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! Alas, I haven’t had brioche in years because I thought it was impossible. Conventional brioche is made with butter and eggs and I wasn’t sure if any vegan equivalent could substitute those ingredients. Plus, I was scared of baking with yeast so never tried baking bread until now! I’ve included a visual step-by-step guide to show you how easy it is!
Preparing vegan bread
There aren’t too many differences between preparing bread with or without animal ingredients. In 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. Magic, hey?! You can definitely not taste the apple cider vinegar in the final product!
Instead of using conventional butter, I used vegan butter or olive oil. Vegan butter creates a lighter crumb than olive oil. However, one benefit of using olive oil is that the strong yellow colour can turn the loaf into a more beautiful golden colour. I used olive oil in this brioche which you can see on this recipe video on my Facebook page.
Like any other bread, all you have to do is mix and knead the yeast with all the other ingredients and let it double, like so:
Due to the angle of these photos, you can’t really see the dough ‘doubling’ in size, but it was good enough!
Next, you need to divide the dough into 6 sections and arrange it in a lined loaf tin. Cover it then let it rise again!
How to customise this vegan brioche loaf
There are a few ways you can customise this loaf:
- Plain flour vs white spelt flour. Spelt flour doesn’t rise as well as plain flour but it still creates a beautiful crumb!
- Vegan butter vs 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!
- Organic cane sugar or maple syrup. As always, baking with a granulated sugar results in a lighter bread than baking with maple syrup!
I have not tried a gluten free flour for this recipe but if you do, please let me know how you go!
I hope you enjoy this recipe xo
Check out my other bread-like recipes!
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear about it! Please leave a comment below and rate it. This will help me, other readers and allow this blog to be seen by more people! If you post it on social media, please tag @rainbownourishments and #rainbownourishments.
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Buttery Vegan Brioche (classic and healthier options)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 tsp quick yeast
- 3 cups (400g) 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 maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (70mL) melted vegan butter, or olive oil
- 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 comes away from the sides of the bowl.
- Leave the dough in the bowl and cover with a tea towel. Leave it in a warm area to rest for at least 2 hours.
- When the dough is doubled in size, divide it into 6 sections. Shape each section into a round ball and place them a lined loaf tin. Cover the tin with a tea towel and leave it in a warm area to rest for another 30 minutes - 1 hour.
- When the dough has increased in size, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Brush the dough with maple syrup.
- Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden. 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). Allow the bread to rest in the tin for 15 minutes then turn it onto a wire rack.
Notes
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Jessica
January 11, 2020 at 10:00 pmThis 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?
Anthea
January 26, 2020 at 9:28 amHi 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!
NAOMI Walsh
December 25, 2019 at 10:21 amIt 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!
Anthea
January 10, 2020 at 3:34 pmOoh 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 🙂
Tiffany
December 20, 2019 at 11:23 amI 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!
Anthea
January 10, 2020 at 3:33 pmOoh 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
Alex
November 28, 2019 at 11:21 amIt’s perfect! I’ve used fresh yeast (half of cube – so 21g). Also half coconut fat half vegan butter. Brushed with maple syrup. Heaven
Anthea
November 28, 2019 at 4:31 pmI’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 🙂
Nicks
November 9, 2019 at 3:55 amHi 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
Anthea
November 9, 2019 at 8:59 amHey! 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?