Buttery & Fluffy Vegan Brioche

About 10 years ago, when I envisioned throwing caution to the wind and becoming a food and travel blogger, what I think I really wanted was to be able to take beautiful photographs of things I love — making and eating lovely food and sharing my experiences traveling and exploring new places — and then WRITING about them.

But what I did not realize is that taking beautiful photographs, which I would be PROUD to say I captured and writing about experiences to inspire others to get out and “experience” too is really quite difficult….well, at least it’s difficult for me.

As it turns out, I get into my head about doing this blogging thing perfectly, and then I make excuse after excuse to not do the very thing I said I wanted to do. Then, not doing the thing I said I wanted to do becomes a heavy burden, and I feel pressured because I am not doing the thing I said that I wanted to do, and it stresses me out so much, that I continue to do nothing. NOTHING. The nothingness weighs heavily on my mind and the weight becomes so unbearable that I finally tell myself that I don’t really want to do this thing I said I wanted to do. So I don’t. And I’m left feeling deflated.

Round and round I go (figuratively) and where I’ll stop is right…here. With this little thing I made the other day. This lovely fresh brioche…this lovely, fresh, vegan brioche.

With this one recipe, that isn’t even mine, I will finally step away from my fear of imperfection and I will move toward this thing that I wanted. Or at least I hope I will.

This recipe is courtesy of Food 52, but, as usual (maybe?), I made a few modifications to accommodate what I had at home. I also modified the instructions because, to be honest, they could have been better…unless you’re already a bread-making guru.

I’m no Paul Hollywood (#GBBO) but I’m no slouch either, so if I was a bit lost in the woods, I figured others may be too.

So back to the bread…it’s buttery, it’s tender, it’s a brioche. All made without egg or butter or milk. It doesn’t even need butter! And Oh. My. God. Does it make the best vegan french toast or WHAT?!? Hint: it does.

So what makes this so buttery? To be honest, I have no clue. Not one. But I know part of the reason why this bread works is because of the aquafaba…that magical bean water. It sounds so off-putting, but trust and believe that it is your new best vegan baking & cooking best friend. You can read more about aquafaba here.

Oh, one last thing. You REALLY do need a stand mixer for this one.

Makes: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (125 grams) soy milk, unflavored & unsweetened
• 1/2 cup olive oil (100 grams)
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar. To keep this truly vegan ensure you are using granulated sugar that is manufactured without bone char.
• 3/4 cup (185 grams) aquafaba
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (6 grams) active dry yeast (or instant yeast if that’s what you have)–just make sure it’s not too old, or it won’t be active, or strong enough, to cause the bread to rise.
• 1 teaspoon (4.5 grams) of Morton’s kosher salt–different brands have different weights from what I’ve seen, so if you have another brand, measure by teaspoon.
• 3 1/2 cups (420 grams) +/- 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

**Note: I have provided weights for most of the ingredients, as it’s my preference to make most things based on weight and not measurement. It’s more accurate and it’s less messy. However, for low weight items, like the salt and yeast, unless you have a gram scale that can accurately measure weights that low, I would not recommend measuring those items based on weight.**

Directions

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or maybe a mixer you’ve borrowed from your neighbor for this recipe), whisk the soy milk, olive oil, sugar, and aquafaba together on low for about 30 seconds. Then increase to medium speed until well combined, approximatley 1-2 minutes.
2. Remove the whisk and replace with the paddle. You don’t have to do this part, but the dough is very sticky and getting the dough out of the whisk was not worth the effort — and you are going to want every last bit of this dough for baking.
3. Add the yeast, salt, and the flour to the bowl and mix until combined.
4. Switch to the dough hook and knead until the dough is smooth and comes together in a ball. THIS WILL TAKE AT LEAST 15-20 MINUTES. Patience grasshopper, or so I’ve been told.
5. At this point, the dough should feel only slightly tacky and should not be sticky, or stick to your fingers.
6. If needed, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and in the shape of a ball.
7. Take the dough out of the bowl, lightly spray it with some canola oil or olive oil. Quickly reform the dough into a ball and replace into the bowl with the smooth, rounded side up. Put another way, place the dough in the bowl, seam-side down.
8. Cover with plastic wrap or even better, a shower cap (that way you can reuse this for future bread making), and leave to rise for about 50-60 minutes, or until the dough is close to double in size. I find that if it’s cold in my house (#midwesternwinter) this works best in the oven with the light on. If it’s bloody murder hot in my house, such as in the summertime (#oldhousenocentralac), then the rise time may be shorter.
9. After this, put the covered bowl into the fridge and let rise for a minimum of 5 long HOURS (!).
10. At this stage, as this recipe makes two loaves (!), you can bake one loaf and leave the other half in the fridge to continue to ferment/rise overnight.

Baking

1. When you are ready to bake, divide the dough in half. I find this is best done by weighing the dough with a kitchen gram scale and dividing it equally in half.
2. Divide that half into 6, mostly equal portions.
3. Roll these 6 portions into small balls.
   • Fold the edges under to create a smooth top of the dough ball.
   • Place the ball on a NON-FLOURED countertop with the smooth side up.
   • With cupped hands, drag the dough towards you.
   • Turn the dough one-quarter turn and repeat the process of dragging the dough towards you with cupped hands.
   • Continue this process until you have a nice round piece of dough.
   • Doing this work on a NON-floured surface, while pullng the dough towards you will create enough surface tension to form a wonderful little ball of dough.
   • Here is video that shows this for those of us that need the visualization!
4. Lightly grease a loaf pan that is 8.5 inches x 4.5 inchs and place the balls in the pan in an offset pattern.
   • The balls of dough should be touching each other.
5. Cover the dough and let rise for about 2 hours, until very puffy. As I mentioned in the notes about the first rise, if it’s cooler in your home this may take longer and if it’s warmer in your home, this may be faster.
6. Pre-heat your oven to 375 F/190 C about 30-45 minutes prior to baking — about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes into the rise time.
7. When ready to bake, brush the tops of the dough with olive oil and then bake for 10 minutes. Then REDUCE the temperature to 350 F/175 C and bake for 15-25 minutes. If the bread is browning too quickly, cover with a foil tent.
   • For my oven, this takes about 15 minutes. I do cover mine after a TOTAL of 20 minutes in the oven, which is 10 minutes after I have reduce the oven temperature.
   • If you have an instant read thermometer (if not, I HIGHLY recommend this one, which I recieved as a birthday gift!) you’ll know the bread is done when the internal temperature is between 190 F/88 C and 205 F/96C (the higher temperature will result in a loaf that is crustier, which isn’t a bad thing).
8. Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Final Thoughts

So dear readers, have you ever considered making a brioche before now? If yes, but you’ve hesitated out of fear, try this recipe and tell me what you think! If you’re a seasoned brioche maker, I’d love it if you try this recipe!

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