There’s no Easter without this traditional baked good in Germany. This braided yeast bread – made without eggs – tastes just like the original, if not better.. It’s very easy to make, you’ll just need a little patience to let the yeast do its magic. In the end you’ll be rewarded with a fluffy, lightly sweet and butter soft braided bread.
- 1 cup plant milk (250 ml)
- 1/3 cup vegan butter (margarine) (75 g)
- 1/2 fresh yeast cube (21 g)
- 4 cups flour (I used spelt flour type 630) (500 g)
- 1/4 cup (raw cane) sugar (50 g)
- 1 dash of salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder (or extract) (optional)
- Zest of 1 natural (untreated) lemon (optional)
- 20 g shaved almonds (optional)
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Heat milk in a pot. Add margarine and stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm, then add yeast crumbles and let dissolve completely.
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In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, vanilla and lemon zest. Add yeast milk and knead with dough hooks until a compact dough forms.
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Cover the bowl with a lid or kitchen towel and let rise for at a warm place (I usually cover the bowl with a blanket and put a hot-water bag next to it) for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.
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After resting, punch down the risen dough, divide in three parts and knead each third for a minute or so. Then roll into long snakes. Pinch the ends of the snakes together firmly and braid. Then again pinch ends together firmly.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 360° F (180° C).
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Brush a generous amount of plant milk over the braid and sprinkle with shaved almonds (or coarse sugar) if desired.
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Bake at 360° F for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
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Enjoy with jam, vegan butter or as is. Keeps well, e.g. in a container for bread, for a few days.
- Instead of fresh yeast, you could also use dry yeast (adjust the amount).
- Traditionally, the braid is topped with coarse sugar.
- You could also add raisins to the dough; for me personally that’s a better fit to Christmas Bread (Stollen)
I hope you love this recipe – please let me know in the comment section below! If you make this braided yeast bread, make sure to take a photo and share it on my Facebook page or on Instagram, using the hashtag #minamadefood. Oh and don’t forget to tag me (@thisisminamade) so that I can see your creations!
