Buttery and fluffy vegan brioche with a tender crumb which just melts in your mouth. I included a ‘classic’ version using vegan butter and ‘healthier’ version with spelt flour, olive oil and no refined sugar!
I used to be obsessed with French desserts before I went vegan. Macarons, creme brulees, profiteroles… you name it! Conventional brioche is made with butter and eggs. I was surprised that achieving a fluffy and tender brioche is 100% possible with vegan substitutes!
Ingredients for this vegan brioche
In traditional brioche, eggs add fat to the loaf which makes a super tender crumb. In order to create a beautiful crumb, I used apple cider vinegar which is an acid and tenderises the gluten in the flour. Don’t worry – you can’t taste the apple cider vinegar in the final brioche!
Eggs also help the brioche to bake in the middle. However, I managed to perfect ingredient ratios so this isn’t needed!
Instead of using conventional butter, I used vegan butter or olive oil. Vegan butter creates a lighter crumb than olive oil (more info in the section about ‘customising your loaf’).
One benefit of using olive oil is that the oil’s naturally bold yellow colour can give the loaf a beautiful golden hue. I tested this recipe with olive oil which you can see in this recipe video on my Facebook page.
How to make vegan brioche: making the dough and the first rise
I used instant dried yeast for this recipe which does not need to be proved or bloomed beforehand. To make the dough, simply add all the ingredients to a bowl, mix and knead it until it’s soft and stretchy.
I used a stand mixer to knead the dough and it reached the perfect consistency within 3 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, You can absolutely mix and knead the dough with your hands! Consider it a free arm and hand exercise ;).
Place the dough in a bowl, cover it and place it in a WARM area for 1 hour until it doubles in size, like below. With the angle of the bowl and dough, you can’t see a significant increase, but I assure you that it did.
If your dough doesn’t grow, reposition it in a warm spot and wait until it does. Sometimes when it’s cold at home, I have to place the bowl above or near a steamer for just 3 minutes to kickstart the dough.
How to make vegan brioche: second rise
To prepare your loaf/cake tin, you can line it with baking paper or brush it with butter/oil and dust it with flour.
Now that your dough has risen once, place your dough on a floured surface. Divide it into 4 equal parts then place it in a loaf tin! Feel free to shape the dough in other ways, such as dividing it into less or more parts, or even braiding it!
Next step is, you guessed it – cover the dough and let it rise again.
How to customise this vegan brioche
There are a few ways you can customise this loaf:
Replace plain flour with white spelt flour. Spelt flour doesn’t rise as well as plain flour but it still creates a beautiful crumb!
Replace vegan butter for olive oil. The taste and colour is probably the biggest difference in the final products. Butter helps create a lighter crumb so the bread ‘tears’ like a traditional brioche. Olive oil creates a crumb which is more similar to cake!
Replace organic cane sugar for coconut sugar. Baking with a light-coloured cane sugar will result in a lighter coloured and fluffier bread than baking with coconut sugar!
Replace yeast with a sourdough starter. I’ve tried a similar recipe using about 75-150g of a bubbly active sourdough starter and it worked wonderfully! 75g was the minimum I needed to use to make the bread rise. For a stronger ‘sourdough’ taste, I increased the starter.
Or you can make a savoury vegan brioche simply by reducing the sugar to 1 tablespoon. The sugar is still needed in the recipe to feed and activate the yeast
I have not tried baking the brioche with gluten free flour but if you do, please let me know how you go!
Baking the vegan brioche
This is my favourite part because the brioche makes your whole house/apartment smell AMAZING! Baking the brioche is pretty easy. Just pop it in at 180°C (355°F) for about 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
While the brioche is still warm, brush it with a little maple syrup to create the most beautiful glaze ever!
Troubleshooting baking issues
Every time I made this brioche, it worked well. However, I’ve definitely had my fair share of ‘baking with yeast’ fails so I’ll share how I fixed them:
“My bread didn’t double in the first rise (when it’s in the bowl)”
Your bread doesn’t need to double in size – it just needs to grow at least by 150%! However, if it doesn’t grow at all, this could be due to various factors:
- Your yeast is old and no longer active. Before baking, you can ‘proof’ your yeast to ‘prove’ whether its still useful. Add it to a small bowl of warm milk with a pinch of sugar and wait until it bubbles. If it doesn’t, the yeast may no longer be good for baking!
