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This vegan panettone is remarkably fluffy inside, just slightly sweet, and more important than anything, LOADED with fun stuff. Think brioche vibes, but loaded with rum soaked candied orange, raisins, and crystallized ginger. It smells like Italy kicked your oven door open and yelled "Buon Natale, ya filthy animal!" You only need 20 minutes of hands-on work, the rest is just letting the dough rise and bake. Totally doable even if you suck at baking.
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A traditional panettone is stuffed with all the eggs, butter, and dairy your vegan heart ran away from years ago. But not anymore, scumbags.
If you are putting together a Christmas or New Year's spread, consider rocking this out with my vegan gingerbread donuts, cranberry galette, vegan Christmas cookies, or gingerbread star bread.
So grab your apron, eject that Mariah cassette, replacing it with this banger, and get ready to bake the fluffiest, fruitiest, most overachieving sweet bread to ever grace your holiday table.
Jump to:
🥰 Why you'll adore this Vegan Panettone recipe
🍊 Citrus Glow-Up: Rum-steamed fruit and ginger go full spa treatment before hitting the dough, coming out plump and juicy instead of being rubbery like the ones in your granny's panettone recipe.
✊ Vegan AF: Like all of my vegan Christmas recipes, this one is 100% cruelty-free. No egg yolks, animal products, or anyone with a face harmed in the making.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Hundreds of testers across continents gave this their "heck yes." And like my wife always says (edited down to be a little more G-rated) "If it's not a heck yes, it's a heck no".
Warning: Santa will FREAK OUT!
This FREE 5-day deep dive into vegan Christmas cooking might just make old man Claus do something inappropriate with you under the mistletoe.
🥮 Vegan Panettone Ingredients
Rum
Look, apple juice can be totally used instead if you wanna skip the booze, but all effects of the alcohol will be cooked out by the time humans are eating this. Either way, your fruit gets that deep Christmas treatment.
If you've got a ton of rum left after making this, toss some in my vegan eggnog or vegan French toast casserole. Oh, and double-check barnivore.com before you purchase your rum to check if it's vegan.
The Dried Fruit
Keep it traditional with golden raisins or level it up with green Hunza raisins (my personal fave). They're tangier, juicier, and make the flavor pop. Mix in candied orange, crystallized ginger, or go off script with chopped dates, apricots, or minced dried pear.
The Milk
Any unsweetened milk from the grocery store works: soy milk, oat milk, or almond milk are all cool. If you can't find unsweetened, just slightly reduce the amount of sugar you add.
Vegan Yogurt
I usually cook with Kite Hill's unsweetened almond milk yogurt because it's creamy and has a dairy-like yogurt flavor, but coconut or soy yogurt will totes crush it too in this recipe.
Vegan Butter
Earth Balance is my fave because it's reliable and tastes legit buttery. Trader Joe's has a solid budget option which is just a bit more annoying to measure because it doesn't come in a marked wrapper and isn't a typical stick-of-butter shape. Or make your own following the recipe in my vegan dairy crash course.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
60+ stunning holiday classics designed to win over even the most anti-vegan guests.
📖 How to make Vegan Panettone
Scroll down to the recipe card if you're impatient, but you don't wanna miss seeing my recipe's full photo shoot with step by step demonstration.
Step One
Rum D.M.C.:
Combine the rum (or apple juice if skipping the booze), water, green raisins, regular raisins, candied orange peel, crystallized ginger, and vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring to a light simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and cover for 15 minutes so the fruit absorbs the liquid.
Drain any unabsorbed liquid and set aside.
Step Two
Beauty and the Yeast:
Warm the plant-based milk over low heat until it reaches about 100°F (40°C). Sprinkle in the yeast and sugar, then let it sit for around 10 minutes until it looks foamy and active.
✅ Make sure this doesn't get hotter than warm bath water or it can kill the yeast.
Step Three
The Answer is Doughin' in the Wind:
Add the proofed yeast to a bowl with yogurt, bread flour, orange zest, and salt. Mix into a rough dough, then add the softened butter and knead for 8-10 minutes by hand or with a dough hook until smooth and elastic.
✅ Using a stand mixer is so helpful for this if you have one. Just keep it running while you wash dishes or whatever.
Step Four
Leisurefruit Larry:
Fold the soaked fruit evenly into the dough, making sure it's distributed throughout.
Step Five
Dough Jones Industrial Average:
Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm spot for about 80 minutes, or until it doubles in size.
Step Six
Panettone The Tiger:
Prepare a panettone mold or line a tall round cake pan with parchment extending about 2 inches (5 cm) above the rim. Transfer the dough into the mold, shape it into a dome, cover loosely, and let it rise again for 1 hour or until it nearly reaches the top.
Step Seven
Butter Call Saul:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Melt the extra butter and brush it evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with sugar.
