Category: Baking & Desserts

Vegan Hot Cross Buns (Dairy free, Egg free)

Published on by Sharon39 Comments

With Easter fast approaching, we have officially entered hot cross bun season.  I adore these sweet, fruity, spiced buns.  How about you?  Are you a fan?

While the supermarket shelves are laden with hot cross buns this time of year, I prefer to bake my own.  That way, I get to make them dairy free, cut back on the sugar and fat content, and pack them with fruits and spice. 🙂

Hot Cross Buns (Vegan / Dairy Free / Egg Free)

Baking your own hot cross buns is not as difficult as you may think.  While it seems like a long process, it only takes around 30 minutes hands on time.  For the majority of the time the dough is resting!

As an added bonus, if you make your own, you will be rewarded with the most amazing scent of freshly baked buns with hints of fruit and cinnamon spice wafting through the house.  Believe me, it is so good!

While hot cross buns are normally made with strong bread flour, I prefer to use plain (all purpose), which gives a more tender texture.

Hot Cross Buns Collage (Vegan / Dairy Free / Egg Free)

Here’s how I make the Hot Cross Buns…

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Hands on time: 30 minutes    Resting time: 1¾ hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes 15 medium or 12 large buns

Ingredients

Dough
250ml / 9 oz / 1 cup soya milk (or other non dairy milk)
1 tsp fast action / easy bake yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp neutral flavoured vegetable oil, such as rapeseed (canola)
500g / 17½ oz / 3½ cups plain (all purpose) flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp mixed spice
100g / 3½ oz / ½ packed cup sultanas or raisins
100g / 3½ oz / ½ cup Italian mixed peel
Finely grated zest of 1 organic/unwaxed orange
85ml / 3 fl oz / ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (or other fruit juice)

Crosses
3 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
2 tbsp water

Glaze
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice (or other fruit juice)

Method

  1. Gently heat the milk until it is lukewarm.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the yeast and sugar.  After a couple of minutes the yeast will start to froth.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, spices.  Stir in the sultanas, citrus peel and orange zest.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and stir in the oil, yeast milk mixture, and orange juice.  Bring together the ingredients using your hands.  The dough should be soft and sticky.  Depending on the type of flour used, you may need to add a little more liquid.
  3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or so, until the dough is smooth.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel or oiled cling film (plastic wrap) and leave in a warm place for an hour or so until it has doubled in size.  If your house is cool (like ours), cover with oiled foil and place in the oven at 40C / 100F for an hour.
  4. When the dough has risen, knead for a further 10 minutes then divide into 12 or 15 equal size balls.  To ensure that the buns are exactly the same size and bake evenly, I weigh the dough.  My dough tends to weigh about 1.125kg, so I tear off 75g for medium size buns.  Roll the dough into smooth balls and evenly space out on a large baking tray (28 x 40cm / 10 x 15”) lined with non stick baking paper.  Cover with the damp tea towel, oiled cling film (plastic wrap) or foil and leave in a warm place for 45 minutes or so, until they have risen.
  5. Heat the oven to 200C (190C fan) / 400F.
  6. To make the crosses, mix 3 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour with 2 tbsp water to form a thick paste.  Spoon into an icing bag with a thin nozzle (or a plastic freezer bag and snip the corner).  Slowly pipe along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction.  Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes on the middle shelf, until golden brown.
  7. To make the glaze, gently boil the sugar and fruit juice in a small pan for about 5 minutes until it starts to thicken into a syrup.  Brush over the buns while they’re still hot.  Allow to set before serving. These buns are most delicious served warm or toasted.
  8. The buns will last 2-3 days in an airtight container.  They also freeze well.  I tend to slice them in half before I freeze them so that they can be toasted without the need to defrost first.

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UPDATE EASTER 2017
It’s been three years since I posted this recipe and it’s great to hear that people are still finding it useful! I’ve loved seeing all the pics you’ve been sharing on social media, so thank you so much for tagging me! Check out these beauties, that @jameesarah shared on Instagram (you can check out Jamee’s feedback in the comments section below this post).

MORE READER REMAKES ❤️

@rebekah135

@plantbased_daria

Back in 2013 when I shared this recipe, it was really difficult to find vegan hot cross buns in UK supermarkets, so I made them myself. Here we are in 2017, and vegan-friendly hot cross buns are available in practically every UK supermarket. Times sure are changing!

You might also like…

Hot Cross Bun Loaf

Apple & Cinnamon Dough Balls (Healthy ‘Monkey Bread’)

Published on by Sharon19 Comments

When I first started blogging, I recall there was a wave of health food bloggers posting recipes for ‘Healthier’ Monkey bread.  I had absolutely no idea what ‘Monkey bread’ was or why it had such a funny name!