- The dough needs to be placed in a WARM place. If you live in a cold climate here are a few things you can do:
- Turn your oven’s light on, place the dough near the light and close the door.
- Preheat your oven or dehydrator to only 30°C / 85°F then turn it off. Place the covered dough inside.
- Steam your dough double-boiler style for only 1 minute. Heating your dough to 50°C / 120°F will kill the yeast so don’t heat up the dough too much!
“I used a different ingredient and my bread didn’t increase in size”
- You used a different type of yeast which may need to be activated beforehand. Simply add it to a small bowl of warm milk with a pinch of sugar and wait until it bubbles. I used a common instant dried yeast which does not need to be activated before mixing with the other ingredients.
- Different flours and fats will affect how much the dough rises. For example, spelt flour and olive oil will inhibit the rising of the dough!
“My bread didn’t bake in the middle”
Before you finish baking, make sure you test your dough by sticking a knife or skewer in it.
If the outside is brown and inside is uncooked, cover it with an oven-proof bowl or plate or aluminium foil. This minimises the oven’s radiant heat to the outside of the brioche and forces the heat into the middle of the brioche.
If you have any other questions or issues, leave a comment below!
How to serve the vegan brioche
If you don’t finish the whole brioche loaf when it’s fresh from the oven, you can enjoy it in many ways:
- Toast a slice and smother it with jam, cream or any sweet spread!
- Use the leftovers for french toast, a nourishing self-care breakfast or dessert! You deserve it!
- Freeze and enjoy it when the cravings hit.
- Crumble the bread, bake it at a low heat and use it as decadent topping for ice cream or other desserts.
Check out my other bread-like recipes!
Here’s a secret: this brioche recipe is used as the foundation for my other yeast-based bread and scroll recipes! My favourites are:
Enjoy! xo
Buttery Vegan Brioche (classic and healthier options)
Ingredients
- 3 1/3 cups (415g) plain or all-purpose flour, or white spelt flour*
- 2/3 cup (165mL) plant-based milk, such as almond, soy or coconut, warm
- 1/4 cup (80g) organic cane sugar, or coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (70mL) melted vegan butter, or olive oil
- 2 1/2 tsp instant dried yeast**
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp maple syrup, or any other light-coloured liquid sweetener
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients except the maple syrup to a large bowl and mix until combined. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes or until the dough becomes soft and elastic. If you're using a stand mixer, use the dough hook and knead until the dough is smooth and comes away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is a little dry, add a little more milk and knead again. If the dough is still sticking on the bowl, add a little flour and knead again.
- Leave the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel (the damp towel prevents the dough from drying out). Leave it in a warm area to double in size for at least 1 hour.***
- When the dough is puffy, divide it into 4 even sections. Shape each section into a round ball and place them a lined loaf tin (I used a 12x22 cm or 5x9 inch tin but any size tin will work). Cover the tin with a damp tea towel and leave it in a warm area to rest for another 30 minutes - 1 hour. The dough should increase in size by 150% or 200%.
- When the dough is puffy again, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the surface is golden brown. The loaf is fully cooked in the middle when you can tap the bottom of the loaf and it sounds hollow. If the bread is browning too quickly on the top and has not fully cooked, reduce the oven temperature to 160°C (320°F).
- When the brioche is still hot, brush the top with maple syrup then allow it to rest in the tin for 15 minutes. Turn it onto a wire rack and allow it to cool.
- Store the brioche in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
This post was originally published in August 2019 and was updated in May 2020.
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help other readers and Rainbow Nourishments.
Hi, can I use pure monk fruit extract (sweetener) in place of the organic cane sugar and coconut sugar?
