Christmas Stollen

Remove the zest from the oranges and set aside. Juice the oranges—you should have about 3/4 cup. (If it’s not quite enough, add a little water.)

Put the cranberries in a small bowl and pour 3 tablespoons of the orange juice over them and set aside.

Pour the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir to dissolve. Let the yeast rest for 5-10 minutes or until it’s foamy. (If it doesn’t foam up, start again with new yeast.)

In a small pot, warm the rice milk and Earth Balance over low heat until it’s melted. Remove from the heat and let it cool to lukewarm.

Put the remaining 9 tablespoons of orange juice in a bowl with the egg replacer and whisk for 1 minute. Add the orange zest and the vanilla extract and whisk until incorporated.

In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment), stir together the flour, sugar and almonds. Stir the egg mixture into the cooled milk mixture. Pour the liquids into the flour and stir on low speed for two minutes. It should form a soft but not sticky ball.

Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes. Knead the dough by hand for 8 minutes or with the dough hook in an electric mixer for 6 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling the dough to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove the dough from the fridge and let it warm up at room temperature for 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and roll it out into a rectangle about 16” x 24”. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the dough. Starting with the long side, roll the dough up tightly, forming a long cylinder.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the rolled dough to the parchment paper with the edge down. Form it into a circle inserting one end into the other, pinching the dough to seal it.

Using a pair of kitchen scissors, make cuts every two inches, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with the plastic wrap. Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature or until it’s 1 1/2 times it’s original size.

Preheat your oven to 350°. Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and continue to bake for another 20-30 minutes. The stollen should be a dark mahogany color and sound hollow when thumped.

Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted Earth Balance. Immediately sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, wait one minute and sprinkle it again.

Let the stollen cool for at least an hour before cutting it.