If you love a good vegan brioche, you will also adore my avocado brioche. In this healthy avocado brioche avocados substitute most of the fat, producing a result that's flaky, tender and quite perfect.
Brioche used to be my favorite bread once upon a non-vegan time and I've never quite gotten over it. There is something magical about a bread with a melt-in-your-mouth texture and a crust that's perfectly flaky and brittle. So much so that you cannot but forgive and forget all those calories crammed inside of it.
I came up with this avocado brioche recipe while trying to find a way to use up some perfectly ripe avocados before they went bad on me, and because I just didn't feel like more guacamole. Avocados are really an excellent substitute for butter because they are high in fat (the good kind, unlike butter) and they have a creamy texture when mashed which is not unlike that of butter.
You will need two large or three small avocados for this recipe (about a cup, total), and just two tablespoons of vegan butter. This gives you the perfect texture: flaky and tender, and the bread has a lovely gold crust with an exquisite pale-green crumb.
How to make avocado brioche:
- Use avocados that are perfectly ripe--green with a buttery texture and that mash easily. You can also blend them, but make sure they are smooth before you add them to the batter, with no lumps.
- As soon as you mash the avocado, squeeze some lemon juice on it so it doesn't discolor.
- The avocado kneads into the flour quite easily, but make sure you take the time to knead the butter into the dough thoroughly at the end for that great texture.
- You can shape this brioche anyway you want to--I like making four balls and laying them side by side in the loaf pan for a traditional shape. You can braid your brioche or just make a regular loaf.
- Every bread should be cooled thoroughly on a rack before slicing, and this brioche is no exception. I know you can't wait to eat it, but you don't want to eat it until it's perfect, do you?
Ingredients
- Avocados
- Yeast
- Bread flour (or all purpose flour)
- Nondairy milk (almond, soy or any milk will do)
- Sugar
- Vegan Butter
- Salt
More yummy vegan bread recipes
- Vegan Brioche Buns
- Quick Ciabatta
- The Perfect Sandwich Bread
- Rustic Tuscan Bread | Pane Toscano
- Easy French Bread
- Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread
Love this avocado brioche? Check out more vegan French recipes on Holy Cow!
Avocado Brioche
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp almond milk warm
- 3 ¼ cup bread flour (can use all purpose flour)
- 2 avocados (perfectly ripe, mashed until there are no lumps. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into the avocado so it remains bright green.)
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter (softened, at room temperature)
Instructions
- Mix the yeast the milk in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand 5 minutes for the yeast to "bloom".
- Add to the bowl 1 cup of flour, mashed avocados, sugar and salt.
- Mix well until ingredients have blended together. Then add the remaining flour and knead by hand or on low-medium speed in a stand mixer for about 8-10 minutes. The dough will be smooth and elastic and although it will appear sticky, it won't stick to your fingers.
- Add the vegan butter and knead on medium-high speed or by hand until the butter is incorporated into the dough.
- Place the dough in an oil-coated bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for about 1 ½ hours or until doubled.
- Punch the dough down, then cover again and let rise for another 2 hours.
- To shape the dough, divide it into four equal portions. Shape each portion into a smooth, oval ball.
- Spray oil on the inside of a standard 9 X 5-inch loaf pan.
- Place the four balls of dough touching each other inside the loaf pan.
- Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap or with a shower cap and let rise another hour or until the loaf fills the pan and mushrooms over it.
- For a nice color, brush on some extra virgin olive oil mixed with salt.
- Bake in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.
- Place the loaf pan on a rack and let the bread cool about 20-30 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Unmold the bread from the pan by sliding a knife around the edges and turning upside town. It should release quite easily.
- Continue cooling, right side up, until thoroughly cooled.
Avocado
This is one of the most brilliant recipes I have ever read. Absolutely genius. The first time I made it I used it as the base for a babka, and it was incredible — also made a few brioche muffins with some of the dough. Crumbly, incredible. Then I used it for date cinnamon buns, swapping out one of the avocados for equal weight in pumpkin puree. Also amazing. Versatile recipe, genius concept. Getting ready to make again for the third time in two weeks!
Vaishali
🙂 So happy you've enjoyed the brioche, and have been experimenting with the recipe. Pumpkin sounds like a great idea.
Niwashikun
This recipe is so close to being Whole-Food-Plant-Based. What role is the vegan butter serving? Extra fat? What about extra avocado instead? What else would be a good sub for the vegan butter?
Thanks!
Vaishali
You could use vegetable oil. It helps add some more moisture to keep the bread soft.
Jesse-Gabriel
Ich wünschte mir so sehr das das Rezept auch in Gramm Angaben wäre!
Viele Grüße,
Jesse-Gabriel
Vaishali
Added, click on the "metric" tab under ingredient list in recipe box.
Jesse-Gabriel
Super und vielen Dank, habe ich gerade gesehen, jetzt muss ich ganz schnell dein Avocado Brioche nach backen!
Viele Grüße,
Jesse-Gabriel
Cassia
Can I make these into dinner rolls?
Vaishali
Yes!
Ellie Gibbs
This was fabulous. Thank you
Stephanie
Just made it , into buns with candied orange peel and sultanas. Thank you for such a wonderful idea !
Vaishali
Awesome, glad you liked it Stephanie!
Cassia
How many cups is 2 avocados mashed? I avocado I will be using is bigger than the haas.
Vaishali Honawar
Use about the quantity you'd get from a medium Haas avocado-- that's what I used.