I haven’t used monk fruit for this recipe but I heard/read that it won’t work to help activate the yeast and rise the bread.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I would really like to use my sourdough starter in this recipe. Apart from replacing the instant yeast with the starter, are there any other adjustments to your original recipe? Many thanks 😊
My pleasure! I’m actually experimenting with a sourdough brioche right now which I’m hoping to have ready in a few days! I’d recommend using this recipe but just the ‘roll ingredients’ and following the instructions on this vegan brioche recipe! I hope that helps 🙂
I love it! It did not turn out at is it should have though, but this might have been my fault. I tried using truvia which is a brand that sells brown sugar mixed with stevia so it’ll be less sugar. I also used oatmilk and spreadable butter because it was what I had in hand. One of these, maybe the butter, caused the dough to not rise in both stages. Well in the first stage it did, but only halfway and the second time it did not rise. And in both occasions I left it for as long as possible. Also when baking it the temperature was too much and it did not cook evenly so in the middle it was still raw. I lowered the temperature and cooked it for another 10 minutes and this did the trick. One more thing is that I forgot to spread the maple syrup over it when it was still hot and I don’t know if this affects the moistness. Because it ended up looking stale as if it had been done days ago. Nonetheless it was still good and it’s fixable by heating it in the microwave with a moist towel.
Glad you enjoyed it! Oatmilk and spreadable butter are fine! So I read that stevia can’t really be used in yeasted goods instead of sugar because it doesnt have the glucose to feed the yeast. But the denseness could also be the from temperature or texture of your dough. The dough needs to be placed in a warm place and the dough needs to be soft enough for it to rise (see the pictures in the post).
With the temperature of baking, sometimes ovens are hotter than what they say but it sounds like you did the right thing here. The maple syrup glaze on top does keep some moisture in and 100% changes the appearance of the loaf! But even with the glaze, the brioche is definitely more dry the next day (butter solidifies) like all homemade baked goods. It’s best eaten warmed up so the butter in the bread melts in your mouth. I hope that helps! With a few minor tweaks, your next loaf will be better!
Thank you!! That’s what I was thinking that maybe using that mic of brown sugar and stevia was not enough for the yeast. So next time I’ll just use the recommended sugar. Thank you very much!
Hi can I use buttermilk instead of vinegar ?
Yep!
Just want to say it doesn’t work with GF flour (at least for me it doesn’t seem to) which is such a shame. I left it for 2h+ on the first rise and it rose but then eventually stopped and stayed at the level it had risen at the beginning (checked on it before and after a walk)
Also when you prove ‘normal’ dough its usually done if it springs back when you press it. This just left an indentation. And no airbubbles or anything inside, and when i broke it in half was weird and gummy. And it was really quite tricky to work with. I used a commerical gf flour mix, next time I might try a homemade one. It’s really disappointing as I haven’t had brioche since before the beginning of this year, and I can’t eat normal brioche. I can’t even eat vegan brioche because I’m allergic to gluten as well as eggs and dairy 😔).
It looks amazing and I do want to try again with a homemade flour mix but I’m slightly discouraged given my first time trying to make GF vegan brioche (also my first time trying to make brioche full stop, but I do have experience in making glutinous enriched doughs, croissants etc from before I went gluten, dairy and egg free at the beginning of this year)
Hi Olivia, oh that’s sad it doesn’t work with your GF flour! Often for vegan recipes, they won’t work if you simply substitute a commercial gf flour. However, they may work with a combination of different gf flours. They often turn out gummy and don’t rise, which is exactly what you experienced. That’s the case for the more popular gf flours we have in Australia at least! I’ll let you know if I perfect a gf flour blend for this recipe :).
This is my favorite recipe ever. I’ve made this loaf three times and love it more each time. It’s so easy to make, no hard to find ingredients, and just perfect. I freeze the loaf (one person household) and heat it up throughout the week and it still tastes as good! Trying it with spelt next time but it’s honestly my favorite vegan brioche recipe, and I have tried a few. I never thought I could bake but I keep making this and it comes out perfect every time. Thank you!
A simple to follow recipe with an AMAZING and super tasty result!
No way to miss with this one 🙂
Thank you 🤍
HI! is the maple syrup used for brushing? or when do you add it in?
