Pan de Muerto y dia de los Vegans!!!

First off, I want to say HAPPY VEGAN DAY to everyone!!! I hope everyone has a day full of yummy vegan goodies ahead of them! I was a vegan baking machine this weekend, between Halloween and dia de los Muertos and everything else, so I have lots of yummy recipes to share with you this week! But, in honor of my favorite day of the year, el dia de los Muertos, I thought I’d share a recipe that turned out super fantastically amazing!! Now, this is not my recipe for pan de muerto. I must tell you that. I would LOVE to take credit for this recipe, but I gotta give credit where it’s due, ya know?! Anyway, this recipe is from the blog VeganMania and it is incredible!

a dia de los Muertos altar in San Diego I visited a few years back.


Now, I’m sure some of you are asking, what the f*ck is pan de muerto?? Pan de muerto is a Mexican bread that is traditionally served on el dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to celebrate and honor your ancestors who have passed on. It is sweet bread that is typically decorated with pieces that resemble bones, or if you’re really crafty, the bread can be shaped like a skull. It is eaten at the altars that are set up on this day to honor your loved ones. And, it’s just a damn tasty treat, if you ask me!


Vegan pan de Muerto
3/4 cup lukewarm water
4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup Earth Balance melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 lb medium firm tofu, pureed until smooth
1 tbsp orange blossom or rose water
1 tbsp orange or lemon zest
1 tsp salt
up to 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
up to 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the yeast with the warm water and let sit for five minutes. Stir in the melted Earth Balance, the pureed tofu, the sugar, the orange blossom or rose water, the zest, the salt and 1 1/2 cups of each flour. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating between the whole wheat and the unbleached, until the dough forms a sticky ball. Turn this onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size — about 90 minutes.

Punch the dough down and knead a couple of times. Lightly oil baking sheets (I used two pizza pans), and form the dough into two round loaves. You can break off a bit of dough and roll it into long snakes or strips to form skull shapes or bone shapes to arrange on top of the loaves, if you like. Let these loaves rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour on the pans, preheat your oven to 375 F, then brush the loaves with the 1 tbsp of soy milk and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Remove the loaves from the oven, brush with a little extra melted Earth Balance, and immediately sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.


I'm not that artistically blessed, so this was my version of "bones" on my bread...don't judge me!


YUMMY FREAKING YUM!!!