1. Add the plant based milk and vegan butter to a small saucepan and heat up until the fat has melted completely. Set aside to cool down again – the mixture should not be warmer than 110°F (43°C) when added to the rest of the ingredients.

2. In the bowl of a kitchen machine combine flour, sugar, yeast, ground cardamom, and salt. Add the cooled milk-butter-mixture and stir to combine. Knead everything with the dough hook of the machine for about 10 minutes to get a very smooth and soft dough. Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 60-90 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

3. While the dough is rising, you can prepare the filling. Mix the very soft vegan butter with the brown sugar (or xylitol), ground cinnamon, and cardamom. Chop the pecans finely and set aside. Peel and core the apple and cut into very fine dices – do that right before you start working on the dough again or the apple dices will brown.

4. Knock the air out of the risen dough and roll out on a floured surface into a rectangle with about 23×16 inches (60x40cm). Spread the cinnamon mixture evenly all over the dough (into the last corner), then sprinkle the diced apple on 1/3 of the rectangle and the chopped pecans right next to that to cover another 1/3 of the dough (see pictures). Fold the 1/3 of the dough with only the cinnamon spread over the part with the chopped pecans, press down, then fold this two layers over the section with the chopped apples – you should now have a new rectangle with three layers and a length of about 16×8 inches (40x20cm). Use your rolling pin to press everything together, then cut the rectangle into 12 strips. Take a strip and twist several times, pull gently and stretch until it nearly doubles in length. Secure one end of the twisted strip with your thumb and wrap twice around two of your fingers, then remove from your fingers and pull the end of the strip through the opening to create something that looks similar to a knot. Place the knots on two baking sheets lined with baking parchment, cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise a second time for about 60 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Brush the knots (Kanelbullar) with some plant based milk and sprinkle with the pearled (or some coarse) sugar. Bake for about 18-20 minutes – swap the baking sheets halfway thru to make sure the Kanelbullar get evenly golden brown. Take out of the oven and let cool down for some time on the baking sheets (they will be a bit soft at the beginning), then transfer to a wire rack and let cool down completely. Best on the first day, but can be frozen up to 3 months.