Wikipedia soon filled me in…

Monkey bread, also called monkey puzzle bread, sticky bread, African coffee cake, golden crown, pinch-me cake, bubbleloaf and monkey brains is a sweet, sticky, gooey pastry served in the United States for breakfast.  The bread is made with pieces of sweet yeast dough which are baked in a cake pan after first being covered in melted butter, cinnamon and sugar. It is traditionally served hot so that the baked segments can be easily torn away with the fingers and eaten by hand.

Sounds yummy doesn’t it?  However, traditional Monkey Bread isn’t particularly healthy.  It contains A LOT of fat and sugar.  In contrast, the ‘healthified’ versions often use bread or pizza dough as their base, and are glazed with healthier alternatives to butter and refined cane sugar.

One Sunday, I decided to have a go at making some Apple and Cinnamon-Spiced Healthy Monkey Bread as a ‘special breakfast’.  It was a huge hit with Lil’ L and M and,  I must admit, I’m rather partial to it too.

The ‘authentic’ way to serve Monkey Bread is to invert it onto a plate…

Apple and Cinnamon Healthy Monkey Bread

However, we prefer to eat it straight from the pan.  Hands get less messy, and you can use the balls to mop up any syrup left in the pan.

Healthy Apple & Cinnamon Monkey Bread

If you’re lucky enough to have a breadmaker, then this recipe requires very little effort at all.  You simply throw all the dough ingredients in the machine and press a button.   I’ve had my breadmaker for a couple of years now and it’s been fantastic!  I reckon it’s easily paid for itself in terms of the amount of times we’ve chosen to stay in rather than going to Pizza Express!

Today, I made some Monkey Bread as an after-school treat for Lil’ L and his friend, and I made it by hand to see how it compared to the bread-maker version.  To be honest, making dough by hand doesn’t require THAT much effort.  It takes less than 15 minutes, which isn’t too bad at all.  Plus kneading dough is great exercise for the arms.

Below I’ve given instructions for making the Monkey Bread by hand and in a breadmaker.  If you’re planning to eat it for breakfast, you can easily prepare the dough the night before and chill it in the fridge.  In the morning, simply remove the dough from the fridge about 20 minutes before you need to use it.

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Makes 18-20 dough balls (serves 3-4)
Hands-on time: 10-30 minutes (depending on whether you make the dough in a breadmaker or by hand)
Dough resting time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

Dough
½ tsp fast action/easy blend yeast
300g / 11oz / 2¼ cups wholemeal (wholewheat) bread flour or chapatti flour (I use the latter)
½ tsp sea salt
170ml / 5¾ fl oz / ¾ cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp olive oil

Cinnamon Sugar
1 tbsp coconut sugar (or use granulated sugar)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Apple Cinnamon Syrup
1 organic apple, cored and chopped (I keep the skin on)
2 tbsp virgin coconut oil (or you could use non dairy margarine, like Pure)
2 tbsp maple or agave syrup (I often use Clark’s Original Maple Syrup)
1 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

  1. Prepare the dough.
    – In a breadmaker: Throw all the ingredients in the pan and select ‘pizza dough’.  The programme should take around 45 minutes.  When it signals that it’s ready, leave the dough in the machine for a further 20 minutes or so to rise.
    – By hand: Place the yeast, flour and salt in a large bowl.  Add the warm water and oil.  Mix well with a spoon, then bring it together with your hands until you have a sticky dough.  Knead for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth.  Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea cloth or oiled cling film (plastic wrap), and leave in a warm place for about an hour until it has doubled in size.  If your house is cool (like ours) then cover with oiled foil and leave in the oven at 40C / 100F for an hour.  When the dough is ready, remove from the oven, knead for a couple more minutes then set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F / Gas 6.  Brush or spray a 23 cm / 9″ loose bottom pan with oil.
  3. Prepare the cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
  4. Prepare the apple cinnamon syrup: First blend the apple into a smooth puree.  I find the easiest way to do this is to place the apple pieces in a bowl and use a hand blender (stick / immersion blender).  Place the apple puree, coconut oil, syrup, sugar and cinnamon in a small pan and gently heat until the oil has melted.
  5. Pull off small amounts of dough and roll them into balls about 2½ cm / 1″ in diameter.  Roll them in the cinnamon sugar and place in the oiled pan.  Repeat until all the dough has been used.  Evenly space out the balls in the pan (they will expand when baking).  If you have any cinnamon sugar left over, add it to the syrup pan.
  6. Spoon the apple cinnamon syrup evenly over the top and in between the dough balls.  Place in the preheated oven and cook for 25-30 minutes.
  7. Serve warm, either inverted onto a plate or straight from the pan.

