Description
Vegan Spanish bread, or as my best friend likes to call it, “sandy baby legs”, is a very common pastry in the Philippines. This veganized version stays true to the classic. Fluffy, filled with sweet buttery goodness, baked to golden perfection. The perfect dish to pair with a cup of coffee or tea! Eat it for breakfast, snacks, or even dessert! You won’t want to miss out on this deliciousness.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough:
- ¾ cup (192ml) – soy milk
- 2 teaspoon – active dry yeast
- ½ cup (100g) – granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cup (350g) – bread flour, spooned, leveled and sifted
- 1 teaspoon – salt
- 3 tablespoons (42g) – vegan butter, softened
- ⅓ cup (30g) – panko breadcrumbs (ensure it’s vegan)
Sweet Buttery Filling:
- 56g (¼ cup) – vegan butter
- 100g – brown sugar
- 60 ml (¼ cup) – non-dairy milk, lukewarm
- 2 tsp – bread flour
- 1/3 cup (30g) – panko breadcrumbs (ensure it’s vegan)
- ¼ teaspoon – salt
- 1 teaspoon – vanilla extract
Equipment:
- Food scale
- Stand mixer, optional
- Large bowl
- Small saucepan
- Heatproof silicone spatula
- Bench scraper or knife
- Blender or food processor
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Large baking sheet
- Wire cooling rack
Instructions
Dough:
- Heat up the non-dairy milk until lukewarm, or 100° Fahrenheit. Stir in the yeast and set it aside for 10 minutes to bloom. (Do not heat the milk any hotter or you’ll end up killing the yeast.)
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the sugar, bread flour, and salt. Mix until well combined. When your yeast has bloomed, add it to the dry ingredients along with the softened butter. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer and using the dough hook attachment, set your mixer on “stir” and allow it to mix all the ingredients together. Once a shaggy dough has formed, set speed to 2 and let it knead the dough for 10 minutes. You’ll know when your dough is fully kneaded when it springs back when you lightly press down on it.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, and form it into a nice round ball. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set it aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour or until doubled.
Filling:
- While you wait, in a small saucepan, melt the butter until bubbly. Then whisk in the brown sugar until it has slightly dissolved in the butter.
- Next, add in the milk and mix. Then add in the bread flour, bread crumbs, salt, and vanilla extract. Whisk until fully combined.
- Cook for another 1 minute until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Assembly:
- Before you start, if your bread crumbs are chunky, blitz them in the blender or in a food processor until you get a sand-like texture. Then prep it by pouring it on a plate, and set it aside.
- Next, prep a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and set it aside until ready to use.
- When your dough is done rising, (It should have doubled in size. If not, allow it to rise for 1 more hour) punch down the dough and measure out 6 equally sized balls. You can eyeball this or for more accuracy, use a food scale. Form each piece until it is a ball, cover with a damp tea towel, and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, on a lightly floured work surface, roll out a piece of dough into a 4-in x 9-in oval. If the dough is resisting and springing back as you roll, allow it to rest for another 10-15 minutes. See notes.
- Add about a heaping tablespoon of the filling, and spread it, leaving about a half-inch border all around.
- Starting from the bottom, roll it up while making sure that all ends are sealed. Roll the tops of the dough in the breadcrumbs, and set it aside on a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat for the rest of the dough and filling.
- Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise again for 30 minutes. At the last 15 minutes of its rise time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Allow the bread rolls to cool over a wire cooling rack. Best served the same day!
Notes
- Grind the breadcrumbs that you are going to use to top the bread with, not the ones you will use for your filling.
- When the dough springs back or resists you when you roll it out, that means the gluten hasn’t had enough time to relax. Allow the dough to rest again for another 10-15 minutes and try again.
- Store in an air-tight container in the fridge. Spanish bread is best eaten within 2 to 3 days. Re-heat in a microwave 20-30 seconds or toaster oven for 1 to 2 minutes over low heat.
Keywords: vegan, vegan bread recipe, vegan filipino recipe, vegan spanish bread, spanish bread, filipino spanish bread, snack, breakfast, bread, bread recipe
