Speculoos Cinnamon Bun Babka
Made with plant milk bread dough (pain au lait)
Apple and pumpkin aren’t the only stars this season! In this post, cinnamon and spice shine in a glorious speculoos cinnamon bun babka. It’s a bit of a project, but I promise it’s worth it. The recipe starts with plant milk bread dough, which you can think of as vegan pain au lait. It’s light and pillowy white bread made using the tangzhong method, where flour and milk are cooked into a paste. This gelatinizes the starch in the flour and helps the bread stay soft and fresh longer. The dough also gets a flavor boost from a sweet poolish, which is flour, oat milk, sugar, and a pinch of yeast left to rise for bit before mixing up the main dough. Once the dough is ready, it is rolled in a sweet paste of Biscoff cookie butter (the spread made from those iconic Delta cookies), brown sugar, and cinnamon, braided, topped with a crunchy cookie crumble, and baked until it is golden on the outside and gooey within. The final flourish is a drizzle of vanilla glaze. It is a spectacular fall treat for breakfast or any time of day. Below, I’ve included the dough recipe for all subscribers and the full babka recipe for paid subscribers only.
First things first. Pain au lait, or milk bread, was one of my favorite things to bake and eat at cooking school in Paris. It is also incredibly versatile, as it produces pillowy, not too rich, slightly sweet loaves or rolls perfect for sandwiches, while also morphing into sweet treats like babka, sticky buns, and more. I knew I had to develop a vegan version, and after many iterations, I landed on one I feel strikes the perfect balance between lightness, richness, and flavor. I have also included a coconut version perfect for my Caramelized Pineapple Coconut Sticky Buns, which I’ll share in a bit.
Vegan Milk Bread Dough (Pain au Lait)
Makes enough dough for 1 loaf or 12 buns
30 mins active time, 12 hrs total time (includes overnight chilling)
Ingredients
Sweet Poolish
60 g (1/2 cup) bread flour
60 g (1/4 cup) full-fat, unsweetened oat milk
10 g (2 tsp) granulated sugar
0.75 g (1/4 tsp) instant yeast
Tangzhong
20 g (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) bread flour
100 g (1/4 cup + 3 tbsp) full-fat, unsweetened oat milk
Bread Dough
1 recipe Sweet Poolish
1 recipe Tangzhong
390 g (3 1/4 cups) bread flour
180 g (3/4 cup) full-fat, unsweetened oat milk
50 g (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
6 g (2 tsp) instant yeast
9 g (1 tbsp) kosher salt (Diamond Crystal or see note below)
113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted, cultured-style vegan butter (e.g. Miyoko's), chilled and diced (see note below)
Instructions
Prepare and proof the Sweet Poolish
Combine ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and proof at 82 F for 4 hours - I recommend using a countertop proofer to keep the temperature consistent - see Things I Used below
Prepare and cool the Tangzhong
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 150 F and it has thickened
Remove the mixture from the heat; pour into a small bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow it to cool to room temperature
Make and chill the Bread Dough
Knead all ingredients except salt and vegan butter on low speed for 3 mins
Add the salt, and knead on medium-low speed for 5 mins
With the mixer on, add the vegan butter, one piece at a time, over the course of 2 mins
Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading for about 12-15 more mins. The dough will first be greasy, then sticky, then eventually it will unstick from the bowl - this is the point at which you stop
Perform the "windowpane test" by stretching a small bit of dough between your fingers; if it stretches thin enough to be translucent (hence "windowpane") without breaking, the dough is ready to proof. If not, continue kneading on medium speed in 1-min increments until it passes this test
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and gather it together into a ball, tossing to coat with oil
Proof the dough at 82 F for 1 hour - I recommend using a countertop proofer to keep the temperature consistent - see Things I Used below
Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight
The dough is now ready to be used in a variety of applications, including simple loaves or Speculoos Cinnamon Bun Babka, the recipe for which is available below for paid subscribers
Notes & Variations
Ingredient Notes
Kosher salt: I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which has larger crystals than other kinds of kosher salt, normal table salt or fine sea salt. As a result, when measured by volume (teaspoons/tablespoons) it will add less "saltiness" than an equal quantity of the other salts. If you are not using Diamond Crystal, I recommend measuring your salt by weight, in which case you won't run into this issue. Otherwise, use half the volume quantity of salt
Vegan butter: There are two main types of vegan butter: (1) margarine-style products that are basically butter-flavored vegetable shortening (e.g. Earth Balance or Violife), and (2) cultured-style products made from cashew, coconut, or other kinds of fats (e.g. Miyoko's). I generally prefer the first type in cakes, muffins, and frostings, where the more obvious "butter" flavor and greater stability, and yellow color are beneficial. I prefer the second type in recipes where the fat will caramelize, such as cookies, pie or tart dough, and bread, as margarine-style butters can develop unpleasant burnt oil flavors when heated to high temperatures. Also, cultured-style butter can be browned similarly to dairy butter, while margarine-style butter cannot
For Coconut Plant Milk Bread
Substitute coconut milk in all places where the recipe calls for oat milk, and increase the coconut milk in the Bread Dough to 210 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
In the Bread Dough, substitute 90 g (1/4 cup + 3 tbsp) unrefined coconut oil for the vegan butter
Otherwise, proceed with the recipe as directed
Things I Used
As an Amazon Affiliate and Food52 Curator, I earn a small commission on anything purchased through these links
Ingredients
Miyoko’s unsalted vegan butter
Equipment
Brød & Taylor countertop proofer
I originally created this babka for one of my best friends' birthday parties. She had repeatedly told me that speculoos was her favorite flavor, so I finally caved and brought this as her "birthday cake" to the party, at which point it was promptly devoured by the hordes of business school students in attendance. I think my friend only got a tiny bite at the party, so I promised to make it for her again. In fact, I got so many requests for this babka that I decided it was necessary to formally post the recipe. Upgrade to a paid subscription to view it below!
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