Vegan Brioche (Fluffy and Rich)

This soft and 'buttery' vegan brioche has a melt-in-your-mouth tender crumb and the most amazing texture. Perfect choice for tasty sandwiches and delicious morning toasts!

Jump to:

• 🛒Ingredients
• 🥣How To Make It
• 🌙Overnight Proofing
• 🥯Making Buns
• 💭Foolproof Tips
• ❕Storing and Freezing
• 🍞Vegan Bread Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

A brioche bread is made of a dough enriched with eggs, milk and butter. By replacing dairy for plant-based milk and butter and omitting the eggs, you can get a vegan brioche as good as its conventional version.

This bread is amazing for toasts and sandwiches! Blackberry jam is my favorite sweet spread, and topping a brioche slice with caponata is fantastic savory brunch.

🛒Ingredients

Flour. We’re using all-purpose flour instead of bread flour. All-purpose gives this bread a lighter texture and a tender crust.

Salt. Use fine sea salt.

Tip: when mixing the ingredients, don’t add salt on top of the yeast or vice versa. Salt might kill some of the yeast grains if both ingredients stay in contact for too long.

Yeast. Instant yeast is easier to use, as you don’t need to proof it, so that’s what we’re using for this recipe.

Sugar. Granulated sugar works great here, but you can also use caster, brown or even turbinado sugar.

Vegan Milk. Soy or oat milk are my choices for this vegan brioche. We need to compensate some of the protein we’re losing omitting the eggs, and soy milk has the higher amount of protein among vegan milks, followed close by oat milk. Use unflavored and unsweetened.

Vegan Butter. The vegan butter we’re using is the one that comes in a solid foil-wrapped stick. Use unsalted.

Note: substituting vegan butter for olive oil will affect the rise, but still make a delicious and soft bread. If doing so, it’s best to use a mild flavored olive oil, as extra virgin has a very strong flavor.

Maple Syrup. Used to substitute the egg wash, it gives some color to the top, and makes a tender, slightly sweet crust.

🥣How To Make It

• In a bowl, add dry ingredients, mixing until combined.

• Add wet ingredients, and using a stand mixer equipped with its dough hook, knead until dough forms, on medium-low. It might look there’s too much vegan butter, but the dough will set after a minute or so.

• Knead for 6 minutes more. Dough should feel smooth and tacky, and come out easily of the bowl.

• Place dough into a clean bowl, covering it with a kitchen tower or plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm place for 90 minutes, or until doubled. It might take longer during a very cold winter, or less time during summer.

• After it doubles, deflate dough, punching it down and removing from the bowl.

• Divide into 4 even pieces and let them rest covered for 10 minutes before shaping.

• Prepare a 9-inch loaf pan, lining it with parchment paper.

• In a clean surface, using a rolling pin or bottle, open dough, rolling it over itself and pinching to seal it close. Repeat with each piece, placing them side to side in the loaf pan, pinched side down.

• Cover loosely and let it rise for about 40 minutes, or until it looks puffy and light.

• While dough rises, preheat oven to 350°F, rack placed on the middle shelf.

• Mix maple syrup and plant-based milk for the vegan wash. Brush it on top of dough just before baking.

• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 180-190°F when placed in the middle of the brioche loaf.

• Remove it from the loaf pan with the help of the parchment paper and let bread cool on a rack.

🌙Overnight Proofing

Thinking about starting this brioche the night before and leaving it proofing overnight to enhance flavors? Follow these steps after kneading:

• Place dough into a clean bowl, cover and let it rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

• After that time, place dough inside the fridge for the overnight fermentation. Make sure it’s well covered so it won’t develop a skin.

• The next day, remove dough from the fridge, portion it in 4 even pieces and proceed with the remaining steps described above.

Do not leave it fermenting outside the fridge overnight, or the dough will overproof.

🥯Making Buns

You can make vegan brioche buns using this recipe.

• After the first rise, divide dough into 8 even pieces, letting them rest for 10 minutes before shaping.

• Shape each piece into a tight ball by folding the dough over itself, pinching it closed at the bottom.

• Place shaped balls into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure they have enough space to double without touching. Let it rise until it doubles. Buns will look puffy and light.

• Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes at 375°F, rack in the middle.

• Brush vegan wash on the top of each bun, and top it with sesame seed if desired.

• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown on the top.

💭Foolproof Tips

Check the expiration date of the yeast you’re using. Dry yeast loses some of its power if expired, as well 6 months after the package is opened. An open package of yeast needs to be stored well closed inside the fridge.

To get a soft brioche with a good rise, dough needs to be properly kneaded. It needs to feel soft and tacky in your hands, and dough shouldn’t tear up easily when stretched open.

For this recipe, adding less flour is better than having too much of it, so be careful when measuring the flour if you don’t have a scale. Spoon and level the ingredient instead of scooping it into the flour bag.

Always let dough rise in a warm spot. Look for a warm spot in your kitchen (like the top of your fridge or next to the stove if you’re using it), or use the proofing function if your oven has it. Cold spots will make the dough take longer to rise.

Careful to not remove bread from oven before time. If the top of the brioche is browning too much, you can cover it with foil and continue to bake until done. If you bake this brioche for less than 30 minutes, you’ll probably get a gummy middle.

❕Storing and Freezing

After cooled, store brioche inside a bread keeper or airtight container. It keeps soft for about 3 to 4 days if stored correctly. Do not store inside your fridge.

You can also freeze it for later. When doing that, slice brioche, place slices into a freezer-safe bag, pushing out the air before sealing and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To reheat, let it thaw for 10 minutes, then reheat using your toaster or preheated oven (medium heat, 5 minutes) for the best result.

🍞Vegan Bread Recipes

Crusty Sandwich Rolls
Sweet Molasses Bread
Vegan Sandwich Bread