These vegan brioche buns are soft, fluffy, slightly sweet, and go perfectly with any burger or sandwich you can think up. Enjoy all of the fluffy and buttery flavors of a traditional brioche bun without all of the dairy and eggs.
Warm, fluffy, homemade buns
Have you ever had some buttery, fluffy, homemade brioche buns? How about a vegan one? If the answer is no, then you’ve gotta give this a try!
These buns are sure to level up your next burger or sandwich and are extremely beginner friend. They don’t take much effort at all to make and are great to prep ahead of time.
Home-making your brioche buns will save you money while giving you a better end result. Not to mention, it’s so much fun!
With this recipe, I’m going to take you a little more in-depth and teach you the how-tos and reasons behind each step of the process. There are just sooo many helpful tricks and tips I can pass on when it comes to making breads that will make your bun-making experience that much easier.
So, if you want your buns to be the best they can be, read the details in this post!
What are Brioche Buns?
If you’re vegan, you may have discovered that a lot of the bread you find at your local bakery or grocery store is actually vegan by accident. I mean, the basis of bread is really just flour, water, salt, and yeast. (Maybeee a little sugar too)
Well, unfortunately, Brioche is not one of them. The one thing that really sets brioche apart from most breads is it’s high butter and egg content.
True French Brioche is as far from vegan as you can get, but the flavors are rich, buttery, sweet, and oh so good.
So, (naturally), I felt I had to make a veganized recipe for brioche buns. Brioche buns are simply the “creme de la creme” when it comes to buns for your burgers, and I was starting to miss life without them.
I make up for the flavors and richness using vegan butter, maple syrup, and organic cane sugar. Working with higher gluten flours such as bread flour will really help to add protein to the dough, and will naturally replace the eggs on its own. I add apple cider vinegar to help give the buns an even softer, fluffier texture.
So yes, these brioche buns are easier, healthier, and just as tasty as their non-vegan counterparts.
Activating the yeast and mixing the dough
To start off the recipe, you mix the yeast with some warm water and carbs for it to eat up.
By warm, I’m talking 110° – 115° Fahrenheit. Too hot, and you’ll kill the yeast, too cool, and it will take much longer to rise.
Allow it to sit for 10 minutes so the yeast and sugars can dissolve and warm up.
Next, mix the bread flour and salt in a large bowl. Also mix the melted butter and vinegar in a small cup. You’re going to add the yeast mixture and the butter to the large bowl of flour gradually, mixing as you go.
I like to use my hands or a wooden spoon to mix.
Once your dough comes together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for 8 – 12 minutes or until it passes the “window pane” test.
What is the “window pane” test?
The window pane test is something I learned about while making sourdough. You use it when you’re kneading dough to check the gluten’s development to make sure it will be strong enough to rise.
It gets its name from the ability to stretch your dough out to a point that it can form a thin “window” in the dough without tearing. You want the dough to be able to stretch elastically without breaking apart.
I typically start checking my dough after about 5 minutes of kneading.
To perform the window pane test yourself, simply hold your dough up high in front of a light source, with your hands on either side. Start to stretch the dough apart, and watch to see if it forms a thin window. You should be able to see the light shine through without the dough breaking or snapping apart.
If your dough can make the window without breaking, it’s ready to proof.
Before you place it in the bowl to rise, roll it up tightly and tuck all of the sides down to the underside of the bun. The surface should be smooth and tight. This will help give it structure and strength during its rise.
The trick to rolling the buns
When it comes to dividing the dough out I like to use a bench scraper and a scale.
Weigh your dough entirely (in grams), then divide the weight by 8 for a 1x batch. This will be the weight you want for each individual bun.
Using a bench scraper, cut off portions of dough and size them accordingly. I always lean slightly on the smaller side of the portion I need so that the last portioned ball doesn’t wind up being too small. (ex. if my math says each portion should be 58 grams, I’ll round a bit down and weigh the balls out to 55 grams instead) Any excess dough you may have at the end can be divided among the rest of the portions.
When you start to roll the dough into balls, make sure the counter or working surface is dusted lightly with flour. Start by pressing directly down on the ball to slightly stick it to the surface in an area on your workspace where there is little to no flour. Then, roll the ball between the table and your palm in a circular motion, making an OK sign with your thumb and pointer finger. If the ball is sticking to your hand, pat the floured table with your palm and retry. If it is sticking too much to the table, move it to an area where there is more flour and try rolling it there.
(… Trying to describe this is making me realize how much I need to figure out YouTube videos.)
Anyways, the balls will be smooth and tight along the top surface, with a neat little dimple or knot on the bottom side.
Place them in the greased pans to rise with at least 3″ space between each other.
Bake them when they reach the desired size. For me, this takes about 1 hour in a warm area.
What burgers or sandwiches will you be stuffing these brioche buns with?
I just used these brioche buns to make the BEST black bean burgers I’ve ever had (the recipe will be out on Wednesday!). What are some of your favorite vegan burger patties or sandwiches?
They’re also great to eat on their own if you’re a bread fiend like me. Even just a smear of a little Miyoko’s butter, cheese, or jam is amazing.
However you use these buns, I want to see! Snap a picture, post it up, and tag @alderspirit with #alderspirit in the caption so I can see what you come up with.