Also, what’s the purpose of the vinegar here? 🙂
Hi Cheryl! The maple syrup is used in step 6 – brush it on the brioche when it’s hot. And the vinegar mixes with the milk to make buttermilk and makes the brioche even softer :).
oops missed step 6 out! thanks Anthea :))
I made it this many times an it is delicius and very very easy to make. It is special as a gift to your familt and friends.
I just made this brioche this morning, and it was amazing! I got such a good rise, and the bread was the perfect balance of flakey and sweet. I’m definitely going to make it again! Thank you for such a great recipe!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’m French and my boyfriend is vegan so I was really excited to make him taste this and it turned out really well, almost the same as what I would have had for breakfast in France!
I used fresh yeast, and after ‘waking it up’ in the milk + sugar I added to the flour mix. I had to put maybe 1/3 cup less flour than indicated, because the dough was getting too floury. Then when it first rose the top got a bit dry but during the second rise it was fine. Also I baked it for only 20 min (but I think my oven is quite powerful), and I omitted the vanilla extract because I didn’t have any left but the taste is great nonetheless!
Anyway thanks again! Will be making more 😍
So glad you liked the recipe and that it worked with fresh yeast! I find that different brands of plain flours have different absorbencies so good idea to ‘eyeball’ the dough and add a little less flour :). Something I did recently to prevent the dough from drying out is to use a damp tea towel, so I’ll add that to the recipe! Thanks for your comment!
Hi,
I have made this recipe three times and have loved it more and more each time. My third attempt was the best so far. I decreased the apple cider vinegar by 1/2 tbsp and added extra plant-based milk as the dough was very dry when hand kneading. So lovely.
Thank you for sharing,
Angela
So so glad to hear Angela!! And thanks for your tips about the apple cider vinegar and the milk. I’ll note it next time I make the brioche. I’m so appreciative of your comments :). Have a lovely day!
Anthea
I have made this twice. Oh my gosh, I love this recipe. Just perfect for a carb fiend. I used granulated sugar as I had it on hand with easy bake yeast. Making it again today! Can’t wait!
Forgot to say I have to add more plant-based milk as dough tends to be dry if mixing and needing by hand.
Kneading even, silly autocorrect
That’s amazing Angela! I love my carbs too haha. So interesting that it’s more dry if you’re mixing it by hand – I’ll try to do that one day 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I could use bread starter instead of yeast for this recipe. Do you think it would work just the same?
I honestly haven’t tried it but I imagine it would work like my sourdough cinnamon scroll recipe. Try minimising the milk to 1/2 cup and adding about 1/3 – 1/2 cup of your starter.
Hi,
what is a pinch of sure? suggested when using active yeast? Did you mean salt?
Oh I meant sugar! I will correct it now 🙂
This worked perfectly! It was my first time ever making bread, I used the exact recipe, but proved the dough for 3 hours in a cooler environment and it definitely doubled in size. Had to bake for 45 mins so it was fully cooked and it was delicious! Super fluffy inside with a lovely hard crust, my whole family LOVED it 🙂
That’s so amazing Holly! Glad your dough still proved in 3 hours in a cooler environment and great tip about the baking time! And so glad your family loved it too! Thanks for such a lovely comment 🙂
I love this recipe so much that I’m making it for the third time today, oops! 🙈 That’s what lockdown’ll do to you! I’ve used this recipe and amended it, for example I made the dough and then carried on to make cinnamon buns from it which were the best ones I’ve ever been able to make because they were so light and buttery. Thank you for this!! I can’t believe I can finally have vegan brioche!! Xx
Oooh that’s SOOO amazing to hear!! I’ve used this recipe as a base for cinnamon buns and babka so your thinking was completely on point and glad you enjoyed transforming it into buns! Being in lockdown is so interesting isn’t it?! But it makes me smile that this provided some relief xo
I’m so excited to try this! What size loaf tin do you recommend?
Great! I used a 12x22cm loaf tin and think that’s ideal to create a tall brioche!
