When Vancouver's go-to vegan (and raw!) chocolatier and fitness trainer/cookbook author get together, delicious things are bound to happen! Emma Smith, founder of Zimt Chocolates, and I had ourselves a little bake-fest a few days ago, and we'd love to share our results with you.
First of all, if you don't yet know about Zimt, do yourself a favour and check it out. It's a line of 100% plant-based, raw, ethical, and all-around amazing chocolates. You can find it at specialty stores such as Whole Foods, Choices, and even SPUD organics delivery.
Of course we had to include some Zimt in our baking extravaganza, so we made an insanely delicious and creamy chocolate ganache to top our cinnamon buns.
Below is the recipe so you can make your own easy cinnamon buns! No yeast and no rising time. Do keep in mind that spelt flour can be a bit tricky to work with, since it doesn't have as much gluten as wheat to hold things together. Once you've rolled out the dough and topped it with margarine and cinnamon sugar, just be careful when rolling it up so you don't accidentally rip it.
Vegan spelt flour cinnamon buns with chocolate ganache topping
[Makes 1 dozen rolls]
The Grub:
Cinnamon bun dough:
3 cups spelt flour 2 tbsp baking powder 2 tbsp sugar Pinch salt 1/3 cup non-dairy margarine (we used Fleischmann’s brand) 1 cup plant-based milk (we used soy)
Cinnamon bun filling:
About 1/4 cup margarine 2 cups brown sugar (we used demerara sugar, which has a nice crunch) 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Ganache:
About 1 cup plant-based milk (we used soy) About 1 cup dark chocolate (we used Zimt, of course!)
The How To:
Cinnamon buns:
Preheat oven to 400 F and line muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Cut in cold margarine until the mixture looks like small peas (we used a fork and knife).
Gradually add plant-based milk, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms around the fork. The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl. Gently form dough into a ball.
Lightly flour a clean countertop. Knead dough a few times. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 cm thick.
Spread margarine carefully onto dough rectangle, leaving a 1 cm edge.
Spread cinnamon mixture over margarine 1 cm away from edge.
Roll up the dough by starting from the long edge. Spelt flour dough crumbles easily, so take your time and try not to let the dough rip. Pinch edges.
Slice into 12 slices and place into muffin liners in pan.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until outsides of buns are firm. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before topping with ganache. (Why not make the ganache while you wait?)
Ganache:
Heat non-dairy milk over medium heat until just beginning to steam, with small bubbles forming around the rim of the pot.
Place crumbled chocolate into a small bowl and pour warmed milk over top. Let stand for 10 minutes. Don't stir the mixture during this time or you'll cool the ganache too quickly, which will make it grainy. After 10 minutes, stir the mixture until completely smooth. Drizzle over cinnamon buns.
Here are a few photos of our little baking adventure (guest-starring my cat Yoshimi, who quickly made friends with Emma). First 5 photos courtesy of Emma Smith.
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