Step Eight
Bake My Breath Away:
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Step Nine
Glazed and Confused:
Optionally, whisk the agave nectar and olive oil together for the finishing wash. After 35 minutes of baking, remove the panettone, brush the glaze on top, and return it to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
Step Ten
Sugarry Cooper, Super-Dooper:
Place the baked panettone on a wire rack and let it cool completely in the mold. Once cooled, dust with powdered sugar before dividing into equal pieces.
💡What to serve for a vegan Christmas dinner
If your own panettone's on the table, the rest of the spread better bring that same warm, twinkly, holiday season bonanza or Santa will go back to his arctic abode and curse you with all of the life-force left in his frigid old man winter talons.
Start things off with a soup course to give you more time in the kitchen while your guests start eating. Vegan butternut squash soup, roasted mushroom soup, or even a bowl of pumpkin risotto (or vegan mushroom risotto) might be just the thingy here.
Other yuletide bangers like vegan Swedish meatballs, vegan corn casserole, gingerbread star bread, and vegan ham must be on deck too! Your fam will be talking about this feast until the new year (which honestly is only a couple days later I guess).
👉Top tips
- Watch the Heat: Keep that plant milk warm, not lava, okay? Yeast has a comfort zone, and it ain't boiling. Keep it around 100°F.
- Get That Stretch: Work that dough till it stretches like mozzarella in a slow-mo pizza ad. If it's translucent without tearing, boom, you're there.
- Patience, Padawan: Do. Not. Cook. Your. Yeast. Yeast loves moderate, consistent temps, not an inferno. Don't make it die, OK?
- The Mold Makes the Moment: Panettone molds make these come out even prettier and more festive looking. Line it high, at least 2 inches above the surface of the dough. It's what gives your loaf that iconic tower shape instead of spreading out like a pancake.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Your dough's first rise should take about 80 minutes in a warm environment. You'll know it's ready when it's doubled and looking all puffed up. Once you've shaped it, give it another hour to rise again, almost to the top. If it's taking forever, don't panic, it's not broken, it's just probably not warm enough in your kitchen. Just give it time.
You absolutely do not need some shmancy imported mold. Line a tall cake pan with parchment or baking sheet that sticks out a couple inches above the top, and you're good. Save that money for good vegan butter or, like, more raisins.
Just wrap it up nice and tight in an airtight container and keep it at room temp. It'll stay soft for a few days, assuming you don't inhale it first. Don't even look at your fridge, that's where baked goods go to die.
✌️You'll love these vegan holiday recipes too:
Vegan Panettone Recipe
Equipment
- stand mixer (optional)
- parchment paper (optional)
- panettone mold (optional)
Ingredients
For The Rum Soaked Fruit:
- ⅓ cup rum or apple juice
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup green raisins
- ⅓ cup raisins
- ½ cup candied orange rind chopped
- ¼ cup crystallized ginger chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Panettone Dough:
- ¾ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅔ cups unsweetened vegan yogurt
- 4 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegan butter room temperature
For Baking the Panettone
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For Finishing:
- 2 teaspoons agave nectar
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 teaspoons powdered sugar for dusting once cool
Instructions
- Combine the rum (or apple juice if you are skipping the booze), water, green raisins, raisins, candied orange rind, crystallized ginger, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat cover, allowing the fruit to absorb the liquid for 15 minutes. Drain any excess liquid and set aside.
- Warm the plant-based milk over low heat until it reaches 100°F (40°C). Sprinkle in the yeast and sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes, or until foamy and active.
- Pour the proofed yeast into a bowl with the yogurt, flour, orange zest, and salt. Mix until a rough dough forms. Add the softened butter and knead for 8-10 minutes, either by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Fold in the soaked fruit until evenly distributed.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 80 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Prepare a panettone mold or line a tall, round cake pan with parchment paper so that it extends at least 2 inches (5 cm) above the rim. Transfer the risen dough to the mold, shaping it gently into a dome. Cover loosely and let rise again for 1 hour, or until the dough nearly reaches the top of the mold.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Just before baking, melt the butter for baking and brush it over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle evenly with sugar.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is deep golden brown and a skewer or toothpick inserted deeply into the center comes out clean.
- Optionally, while the panettone bakes, prepare the finishing wash by whisking together the agave nectar and olive oil. After 35 minutes of baking, remove the panettone from the oven, brush the surface evenly with the agave-oil mixture, and return it to the oven for the remaining 5-10 minutes of baking time.
- Transfer the baked panettone to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely in the mold. Once cool, dust generously with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
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Dushenka Silberfarb says
This bread has been on my dream list of treats for my kids to make a vegan version of. This recipe rox our Sox off. 🙂 thanks,Adam, for, once again, knocking it out of the park.