allow the butter to set then sprinkle them with a very thick layer of icing sugar. This butter and sugar coating helps to seal in the moisture and stop them from drying out so don’t skip it!

Once the loaves are completely cold, wrap them first in baking parchment then tin foil and store them in a cool, dark place for up to six weeks.

Can I Freeze Vegan Stollen?:

Yes, the loaves can be frozen for up to three months provided they are well wrapped. Allow to defrost at room temperature.

More Vegan Christmas Recipes:

• Vegan mince pies
• Vegan Christmas cake
• Vegan Christmas pudding
• Vegan mincemeat cake
• Vegan mulled wine brownies
• Vegan steamed chocolate pudding
• chocolate gingerbread cookies
• starry mince pie tart

If you tried this recipe why not tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

*All images and content on Domestic Gothess are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe then please do so by using the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or post the recipe or content in full.*

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Vegan Stollen

Vegan stollen - this vegan version of a traditional German Stollen is a wonderful treat for Christmas. You can eat it right away or make it in advance and let it mature for a couple of weeks before serving for the best flavour.

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine German

Keyword bread

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Resting time 1 day 10 hours

Servings 2 loaves

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Fruit Mixture:

• 250 g (9 oz) raisins
• 125 g (4 ½ oz) candied mixed peel
• 50 ml (3 Tbsp + 1 tsp) rum
• 50 g (1 ¾ oz) chopped almonds

Stollen Dough:

• 500 g (4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 10 g (2 ½ tsp) instant/fast action yeast
• 100 g (1/2 cup) caster/granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 200 ml (1/2 + 1/3 cup) lukewarm unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy is best)
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• finely grated zest of 1 orange
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 250 g (9 oz) vegan block butter (I use Naturli Vegan Block) softened
• 300 g (10 ½ oz) marzipan

To Finish:

• 50 g (1 ¾ oz) vegan block butter melted
• icing (powdered) sugar for dusting

Instructions

Day 1:

1. You need to make this stollen over the course of three days. On the evening of the first day, mix together the raisins, candied mixed peel and rum. Give it a good stir, cover and leave to soak overnight.

Day 2:

1. The following day, stir the chopped almonds into the fruit mixture.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the plain flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg.

3. Add the lukewarm non-dairy milk, vanilla and almond extracts, grated orange and lemon zest and softened vegan block butter.

4. Give it a good mix until it forms a rough dough then knead with the mixer on a high speed for about 10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and elastic and it comes away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.

5. If you don't have a stand mixer you can knead the dough by hand on an unfloured surface for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth, stretchy and no longer sticky.

6. Add the soaked fruit and nut mixture and knead until it is well distributed.

7. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl and set aside to rise in a warm spot until it has almost doubled in size. This can take 5-8 hours depending on how warm it is.

8. Once the dough has risen, place the covered bowl in the fridge overnight.

Day 3:

1. The following day, remove the bowl from the fridge and leave it to come up to room temperature for 2 hours.

2. Knock the dough back and divide it into two equal pieces (I use a scale for accuracy).

3. Roll each ball of dough out on a lightly floured surface to a rough rectangle about 1 - 1 ½ cm thick.

4. Divide the marzipan in half and roll each half into a log a little shorter than your dough rectangles. Place the marzipan logs just off centre on the dough.

5. Fold the smaller half of dough over the marzipan then fold the other half over the top and press gently to seal. Make sure that the ends are also sealed.

6. Place the logs well spaced apart on a greaseproof paper lined baking sheet and loosely cover. Set aside to rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours until they have increased in size by 50%. They will not double. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

7. Once the logs are puffy, bake them for 40-45 minutes until the internal temperature reaches at least 94°C/201°F on a probe thermometer. If they start to become too dark before they are ready you can loosely cover them with tin foil.

8. Once the stollen are baked, remove the logs from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove any raisins from the surface as they will be burnt and bitter.

9. Brush the stollen generously with the melted vegan butter and leave it to set.

10. Once the butter has set, sprinkle them with a thick layer of sifted icing sugar and leave to cool completely.

11. Once the stollen are completely cold, wrap them first in a layer of baking parchment then a layer of tin foil and store in a cool, dry place for up to six weeks.

Recipe Notes

• 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.
• See the post above for step-by-step photos.
• Stollen is supposed to have a very high fat content – half fat to flour. DO NOT reduce it otherwise the bread will be dry and won’t keep.
• I usually use bread flour when baking bread, but because we want a more cake-like texture here, plain (all-purpose) flour is the best choice.
• Ideally you should use a block butter/margarine rather than the spreadable kind in a tub for the best texture; I use Naturli Vegan Block.
• If it is a really cold day and you want to speed up the rising time of the dough a bit, you can warm up the oven a bit on a low heat, switch it off and open the door for 30 seconds to let out some of the heat then place the (covered) dough in the oven with the door slightly ajar.
• The best way to tell if bread is baked properly is to check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. It should reach at least 94°C/201°F.
• You can eat the stollen right away if you want (let it cool completely first though!) but it will have the best flavour and texture if you wrap it up in baking parchment and tin foil and let it mature in a cool, dry place for one to two weeks before you slice it.
• Provided it is well wrapped, the stollen will keep for around six weeks so it is perfect to give as gifts for Christmas.