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Lil L & Monkey Bread

Good Hemp Seed Giveaway Results!
Before I go, I’d like to announce the winners of the Good Hemp Seed Giveaway.  The eligible entries were placed in chronological order and 3 winners were randomly selected using Random.org.

I’m delighted to announce that the winners are…

1. Emma
2. Samantha
3. Penniless Veggie

Please email your postal addresses and I’ll arrange for the gifts to be sent to you asap.

Have a great weekend everyone!

With love,

—————–

Delicious Orange & Almond Cake (Dairy-free & Vegan)

Published on by Sharon59 Comments

Inspired by the yummy orange and almond cake that I had at the Holburne Museum Garden Cafe last week, I thought I’d attempt to bake an orange and almond cake myself.

And guess what?  …

It wasn’t a flop!

Look, it’s even cake shape (unlike last week’s brownie gloop which I had to turn into a chocolate ‘pudding’).

This cake is beautifully moist and has the most delicious almond flavour with a hint of orange.

AND, it’s got lots of lovely goodness in it, including B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and a few minerals to boot. The cake’s also low GI, so it gives us slow release energy rather than those horrible refined sugar energy spikes.

AND it’s easy to make.  Even for me!  (and if I can bake it, you definitely will be able to!)

One of my study group friends said it’s the best cake I’ve ever made.  (To be fair, I haven’t set the bar very high with my attempts at baking, but it’s wonderful to hear that I’ve actually made something that’s more than edible).

M and Lil’ L absolutely loved it.  In fact, Lil’ L said it was one of the best cakes in the world!  For this reason alone, I think this cake deserves its own blog post.  So here it is.

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Unlike regular cakes which are full of ’empty’ calories, this cake is packed full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein and fibre. It also provides slow release energy thanks to the wholegrain flour and almonds. I would class this cake as a healthier ‘eat any time’ kind of cake, though some of my readers have served it at parties and told me that it went down a treat. It can easily be prepared in advance. In fact, we find it tastes even better a day or two after baking.

Ingredients
140g / 1 cup fine wholemeal (whole wheat pastry) flour or chapatti flour
140g / 1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
½ tsp salt
100g / 1 cup ground almonds (almond meal)
100ml / ½ cup organic rapeseed (canola) oil or other neutral-flavoured oil
150ml / ½ cup + 2 TBSP soya or almond milk
200ml / ⅔ cup maple syrup
½ TBSP zest from an unwaxed/organic orange
60ml / ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp orange extract
½ tsp almond extract

Decorating options:
Orange Cashew Cream Frosting (see below) or apricot fruit spread (e.g. St Dalfour)
3 TBSP toasted flaked almonds, crushed

Method

1  Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan) / 350F.  Grease the sides of a 20cm / 8 inch loose-bottomed cake tin with oil and line the bottom with non-stick baking paper.

2  Sift the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. Tip any remaining wheat germ into the bowl. Add the ground almonds and stir through to combine.

3  In a separate bowl, use a fork to whisk together the oil, milk, syrup, orange zest, orange juice, orange extract and almond extract until fully combined.

4  Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients and stir to combine (but do not over mix).  Pour the batter into the prepared tin.

5  Bake for 45 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned and springs back when lightly pressed. Leave the cake to cool in its tin until completely cooled (it will firm up as it cools).

6  Decorate with frosting or apricot fruit spread and sprinkle toasted flaked almonds on top. Lightly press down on the almonds so that they stick. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

7  Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, this cake will keep for up to 5 days. It also freezes well.

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Orange Cashew Cream Frosting

Yield: about 240g / ¾ cup
Hand on time: 10 minutes    Ready in: 70 minutes

Ingredients
110g / ¾ cup raw cashews
55 ml / 3 TBSP maple syrup
½ TBSP zest from an unwaxed/organic orange
30ml/ 2 TBSP freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp orange extract
½ tsp vanilla extract
45g / 3 TBSP virgin coconut oil, melted

Method
1  To soften the cashews,  boil them in a pan of water for 15 minutes or soak in freshly boiled water for 30 minutes. Rinse in cold water and thoroughly drain. 

2  Place the cashews in a food processor along with the syrup, zest, orange juice, orange extract and vanilla extract. Process until the cashews are ground into a creamy mixture. Stop now and then to scrape down the bowl. Add the melted coconut oil and continue blending for a few minutes until the mixture is completely smooth. Taste test for smoothness.

3  Scoop the frosting into a bowl and chill for one hour, or until firm enough to spread. The frosting will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator. It is also freezable

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Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

With love,