In our blog last month, we wrote about veganism during the Christmas period, highlighting some of the inventive vegan festive food products now on our supermarket shelves that even five years ago were simply not available. But what about Christmas breakfast, or if you go back to bed once the children have raided their presents, brunch?
Indeed, ask most people what they will be having for breakfast on Christmas Day, and you may receive a range of answers from smoked salmon and eggs benedict, half a tin of Quality Street, pastries including croissants and pain au chocolat, or something on those lines. For vegans, though, the options have until recent years been extremely limited. Thankfully, all of that has changed, and plant-based products which are ideal for Christmas are widely available, as are recipe ideas for an indulgent vegan breakfast.
Vegan alternatives to the traditional all-butter croissant
Across the UK, on Christmas morning, millions of croissants will be consumed along with other pastries. Traditionally, croissants are made with French butter and lots of it. As such, they are not suitable for those trying to adhere to a vegan diet. There are some vegan croissant products in our supermarkets, but some of these leave much to be desired, often being small, highly processed, dry, and packaged individually in plastic. This is where Wellside comes to the rescue with our range of frozen vegan croissants. These come in a variety of wholesome flavours and can be put into the oven on Christmas morning to fill your house with that gorgeous smell of freshly baked croissants. Our products include our vegan buckwheat croissants with walnuts, multi-grain vegan croissants with nettle (there is a mini version of this too), and our traditional natural vegan croissants. Not only are these 100% plant-based, but the multi-grain nettle croissant is also ideal for those who don’t have a sweet tooth or those with diabetes and who prefer a more savoury breakfast option.
A vegan alternative to the traditional smoked salmon and eggs benedict brunch
It may seem like a big ask to come up with a recipe that matches the flavours and indulgence of the traditional smoked salmon and eggs benedict, but it can be done. One recipe by American foodie, Murielle Banackissa, is her ‘Vegan Eggs Benedict with Silky Nut-Free Hollandaise’, which is made with an English muffin, mashed avocado, pan-seared tofu, hollandaise sauce. Many people are put off by the idea of tofu but don’t be. There are several types which are all worth exploring, and because it takes on flavour, if prepared properly, it is delicious. If cooking with tofu is new to you, it is advisable to try this or a similar recipe before Christmas day.
Vegan alternatives to Quality Street chocolate
OK, so this is somewhat tongue in cheek, but the reality is that come Christmas morning, some people will want to rip a tin of chocolate open and wait until the main Christmas lunch or dinner to eat something more substantial. So is there a vegan alternative to Quality Street? One option is Whitakers Vegan Tin-Tations (Milk & Dark Chocolate Selection Tin), which includes a selection of dark chocolate strawberry creams, dark chocolate salted caramel creams, dark chocolate coffee creams, dark chocolate black cherry creams, dark chocolate orange creams, milk chocolate cappuccino & honeycomb bites, dark chocolate orange & honeycomb bites, milk chocolate toffee, dark chocolate lime & sea salt crisps, dark chocolate lemon & cardamom crisps, milk chocolate rhubarb & ginger crisps, milk chocolate raspberry & lavender crisps, dark chocolate espresso squares, dark chocolate raspberry squares, and milk chocolate salted caramel squares. But be warned, at a whopping price of £24.99, you will want to put the tin on the highest shelf possible.
Final words
If you have embraced a plant-based diet in 2021, the range of Christmas breakfast products and recipes available are more inclusive, innovative, and exciting than ever before. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
