Vegan Pumpkin Conchas

Growing up Mexican but vegan can be torturous, Mexicans have some of the most delicious-looking sweet bread, and being the bread lover that I am, I couldn’t eat those delicious delicacies all my life. That is till my mom found the perfect concha recipe, and when she made it, I fell in love. They quickly became my favorite thing to make, especially with hot cocoa in winter.

This recipe is two of my favorite things combined, I love all things pumpkin and I love conchas, so this is the perfect pumpkin concha recipe that combines the fall/Autumn flavors with the delicious Mexican bread that tastes so good with a cup of coffee or hot cocoa during those nice cool days.

Vegan Pumpkin Conchas

Mexican Inspired

Makes: 12

Time: 3 hours and 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Dough

· 2/3 Cup Warm Water

· 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast

· 1/2 Cup Soy Milk, lukewarm

· 2 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

· 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

· 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree

· 1/3 Cup Coconut oil, room temperature

· 1/3 cup sugar

· 4-5 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour

· 1 ¼ Tsp Himalayan Pink Salt

· 1 Tbsp Pumpkin Spice

Sugar topping

· 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar

· 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

· 1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

· 1/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening

· 2 Tbsp Earth Balance Butter

· 2 Tbsp Pumpkin Puree

· 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

In a measuring cup place your warm water and yeast and let it poof for 5 minutes, meanwhile, in a small bowl place your lukewarm soy milk and apple cider vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes.
In the bowl of your standard mixer place the coconut oil, pumpkin, sugar, and vanilla, and with the paddle attachment mix till well combined.
Mix in 1 ½ cups of flour and salt and mix with a paddle attachment till combined and dough forms.
Add in yeast/water mixture and milk/vinegar mixture and combine till loose batter forms.
Change the paddle attachment to a hook attachment, and add in 2 cups of flour till well incorporated. Slowly add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time till a slightly sticky dough forms. Let it knead on mid/low speed for 5-8 minutes. Place your dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it into a ball, place it in a large, oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature for an hour to rise.
While the dough is rising make the sugar topping, in a medium bowl place your powdered sugar, all-purpose flour, and pumpkin pie spice and combine. Add in butter, vegetable shortening, vanilla, and pumpkin puree and with a fork crumble the ingredients till a shaggy dough forms. Continue mixing with a fork till a soft dough forms, cover with cling wrap, and place in the refrigerator till ready to use.
Preheat oven to 370˚ F, when the dough is doubled its size place it on a floured surface and divide it into 12 pieces around 100-105 grams each.
Place 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice into a small bowl where you can easily pick up a little. Get one of the pieces and slightly flatten it out using your fingertips, sprinkle a pinch of the pumpkin pie spice, and roll it into a log.
Once rolled using your thumbs press in the ends till you get a smooth ball, then place on a floured surface and form a ball with your hands roll the now formed ball of dough between your fingers to make a smooth ball, place aside, and do with all 12 pieces.
Once all the pieces have been rolled into balls place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside to rice for an additional 20 minutes.
While rising, remove your sugar coating from the refrigerator and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Flatten out each piece with your hands to form 2-inch diameter circles.
When the dough has finished rising, brush warm water on the top of each formed ball, this will help the sugar-coating stick better. Then place a piece of flattened sugar coating on each concha dough.
Then using a small sharp nice cut the sugar coating according to the concha design you would like and set aside to rise an additional 20-30 minutes or till double their size.
Place the conchas in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the bottoms are nice and golden. Let them cool for 5 minutes and enjoy nice and warm with a cup of hot chocolate.

These are the two attachments you will need if you are using the Kitchen Aid standard mixer, if you are doing it by hand use a large wooden spoon for the paddle parts, and your hands for the dough hook parts of the recipe.

I highly recommend laying out your ingredients like in the pictures above before starting, it not only makes your life easier but it can help you see if you have everything at home before beginning the recipe.

In the dough, you can easily substitute the coconut oil for butter.