Ditch your regular wreath for this sweet vegan Christmas wreath bread, with cranberries, almonds, & chocolate. The dough is spelt based and surprisingly easy.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Vegan
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Rising Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Total Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 1wreath
Ingredients
¼cupwarm water
1teaspooncoconut sugar
1tablespoondry yeast
1 ½cupwarm non-dairy milk*
¼cupmaple syrupor honey
3tablespoonsgrape seed oil or other light tasting oil
Juice of an orange
Zest of an orange
2cupsspelt flour
2teaspoonsground cinnamon
1teaspoonvanilla powder
3cupskamut flour*
Filling
⅓cupcoconut oilsoftened
½cupdried cranberriesor 1 cup fresh
½cupchopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
½cupslivered almonds
⅓cupcoconut sugar
1tablespooncinnamon
Instructions
Pour the warm water into a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer). Sprinkle the coconut sugar and the yeast into the water and let it sit for ten minutes, or until it expands.
Add the warm milk, maple syrup, oil, orange juice and zest, two cups of flour, and spices. Stir with a wooden spoon or the paddle of a stand mixer until fully combined. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. Stir until it's too stiff to continue, and then place the dough on a clean floured surface and knead, adding more flour as necessary. If you're using a stand mixer use the dough hook on the lowest speed.
Knead until a soft and smooth dough forms. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, and put the bowl in a warm place. Let the dough rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
After an hour, punch the dough down. You can separate it into two at this point if you want two smaller wreaths, or keep it whole for a large wreath. If you're keeping it in one piece make sure you have a big baking sheet for it.
Roll the dough out to 2 cm thick on parchment paper. Don't do this on a floured counter, as it's too hard to transfer to a baking sheet. Add the filling in the order listed above.
Gently roll the dough up like you would for cinnamon buns. You can cut it up like cinnamon buns and bake it that way if you'd prefer. For the braid, you have to cut it lengthwise down the centre. Cross each section over the other like a two strand braid, and then gently make a circle with the braid, tucking one end under the other to complete the circle.
Let this rise for another 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Bake the bread for 30 minutes if you made two wreaths, and 40 if you've made one large wreath. It should be golden and sound hollow when you knock on it.
Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before eating, and fully before storing in a sealed container. It will stay good for a couple of days, and still be edible on the third (but not as nice).
Notes
1. I really like using full-fat coconut milk in this recipe, but any will work. 2. You can use all spelt in place of the kamut flour, or use all-purpose here.