I’ve been swamped this month.

It all started over the summer when I made a batch of vegan blueberry crumb muffins.

I like this recipe very much. But I noticed that the crumbs on top melted slightly in the oven every time I made it.

Ultimately, the muffin was covered with more melted breadcrumbs than the big, sweet, buttery crumbs I’d dreamed of.

In years of recipe development, I’ve learned that every recipe is never really finished. We can decide that we like a recipe so much that we’d rather not mess with it. But recipes are like people: they can constantly evolve.

I started fiddling with my crumbs.

When I started working on a coffee cake recipe (to be published soon!) I had more time to figure out what made the shortbread the way I liked it – the big, distinctive crumbs of butter.

Today, I’m going to share what I’ve learned.

What is a hard bun?

First and most importantly, What exactly is a hard bun?

Hard bread is a crumbly, buttery filling commonly used on muffins, cakes, pies, or breads.

Streusel is almost always made from flour, butter (in this case, vegan butter), and sugar.

Some complex bread recipes call for adding nuts, oatmeal, or other elements to add texture.

Are hard bread and breadcrumbs the same thing?

As I delved deeper into vegan pastry, I became curious about whether pastry and breadcrumb tops were the same thing.

They are used interchangeably in recipes, and much of the information I’ve found suggests there’s no real difference.

There is a difference, though that difference can sometimes be subtle, and there may be some explanation.

Bread crumbs contain less sugar than bread crumbs.

Because it contains more sugar, crumb tops are crisper and more crumbly than semolina.

Food writer Jennifer McGavin, an expert on German cooking, describes streusel as “a shortbread ball, for lack of a better description.”

“It has a crisp, biscuit-like top and a soft bottom where it meets the cake or fruit,” she continued.

Conversely, McGavin describes the crumb top as “sand-like” or “crisp, lacey effect,” depending on how much sugar is used.

According to McGavin, the traditional German streusel is made with 1:1:2 sugar, butter, and flour, while the breadcrumb ratio is usually 3:1:2 or 3:3:1. These technical differences can significantly impact the texture.

After reading McGavin’s article, I wondered if the vegan bun I’m going to share today is appropriately named.

It does not precisely match any of the ratios described above. I aimed for it to have big crumbs, so it needs to be lacy or sandy. However, due to the proportion of sugar, it is crunchy.

Ultimately, I decided to call it crumb topping, but I won’t tell you; it could have two names: crumb topping or breadcrumb topping.

In fact, this recipe can be used for any baked good topped with sugar, butter, and breadcrumbs.

The challenge of making vegan bread

Part of the reason my vegan hard bread doesn’t follow the classic ingredient ratio is that it’s made with vegan butter.

After testing whole wheat butter many times, I found that vegetarian butter has a lower melting point than dairy butter.

Vegan butter is made from a blend of vegetable oils. Most vegetable oils are liquid at room temperature and consist mainly of unsaturated fats.

Butter contains milk solids and saturated fats, which help it stay solid at room temperature.

One vegan butter brand, ForA: butter, is designed to have the same melting point as regular butter, which is why it is suitable for pastries and laminated doughs.

ForA can only be ordered in bulk and is sold mainly to food service companies. I tried it a few years ago when I tested several butter brands to make the perfect vegan croissant, which is functionally similar to butter.

But unless you’re willing to buy 12-pound or even 30-pound orders, ForA isn’t a realistic option.

There are plenty of other vegan butter to choose from, but they will melt in the oven better than regular butter.

That’s why many of my past efforts to make hard bread with the traditional sugar: butter: flour ratio resulted in a crispy, caramelized, melted top layer of bread rather than crumbs.

I need to adjust the amount of butter, sugar, and flour to make this recipe effective.

Melted butter = larger breadcrumbs

My other big realization, especially for vegan hard bread, is that it’s better to use melted butter than to cut cold butter into dry ingredients.

It’s a little different from making traditional hard bread, but this adjustment is very effective for plant adaptation.

Slathering a baking sheet with melted butter will allow you to see exactly what kind of crumbs will be in the baked product before you put it in the oven.

As a bonus, it’s faster than using solid butter.

Does it matter what kind of vegan butter I use?

Vegan butter is a crucial ingredient in this recipe. You may be wondering if a particular brand is the best.

So far, I’ve tried several butter options for vegan hard bread. To be specific:

• Balance of the earth
• Miyoko’s milk
• Country Crock(avocado oil version)
• OmSweet Home Non-dairy Butter Substitute (a local brand I like)

All four methods worked. I’ll keep updating the recipe as I test more, but the result is that you can use your favorite butter, the kind you have at home.

If you like making your own vegan butter—and I know there are plenty of recipes online—that’s great! Suppose various brands work for me, each with a different oil mixture and base. In that case, homemade vegan butter will also be successful in recipes.

Can I use oil instead of butter?

What if you don’t have vegan butter at home? Or do you prefer to use oil in your recipes?

It doesn’t matter. Oil is a very viable source of fat, but there are a few caveats.

The first is the taste: most of us associate hard bread with the taste of butter. While vegetable oil can technically work well to produce those lovely crumbs, it may not taste like butter in the traditional sense.

The second caveat is that you may need less oil than butter. This is usually the rule of thumb for using oil instead of butter (or vegan butter) in recipes.

Why? Oil is 100% liquid fat, while butter is mostly fat and water—regular dairy butter is about 18% water.

So, when you want to add a fat source to baked goods, you don’t need as much oil as butter. Reducing the amount of oil by 10-15% usually works well.

Suppose you choose to use oil instead of butter for this vegetarian dish. In that case, I recommend using five tablespoons instead of six.

