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This buttery vegan brioche is buttery, soft, and delicious. Worth the effort (and calories) and you won’t be able to tell a difference between the dairy and egg versions. Great for a sandwich, a burger, French toast, or just eaten as is. You won’t be disappointed!

I like making bread. Especially enriched doughs because they are softer, sweeter, and buttery. But because it is enriched (meaning bread with eggs and milk) it takes longer to make and proof. But I consider it worth it because the end result is the most perfect loaf you can imagine. Between three people, we will finish a whole loaf in one day.

I have made quite a few bread recipes on this blog and it was only a matter of time before I tackled a new one.

Brioche has been on my list of wanting to make for a while. While traditionally, it has a lot of eggs, milk, and butter. But with vegan butter, soy milk, and aquafaba, you can make a buttery vegan brioche bread that is still fluffy, full of flavor, and scrumptious. Check out the recipe below!

This recipe is inspired by the recipe from The Domestic Gothess.

Important note: This post contains affiliate links, but it does not affect my opinion of the products. I used all of these and love these products. You can read my full disclosure here.

Ingredients

• Flour. There are two types of flour needed for this recipe. And the difference will be the amount of gluten it provides. Gluten adds a pleasant chewiness to the bread. The bread flour will give the texture and the all-purpose flour adds a softness. You can use all all-purpose or all bread flour, but the texture will change.
• Instant Yeast. Can be added directly to the flour and isn’t affected by salt. I find it the easeist to use, but if you have only active dry yeast, all you have to is let it sit in the warm milk for ten minutes until foamy. Then you add it tot he dry ingredients.
• Sugar. Brioche is kind of a sweet bread. You can add lees sugar, but don’t omit it completely. Some is needed for the yeast to feed on.
• Aquafaba. This will act as the egg. The high protien and viscocity is similar to egg whites.
• Soy milk. Soy milk works the best in this recipe. It has the highest protien of the plant milks (similar to the protien of whole milk).
• Butter. Try to find vegan butery sticks instead the of the spreadable kind. I used Eath balance unsalted buttery sticks.

How to Make Buttery Vegan Brioche

First, you have to make the dough. Add to a bowl all the dry ingredients. That would include all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar, salt, and instant yeast. Whisk it all together and set it aside.

Heat your soy milk and aquafaba in a saucepan. If you have a thermometer, make sure the temperature is between 105° and 115°F. It has to be warm enough to activate the yeast, but too hot and you can kill it. If you kill it, your bread will be no different from a rock.

If you don’t have a thermometer, stick your finger in the milk mixture. It should be warm, but not burn you. Once you think it is right, pour half over the dry ingredients. If it starts to bubble on the top, then your yeast is activated and alive. Then you can pour the rest in.

Kneading the Dough. You can go about this one of two ways. You can knead by hand. There are many videos of how to do that. But essentially you mix the dough in the bowl until it becomes more cohesive. Bring the dough to a work surface and add the softened butter to the center. Knead to emulsify the butter. You want to do this until there is no more butter and the dough is soft and smooth.

Or you can do this in a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed with a dough hook until the dough is combined. Turn the speed up and add the butter a little at a time. Too much and the dough hook won’t be able to grab onto the dough. Once all the butter is gone and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, it is ready.

Proofing the Dough. Brioche proofs twice. Once overnight in the fridge and then again right before baking. This creates a softer and more tender dough. Plus cold dough is easier to handle.

To proof in the fridge, shape the dough into a round ball and place it in a clear bowl. You want the bowl to be big enough to allow the dough to triple in size. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 12 hours. You can leave it for up to 2 days.

Once it’s done, punch down the dough and let it warm up at room temperature while you prepare the loaf pan by spraying it down and adding parchment paper.

Shape the dough into a loaf shape or cut the dough into 6 to make it into 6 rolls. Place it into the loaf pan and cover with a damp towel to proof for 1-2.5 hours. The time will depend on how warm your kitchen is. Also, the milk and protein inhibit the yeast’s ability to rise, which takes longer to proof. Just check on it to make sure it has air, but doesn’t overproof. If it does, you will have to start over again.

When it’s almost done, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Prepare the egg wash of milk and maple syrup. Brush on top carefully and bake for 20 minutes. Take out and brush with more glaze. Lower the oven temp to 320 and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Let cool for 15 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

There you have it! A perfect buttery vegan brioche.

Extra Information and Tips

I know baking bread can be intimidating at first, but these are my top tips to help you.

• Measure everything using a kitchen scale. This is especially important for breads or any type of baking. Adding a few too much grams of flour or a few less can make the dough stiff and not as tender.
• Use vegan butter sticks, not the spreadable kind. The buttery sticks have a higher fat content and behave more like dairy butter.
• Don’t try to reduce the fat or sugar. This is not a low-calorie bread. Brioche is supposed to be sweet and buttery. That is what makes it so popular to eat. You can try experimenting, but it will affect the texture of the dough.
• Use a high-protien non-dairy milk. The protien in the soymilk is the most alike the protien in dairy milk. This helps the dough’s strength, elasticity, and volume. But you can also try pea milk or oat milk. Just makes sure to look at the protien content.

Want More?

Try Out Similar recipes below:

• Fluffy Swedish Cardamom Buns
• Japanese Milk Bread
• Delicious Chocolate Babka

If you tried this recipe, let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!