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Sweet Pull Apart Bread

Freshly baked sweet pull apart bread decorated with small marzipan carrots in a red ceramic baking dish, with some carrots and daffodil flowers and Easter bunny figures next to it.

I love baking cakes with carrots, especially around Easter. Do you know why? Because bunnies like to eat carrots, just like me, of course. I leave the eggs for the Easter bunny – this cake recipe is vegan without eggs but still super fluffy and moist. A carrot cake is typical for Easter time, and so is yeast bread. I have combined these two ideas: a fluffy yeasty dough and carrots. You’ll be surprised because the sweet pull apart bread tastes delicious and contains very little sugar – you can enjoy it all year round. You can easily pluck the pieces of our sweet pull apart bread with your fingers. This recipe is fun to eat for everybody, not just for the children!

Ingredients for making Sweet Pull Apart Bread:

Ingredients for
  • Wheat flour type 550
  • Brown sugar
  • Vanilla sugar
  • Dry yeast (alternatively fresh yeast)
  • Lemon zest from one organic lemon (or a bag of baking lemon powder)
  • Salt
  • Carrot juice
  • Ground almonds
  • Vegan butter substitute
  • Apple sauce
  • Cinnamon
  • Marzipan carrots for decoration

How to make Sweet Pull Apart Bread

For this sweet pull apart bread, we will firstly prepare the dough. Secondly, we will make the delicious carrot filling, after which we will layer the dough with the filling before baking it to fluffy deliciousness with a caramelised crust.

Preparing the Yeast Dough

  • 500g wheat flour
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 1 sachet 8 g vanilla sugar
  • 1 sachet 7g dry yeast (alternatively 25g fresh yeast)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 190ml carrot juice
  • 50g vegan butter substitute
  • 70g apple sauce
Yeast dough ball in stainless steel bowl

I use a large mixing bowl where the kneaded yeast dough is allowed to rise. The dough should double in size.
Pour all the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, dry yeast, and salt into the large bowl and mix everything thoroughly.
Dissolve the butter in another bowl, add the carrot juice and apple sauce, and heat gently. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and knead into an elastic dough. It should feel like you are pinching your cheek 🙂
It works wonderfully with your hands – if it gets too sticky between your fingers, you can sprinkle a little more flour on top.
Form a smooth ball of dough and place it back in the bowl.

Risen yeast dough ball in a stainless steel bowl.

Cover the yeast dough with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until it has roughly doubled in volume. I prefer to place the bowl in a slightly preheated oven, at a maximum of 30° C (85° F). Above 40° C (105° F) the yeast fungi dies. Turn off the oven heat. I also put a small bowl of water in the oven. The yeast likes moist air. Moisture prevents it from drying out on the surface. You have to make it comfortable for the yeast (it’s a living unicellular fungus) so it can multiply and grow!
I have had good experiences with dry yeast. I always have a supply in my drawer. You no longer need to dissolve it in liquid, and it rises just as well as fresh yeast. I couldn’t taste any difference in the flavor either, but perhaps you have to try it for yourself.

Making the Sweet Carrot Filling

  • 200g finely grated carrots
  • 50g applesauce
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 100g melted vegan butter substitute
  • 15g brown sugar
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
Green bowl with silver spoon filled with finely grated carrots on a stone table.

Mix the apple sauce, almonds, and grated carrots in a bowl and set aside.

A stainless steel bowl with melted vegan butter substitute on a stone table.

Melt the butter substitute, stir in the cinnamon and sugar, and set aside.

Roll out the yeast dough on a stainless steel work surface with flour. A rolling pin is attached.

Now flour the work surface and place the risen yeast dough on it. Flour the rolling pin and roll out the dough into a rectangle.
The ideal size is about 35 x 45 cm (14 x 18 inch).

Filling & Layering the Sweet Pull Apart Bread

First, cut the dough into four strips and then into rectangles. The size of the rectangles should be roughly the same as the loaf tin you are using. I recommend a 28-30cm (11-12inch) loaf tin (the ceramic tin I used here is a bit shorter and broader) – and generously grease the tin with vegan butter substitute.

Brush the top of the rectangles with the butter-cinnamon-sugar mixture. Keep the rest of the mixture to cover the sweet pull apart bread later.

Now spread the carrot mixture loosely over the rectangles.

Then, stack three rectangles on top of each other and lift the dough with the filling packets vertically into the loaf tin.

Red ceramic baking dish with yeast dough before baking, standing on a stone table

Spread the rest of the butter-cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top. This will give it a beautifully caramelized crust.

Place the filled loaf tin in the slightly warm oven and leave to rise again for about 30 minutes. Once the dough has expanded, you can bake it at 175° C (345° F) for about 40 minutes. Always use top and bottom heat because yeast dough does not like convection. When it turns brown on top, use aluminum foil to cover it and continue baking.

Once the sweet pull apart bread is ready, you can decorate it with the small marzipan carrots. Just stick them between the folds of the dough.
Enjoy your meal, now it’s time to pluck – I can’t wait to see how much you like it!

Some more Recipe Inspirations: 

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Freshly baked sweet pull apart bread, placed on a stone table. Some carrots, an orange pot holder. Narcissus flowers at the edge of the picture.

Sweet pull apart bread

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This recipe is made from yeast dough with a filling of freshly grated carrots and almonds and tastes super fluffy and moist. The pieces of our Sweet Pull-Apart bread are simply plucked out of the mold with your fingers, which is not only fun for children!

  • Total Time: 155min
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Dough

500g wheat flour

50g brown sugar

1 sachet 8g vanilla sugar

1 sachet 7g dry yeast (alternatively 25g fresh yeast)

1 tsp salt

190ml carrot juice

50g vegan butter substitute

70g apple sauce

Filling

200g finely grated carrots

50g applesauce

50g ground almonds

100g melted vegan butter substitute

15g brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Decoration: 

1 pack vegan marzipan carrots

Instructions

Pour all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, including flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, dry yeast, and salt into the large bowl and mix everything thoroughly.

Melt 50g of the butter in a bowl, add the carrot juice and apple sauce, and heat gently. Add the hand-warm mixture to the flour mixture and knead it into an elastic dough.

Form a smooth ball of dough and place it back in the bowl.
Cover the yeast dough with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about one hour, until it has roughly doubled in volume.

Mix the applesauce, almonds, and grated carrots in a bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter, stir in the cinnamon and sugar, and set aside, then flour the work surface and roll the dough into a rectangle.
Cut the dough into four strips and then into rectangles. The size should roughly correspond to the loaf tin you are about to use.

Grease the tin well.

Brush the top of the rectangles with the butter-cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Keep the rest.

Now spread the carrot mixture loosely over the rectangles.

Stack three rectangles on each other and lift the dough with the filling packets vertically into the loaf tin.

Spread the rest of our butter-cinnamon-sugar mixture on top.

Place the filled loaf tin in a warm place and leave to rise again for about 30 minutes.

Now you can bake it at 175°C (350°F) top and bottom heat for around 40 minutes.
If it starts to brown on top, cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking.

When the sweet pull-apart bread is ready, decorate it with the little marzipan carrots, stick them between the folds of the dough.

Notes

This recipe works perfectly for loaf pan of approx. 28-30cm side length

  • Author: Tanja
  • Prep Time: 25min
  • Rest Time: 90min
  • Cook Time: 40min
  • Category: Simple
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: International
  • Diet: Vegan

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