I’m sure they won’t disappoint!
Homemade Vegan Brioche Buns
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 cup warm plant milk
- 2½ tsp active dry yeast
- 3 tbsp organic cane sugar
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2½ tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 5¼ cups bread flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200°F. Turn the oven off once it just reaches temperature and allow to cool slightly until it's warm in the oven rather than hot. (we're going to use this as a make shift proof box to help our dough rise faster)
- Line one full sheet pan or two smaller half pans with parchment paper. 8 buns will fit on one full sheet pan. Keep spaced atleast 3" apart from eachother.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the warm water, warm plant milk, active dry yeast, sugar, and all purpose flour. (It helps to add the flour first, then add a small amount of water and mix until dissolved before adding the remaining ingredients.) Set aside and allow to activate for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the apple cider vinegar and the melted butter. Set aside.In a large bowl, whisk together the bread flour and salt.
- Add the melted butter mixture and the yeast mixture to the large bowl of bread flour in batches. Stir with your hands or a wooden spoon until the dough has formed and any dry patches have dissolved. (The dough should feel slightly sticky, but not so sticky that it's difficult to handle. Add 1/4 cup more bread flour if needed.)
- Remove the dough ball from the bowl and knead on a floured surface for 8 – 12 minutes. Use the window pane test to tell when the dough is ready (see above for more details), or knead until supple and smooth.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth or some plastic wrap. Place in the warm oven (off) to rise for approximately 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.
- Once the dough has finished rising: punch it down and remove it from the bowl. Place the dough onto a floured surface to divide. Break the dough up into 8 equal pieces, and roll each one into a tight ball. Set each ball into the greased pans with no less than a 3" space between each other. Cover the pans with plastic wrap or a damp towel loosely and place back into the warm oven to rise for 1 hour or until the desired size. (keep in mind that they will not grow very much while baking)
- When the buns are almost finished proofing, (about 30-40 minutes in), remove them from the warm oven and set them in another warm place to finish rising. Turn on the oven and preheat it to 350°F.
- Once the buns have reached the desired size, place them in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes. The tops will be golden in color when they're finished, and they will have a light, soft crust.
- While the buns are baking, mix together the maple syrup and water. When the buns are finished baking, brush the tops of them with the maple syrup mixture to give them a shiny, sweet glaze. You can also use melted vegan butter for a less sweet alternative. (note: the buns may feel slightly sticky if you go too heavy on the maple syrup, so be aware.)Allow the buns to rest for 10 minutes before removing them from the pans.
- Once the buns have cooled completely, slice them in half horizontally along the bottom with a sharp finely serrated bread knife. Your buns are now ready to use. Store any leftovers in airtight bags or containers for 5 – 7 days.
Notes
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These buns are addicting. The texture is perfect, fluffy but firm, and that maple glaze is out of this world. Honestly I feel spoiled now because I made these buns with the burger recipe and it has ruined all other burgers for me haha definitely great on its own but wow I recommend making these with the vegan burger recipe.
Wow, what a compliment. :’) Thank you!
Unfortunately, this did not work for me. The dough was too much like batter. Could there be a typo in the ingredients measurement? It calls for a total of 2 cups of liquid plus the melted butter and vinegar and only a total of 3-1/2 cups of flour. Even for a loaf of bread at 3-1/2 cups of flour it only calls for 1-1/4 cup of liquid. I love brioche buns and I’m really hoping for this to work.
Hi Anna! Sorry I took awhile to see this, I’ve been moving across the country. I’m so sorry to hear it wasn’t turning out! I’ve had this recipe tested quite a few times successfully, but I will remake them this week and update you on any changes I make to the recipe. Thank you for the valuable feedback. I of course want you to enjoy these brioche buns too, so I will troubleshoot as I make the recipe and see what could be the problem here. Thanks!
Hey Anna, hopefully you see this. I tested the recipe tonight and you are correct, there was definitely an error in the numbers. I corrected the recipe by adjusting the 3 cups of bread flour. I wound up using 5.25 – 5.5 cups of bread flour, but everything else about the recipe stayed the same. I’m sorry for any frustration this caused. Thank you so much for catching this and letting me know, I must’ve recorded the numbers wrong as I was recipe testing. A simple fix though, just add more flour! Let me know if you try it again. Thanks again for the careful review, I appreciate it.
Nicole,
Thank you for the recipe adjustment. I made another batch this weekend using the adjusted amount of flour and they turned out perfectly! I will never buy buns again. These are fabulous. They are soft and tasty and yet stable enough for burgers, sloppy Joes, or anything else. They are the best! I made half with the maple baste on top and half with just butter basted on top. Both worked well but I think I prefer the butter or milk basted ones. The maple were a touch sticky. One thing to note, with the additional flour, I came out with an even dozen! Thanks again.
I absolutely love this recipe! I use it for hamburger buns, rolls, sub sandwiches and more! I always half the recipe and end up adding at least a cup if not more flour then the recipe calls for but otherwise my family loves this recipe! I make it weekly. Thank you so much.
Thank you for the review Khalena! I have to adjust the flour too based on humidity, elevation, and different brands of flour and such. I’ll be sure to denote that in the recipe notes. Thank you so much for the sweet review Khalena, you made my day!