In this delicious, tender vegan olive oil brioche, aquafaba stands in for the eggs. The texture is light, feathery, and with a tight crumb, exactly the way a brioche is meant to be.
There is something rather addictive about a brioche: a goodness so subtle, it makes me wonder if the guy or gal who uttered the phrase "je ne sais quoi" for the first time ever was tucking into a brioche at the time.
This rather hallowed French bread has a light but close-knit, almost feathery, crumb, an elegant, barely-there sweetness, and a flaky, golden crust that melts in your mouth. To say that to eat a brioche is to fall in love with this bread would be understating it, but I am going to say it anyway.
I have baked many a brioche in my day, and the traditional recipe uses a ton of butter and eggs to get that incredible texture and flavor. A few years back, I shared with you on this blog my recipe for an Avocado Brioche: a healthier way to have your brioche and eat it too. It's a fantastic bread that I make over and over.
But this time I wanted to try out something a little less green 😉 and more authentic (that is if the French would ever consider olive oil and aquafaba an "authentic" replacement for butter and eggs -- jamais?)
My Vegan Olive Oil Brioche with Aquafaba is a must-try if you love baking, but I'll warn you at the start that it is a labor of love.
The bread needs two rises, as all brioches do, and the process of kneading the olive oil into the flour is a pain royale. But how else are you going to feel like the accomplished, get-your-hands-dirty-and-flour-all-over-your-hair baker that you really are?
While making a brioche, you beat in the fat after the dough has been mixed, and when you're mixing in butter, which is semi-solid at room temperature, the process goes by quite smoothly. But when I dumped in the olive oil, my dough just flapped around in a pool of oil for a long time, giving me the jitters. Was my brioche doomed? Would I have to dump all that oil and make do with an unsatisfactory loaf, if it was edible at all?
But I soldiered on and although it took all of 25 minutes in my KitchenAid on medium speed, the dough did, in the end, incorporate all of the oil. Ouf!
Lesson? Patience. (Of which you need oodles, or you wouldn't be making bread anyway.)
I baked my brioche in a sectioned loaf, made by shaping the dough into four even balls and stacking them side by side in the loaf pan. But you have some liberty with the design of it. You can make smaller balls and put them in the pan, which would make a rater cute loaf, or you could simply bake the bread into a single loaf without sectioning anything.
If you have brioche molds, use them to make 12 cute little brioche rolls with this recipe, but cut baking time down to about 12-15 minutes.
I have been experimenting with aquafaba in my breads, and you might remember the recipe for my Chocolate Vegan Babka where I used aquafaba or chickpea brine (the stuff left behind in the can after you've taken out the chickpeas) in lieu of eggs with great success. The aquafaba worked great in this brioche recipe too. In fact, I couldn't have been happier with my decision.
Here's the recipe for my divine Vegan Olive Oil Brioche with Aquafaba. Hope you try, and bon appetit!
More vegan bread recipes from the blog:
Vegan Olive Oil Brioche with Aquafaba
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ tsp or 1 package active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp nondairy milk
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cup bread flour
- ¾ cup aquafaba
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil (I don't mean to sound like Ina Garten, but it's important you use a good olive oil for this recipe.)
Instructions
- Place the yeast and ⅓rd cup of warm, nondairy milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and let the yeast bloom, about five minutes.
- Add the all-purpose flour, aquafaba, sugar, and salt to the yeast mixture. Mix well on medium speed until everything is incorporated.
- Add the bread flour and knead for five minutes on medium speed or until the dough comes off the sides of the bowl and clumps around the dough hook.
- Add the olive oil and knead. It will look like there is too much oil in the beginning, but don't worry. Be patient and the dough will eventually begin to absorb the oil. It took me about 25 minutes on medium-high speed for all of the oil to incorporate.
- When all of the oil is gone and the dough looks smooth again, scrape it out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured board. Form into a smooth ball.
- Place the dough into a large, oiled bowl (or back in the bowl of the mixer after oiling) and cover with cling wrap. Place in a warm place to rise for 90 minutes.
- After 90 minutes, the dough should have doubled. Punch it down and once again form the dough into a smooth ball. Place it back in the bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight or for 8-12 hours.
- In the morning the dough should have risen again. If it's not doubled at least, let it stand outside in a warm place until it doubles. Otherwise, punch the dough down and shape into four even balls.
- Let the balls stand on the countertop, covered with a kitchen towel, for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, oil a standard eight-inch loaf pan. Place the four balls side by side in the pan so they are touching each other.
- If you want a shiny top, mix the remaining 2 tablespoon milk with a tablespoon of aquafaba and some salt and apply to the top of the brioche. Do this once more just before putting the loaf in the oven.
- Once the loaf has risen and domed over the pan (about 90 minutes), place in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the loaf pan and let it cool on a rack until it can be handled. Remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool thoroughly on a rack. Serve.
Recipe notes
Nutrition
Love this vegan olive oil brioche recipe? Check out more vegan bread recipes on Holy Cow!
