A vegan take on one of my all-time favorite Easter treats.
Spring is one of my favorite times of the year, partially because I love Easter and all the amazing treats that come with it. Growing up, I loved a typical Austrian Striezel with Butter and Jam.
This Year, when I couldn’t find a vegan version I liked in the supermarkets I decided to experiment a little and make one myself. After a few trial and error attempts, I arrived at this recipe that is super soft and spongy and just the right amount of sweet. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Striezel
Course: Baking, RecipesServings
1
servingsPrep time
15
minutesCooking time
30
minutesResting Time
1
hour30
minutesTotal time
2
hoursIngredients
500g Plain Flour
300ml Plant Milk
100g Vegan Butter
100g Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cube of Fresh Yeast or 1 Pack of Instant Yeast
Zest of one Lemon
A little Plant Milk for brushing
Chopped Almonds or Coarse Sugar
Directions
- Heat plantmilk and vegan butter in a small sauce pan until the butter is melted and then let it cool down to around 30° Celcius (90° Fahrenheit). If using fresh yeast, crumble in the cube, if using instant yeast pour it in. Let it sit for a 10 minutes until its foamy.
- In a large mixing bowl mix flour, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract.
- Pour the yeast mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with the dough hooks of your hand mixer until it forms a nice uniform dough. Don’t worry if it doesn’t come together right away, it may take a few minutes and the dough will be rather sticky, but that will make it nice and soft when baked.
- Cover the bowl with a wet tea towel and let it rest for 60 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
- Take the dough out the bowl and onto a floured work surface and give it a good knead. Try not to get too much extra flour into the Mix.
- Split the dough into three equal parts and roll them into 50cm long, thin logs.
- Press the three strands together at the top and then tightly braid your Striezel. Press the ends together again to seal the braid.
- Move the Striezel onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and cover again with the tea towel. Let it rest for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).
- Brush the Striezel with a little plant milk and sprinkle with Almonds and/or coarse sugar.
- Bake for about 30 minutes until light gold on the outside and baked through inside. This will depend on your oven, so check with a skewer if the inside is done.
- Let the Striezel cool down before you cut into it.
Notes
- Fresh yeast makes the Striezel taste a little better and it gets a little fluffier, but the recipe works almost as well with instant yeast!
- If the outside of your Striezel is getting dark already but it is not baked through on the inside cut a hole in a piece of aluminium foil and cover the Striezel so the outside is covered and the middle is free.