Not sure what I did wrong. I followed to the letter, but it was like there was too much flour? I triple checked my measurements and measured the proper way (spooning then leveling).
Oh no! What was the texture of your dough after you mixed all the ingredients? And what kind of yeast did you use?
I’m excited to try this recipe! Going to make it with the one tablespoon of sugar and butter. Any recommendations for how to make it as buns (for burgers) instead of a loaf?
Cool! Let me know how you go with less butter and sugar. You might be able to sub some of the 1/4 cup butter for oil too! For buns, do exactly the same thing except in Step 3, shape them into buns and leave them on a baking tray. It’ll need a shorter cooking time too (maybe around 15 minutes depending how big the buns are)
This bread tastes fantastic! l had to add a bit more milk to get the dough going, and might cut back on the flour next time. I also added 2g nutritional yeast per one of the other comments and it worked well! I think I should have let the second rise go a bit longer, though, because it was still a bit more dense than I would’ve liked. How can you tell when the dough is ready to put in the oven?
So glad it worked for you! Yes sometimes I have to add a little more milk too – it depends on the day funnily. The dough is ready for the oven when you can press the dough with a finger and it bounces back. It should increase by at least 150% the second time then it’s ready for baking :).
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, this is the second time I made it and my bread doesn’t rise. I made sure milk was lukewarm, separated the yeast from the salt etc and it still didn’t rise 😭
Oh no! I’m sorry you went through that! Is your yeast very old? Did you store the bread in a warm place? Sometimes those things affect whether the bread rises the first time 🙂
This is a great recipe, thank you. I had everything I needed to make it in my cupboards!
I love the flavour (and so do my colleagues!) but I don’t think I have the texture down. It’s a little bit on the the heavy side. I added some finely grated vegan raw chocolate and I feel this may have inhibited the rising process? The crumb is quite close and I ended up leaving it to rise overnight after shaping.
Any tips? I may try again without the chocolate and putting it in the oven on a lower temp, for a longer period?
Hi Jessica, glad you liked the recipe! I’d definitely say that the chocolate inhibited the rising process. With yeast-based goods, unfortunately any additional liquid makes it heavier – that’s why it’s better to use butter instead of oil if you want a fluffier bread! If you try it again, try it without the chocolate and bake it at the temperature mentioned in the recipe. Let me know how you go!
It is amazing! I used nutritional yeast for a little eggy flavor and coconut sugar with less flour and then braided 3 strands instead of 6 pull apart pieces. I was careful to cool down the milk (macadamia) before adding so as to not kill the yeast. This will make great vegan French toast!
Ooh I love that you used nutritional yeast and coconut sugar! Glad to know it works with 3 stands instead too. Thanks for leaving a lovely comment 🙂
I made this bread yesterday and it turned out GREAT. First time I’ve made bread and I was SOOOOO happy with the end results and everyone thought it was delicious. Definitely will be making this again! I substituted dry yeast for active yeast, and it came out great!
Ooh that’s the best news!!! Thanks for letting me know and leaving such a kind comment :). And good to know active yeast works too xo
It’s perfect! I’ve used fresh yeast (half of cube – so 21g). Also half coconut fat half vegan butter. Brushed with maple syrup. Heaven
I’m SO glad to hear that Alex! Good to know a coconut-based vegan butter worked with it and maple syrup. Enjoy the rest of your loaf 🙂
Hi. Tried your recipe today. I feel it came out good but I just want to show it to you. Is that possible if yes please let me know.
So glad to hear! Yes, feel free to send me a picture of your brioche via my Facebook page or Instagram page :).
Hi there, thank you for this really straight forward recipe 😁😁😁
I’m busy with it though and my dough is super dense and after 3 hours it doesn’t appear to have risen at all! Its been pretty hot here so I certainly wouldn’t say it’s too cold… I’ve put it in the fridge now and am hoping an overnight rise will help but do you perhaps have any idea what the problem could be?
Thanks so much!
Nicks
Hey! Ooh that’s not meant to happen. It sounds like there is an issue with the yeast or somevother ingredients. Is the yeast you used fresh? And did you substitute any of the ingredients?