Use your intuition: If your hard bread looks dry or sandy, you can use a teaspoon and add more oil until the texture seems just right (more on the ideal texture below).

Which oils might work in a recipe?

As for the type of oil, my first choice is refined avocado oil.

This is my go-to neutral vegetable oil. It has a high smoke point, so it’s good for cooking at various temperatures, and it’s mostly monounsaturated fat.

Olive oil can also be used in recipes. If you are using olive oil, I recommend using a mild-tasting oil, as an oil that tastes very “fruity” may give too much of its flavor.

You can also use coconut oil for vegetarian meals. The advantage of coconut oil is that it is solid at lower temperatures and has a slightly buttery taste, so it is a reasonable substitute for butter.

The downside is that coconut oil contains high saturated fat, so it may not be suitable for those who watch it in their diet.

Finally, you can use grapeseed oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil in your recipes. These neutral-flavored vegetable oils perform well in baking.

How to make vegan pastry

Let’s talk about how to make the vegetarian meal of your dreams.

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients

The dry ingredients are unbleached plain flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

A word on sugar: I like to use light brown sugar for my streusel, but you can also use dark brown sugar, cane sugar, or coconut sugar. They all work well.

As shown above, dark brown and coconut sugar produce dark, complex sugar. In contrast, light brown sugar and cane sugar produce a more golden color.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl, the first step in making shortbread.

Step 2: Add melted butter

Your puff pastry bread will need six tablespoons of melted vegan butter. You can melt it in a small saucepan on the stove or heat it in the microwave (15 seconds).

Once the butter has melted, pour it into the middle of the dry ingredients.

Step 3: Stir with two forks

Suppose you’re making hard bread with cold butter, which is traditional. In that case, you’ll use a knife or pastry knife to cut the solid butter into dry ingredients until you get a crumbly mixture.

Here, you can use two forks to disperse the liquid butter into the dry ingredients. Gently rotate the fork in the mixing bowl and use the fork to mix everything.

How long does it take to blend? Your goal is for the butter to blend thoroughly into the dry ingredients. You don’t want dry, unmoistened flour in the bowl.

Your aim is to achieve a texture where the crumbs are fairly large, but not excessively so.

The usual hint for pastry crumbs is the size of a pea. (This is also a general tip for cutting butter into flour to make scones or pie crusts.)

This is a good rule of thumb for your vegetarian meal. However, it’s okay if your crumbs are smaller and more crumbly.

If your breadcrumbs are more extensive, like the size of chickpeas, that’s okay. If you’re like me, you’ll love the texture of those big crumbs in your baked goods.

Step 4: Use or store

Your pastries can be used immediately for any scheduled baking project.

This hard bread can also be stored for up to three days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, which is handy if you plan to cook for entertainment or holiday celebrations.

If you want to achieve greater success in the baking process, you can transfer the pastry to an airtight container and freeze it for up to six weeks.

Formula yield

This recipe will give you about 1 1/2-2 cups of grits.

This should be enough to exceed one of the following significantly:

• An 8 “/ 20 cm square cake
• A 9 “/ 25 cm round pie or round cake
• A dozen muffins

If you cut the recipe in half, any of the above will suffice.

Can hard bread be gluten-free?

Of course, hard bread can be gluten-free.

Better yet, since this isn’t a cake, biscuit, or other delicate baked goods, you can use some flexibility in your GF flour.

My favorite gluten-free flour is King Arthur Baking Company’s gluten-free flour. This reliable, well-made mixture can be used in a 1:1 ratio as an alternative to all-purpose flour.

This is the gluten-free version of most gluten-free baked goods that I recommend.

However, you can also use oat flour, brown rice flour, or even almond flour for vegan semolina. The texture may vary, but you should see large, sweet crumbs of butter in either option.

Optional plug-in

As for me, I’m a purist. I don’t add anything to the bottom of flour, sugar, and melted butter.

(Incidentally, this is why I prefer the pretzel, as it comes with an oatless top to the pretzel.)

That said, many people like to add texture to their breadcrumb toppings. Here are some blends you might consider:

• Chopped or sliced nuts
• Numb heart
• oatmeal
• Different spices (e.g., nutmeg, allspice, or vanilla powder)
• Cacao nibs

What should I do with my vegan pastry?

What an interesting question!

You can add hard bread to many vegan baked goods to enhance their texture, flavor, and deliciousness.

Here’s a recipe I often use as a topping:

• Vegan blueberry crumb muffins
• Veggie strawberry rhubarb stick
• Vegetarian blueberry clasp
• Vegan muffin
• Mini sweet potato casserole
• Sour cream and cherry muffins
• Baked apple

Here are some recipes that don’t explicitly call for hard bread but work better when topped with buttery vegan crumbs:

• Classic vegan pumpkin bread
• Vegan strawberry muffins
• Vegan sweet cherry upside-down cake
• Classic vegetarian banana bread
• Vegan plum crisp
• Maple brown sugar toasted oatmeal

Once you get into the habit of making and freezing this ingredient, you may find yourself tempted to add it to everything. That’s how I feel these days.

Here’s the recipe to get you started.

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 TBSP unbleached all-purpose flour (135g)

2/3 cup light brown sugar or brown sugar (130 g); You can also use cane sugar or coconut sugar)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fine salt

6 TBSP vegan butter (85g)

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan over low heat or in the microwave for a short time (15 seconds).
3. Pour the melted butter into the center of the dry ingredients. Using two forks, gently mix the butter and flour to form a pea-sized crumb and a few smaller crumbs. You aim to have no dry flour left over and make the mixture mostly pea-sized breadcrumbs, mixing a few smaller and larger breadcrumbs.
4. You can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 6 weeks. Alternatively, you can use it right away.