Barbara
Recipe calls for 1/3 plus 2 T nondairy milk. The instructions only mentin 1/3 cuo. Where are the two ts used?
Vaishali
It's for the wash that goes on top of the brioche. I've clarified.
AJ
I love this recipe. I've made it five times at this point. It's so good! Its actually a pretty easy recipe if you have a standing mixer.
Michael Whitehurst
Just want to say thanks for this recipe. I have made it twice now with excellent results.
Has anyone experimented with using less oil? I would like to reduce the fat in this but I don't understand what purpose the oil serves, and what impact less of it would have on the final product.
Vaishali
Hi Michael, you need the fat to create that tender and rich crumb. If you want to cut down the fat, you can try replacing it with something that's fatty but healthy, like avocado. Here's my Avocado Brioche recipe, and it's pretty good. 🙂 https://holycowvegan.net/butterless-avocado-brioche/
Jann Tobey
I tried your Butterless Avocado Brioche recipe 11/17 and it was so sticky, that I could not work with it. Please tell me what I did wrong.
Regina Ezell
What nondairy milk do you use
Vaishali
Usually almond. Sometimes soy.
Ulli
I love Brioches so very much and now I would like to try these nice recept, Thanx Vaishali! I will use my Thermomix for the Knead dough. Let's see how it works.:-) Best Regards, Ulli from Germany
Andrea
Bread is delicious but heavy on the oil and it’s quite a heavy feeling after eating it. Have you tried using less oil? Results?
Simon
Thanks so much for this! Just made the BEST burger buns using your recipe. 🙂 I didn’t have any usual plant milk so I used canned coconut milk instead, and also halved the amount of sugar. I didn’t have enough time to rest so it was only in the fridge for a few hours and it worked fine. Thank you thank you thank you. We’ve been wanting vegan brioche buns for years 🙂
Cait
Simon, can I ask how you made the buns? I gather you aren't supposed to handle the dough too much or divide it too much. Also, did you use some sort of form, or just hand form them into bun shape? I am dying to make a vegan brioche bun and I need answers lol.
Vaishali
If you followed instructions precisely, the recipe should work just fine. Did you knead for as long as all of the oil was absorbed into the dough? And while dividing it into too many sections is probably not great, it shouldn't create a dense loaf. Also, what kind of an oven are you using? It's possible your oven temp could be off.
brisa
I made this into Hamburger Buns. I was very skeptical about the amount of olive oil but proceded with the recipe nonetheless.
They turned out beautiful ( I wish I could post pictures!).
I can taste some oil on them though. Perhaps because I'm very sensitive to salt and oil OR maybe it could be toned down by 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup. I'll have to try again.
Regardless, thank you for the recipe and let me know if you want my pictures.
PS: Buns are HUGE - I made 6 but in hindsight think I can make 8 instead:)
Vaishali
Brisa, that's good to know-- so happy you tried.
michele shearer
Would you please tell me the name of the best olive oil is?? The Brand. Thanks.
Lein
Hi! I made this Brioche this week. It looked raw in the centre after 30 minutes so I returned it to the oven for a further 15Mins and it turned out great! Very tasty.
Bailey
Hi! So happy to find some recipes to use up my aquafaba. Do you think this would turn out well with brine from cooking chickpeas rather than from canned? Also, I do not have a stand mixer, can I use a hand mixer or is there a better method? Thanks!
Vaishali
A hand mixer is fine with a dough hook, but it will prob take a long time to incorporate the oil and the dough so be prepared. 🙂 And you can use homemade aquafaba but be sure to reduce it to a consistency that's thick and viscous, the way the brine from canned chickpeas is.
Shynia
Hi Vaishali, for the Aquafaba did you use straight chickpea liquid or did you add cream of tartar to it as well?
Vaishali
No need for cream of tartar!
Liza M. Shaw
Can I use a Cup for Cup Gluten Free Bread Flour with this recipe? I miss Brioche so much!!!
Vaishali
Hi Liza, That should be fine.
Mira
I would like to use your brioche ideas for other traditional brioche based recipes. How much aquafaba replaces 1 egg and similarly how much olive oil replaces 1 tbsp of butter.
Also, regarding butter to olive oil replacement. Did you every consider replacing butter with coconut oil since it is similarly semisolid and may work better in sweet recipes (like cinnamon rolls).
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Manashi Oslund
HI!
Do I have to let this rise in the fridge for 8-12 hours?
can i instead let it rise twice in a warm spot prior to the third rise??
Alexandria
I am sure you are in fact sick of questions about substitutions..... but I am hoping I could sub the flour for almond meal and the bread flour for vital wheat gluten.... I am vegan and keto low carb if you have anyh different suggestions... Thanks!!
Vaishali
Hi Alexandria, that's an interesting idea. The almond flour has no binding ability of its own, so important in a bread, but on the other hand the vital wheat gluten should help with binding. I have not tried this and I cannot say for sure how this would work, but it might be worth trying. If you do, let me know how it works out.
Jesper Kahr Nielsen
is the dough too wet for burger buns?
I think maybe too use some kind of form like: