Brioche bread is a rich and fluffy French classic. Today we are making a vegan brioche bread that is just as delicious!
Before we went vegan we used to get brioche or challah and make french toast often. The time has come to perfect some vegan brioche bread recipe and you are going to fall in love. We guarantee it.
Now, you don’t have to make french toast with it. In fact, it’s delicious no matter if you are eating it plain or you are making something out of it like a sandwich or french toast.
If you are wondering how you say brioche – it’s pronounced “bree-o-sh”.
So what is vegan brioche bread?
Brioche is a classic French bread that has a high ratio of eggs and butter that give it a fluffy, yet super rich flavor.
Because of how soft it is, it can be filled with sweet or savory fillings and served during breakfast, dinner and dessert time.
Some even consider it a pastry because of the sweetness.
It is served at both breakfast and dessert times as a pastry because of how soft it is.
What does vegan brioche bread taste like?
If you know what challah is, brioche is very similar whether it is vegan or not
It should be soft and fluffy, a touch of sweetness, have a richness to it and a very light and airy texture.
Soft, sweet, and delicious are great ways to describe it.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Why are potatoes in this recipe?
We are using Yukon potatoes in this recipe for a few reasons. One it replaces the egg. The purees potatoes acts as a moistener, but also a binder. The taste of Yukon potatoes is also neutral, but buttery adding to the flavor of the dish. But we are also using it for the color. Eggs traditional give brioche a yellow hue and that’s what we will get for the yukon potatoes.
Can I use a different type of potato?
You can use other white potatoes but you won’t get the yellow color. For something like swapping sweet potatoes, it will give an even more yellow to orange hue.
Does how I shape the bread matter?
Absolutely not. We show three styles in the photo above. A 3 roll loaf, a 6 roll loaf and a 3-braid twist. Inside the recipe directions below we describe the 3 and 6 roll loaves. In order to do a 3 (shown in photo) or 6 braid twist – refer to the directions in our vegan challah bread.
This doesn’t reflect the taste or texture of the bread itself, but is just a nice conversation piece and a way for it to look fancier.
Do I have to use a stand mixer?
No, not at all. We prefer it, but it’s not a requirement. You can make this recipe with a bowl and a silicone spatula.
Why do the instructions say the rise time may take longer?
Traditional brioche is so good because of the increased amount of butter and eggs. We are replacing that with lots of vegan butter and potatoes to mimic eggs. This makes for a very enriched dough which in turn may take longer to rise as the ingredients are developed together.
Can you make this a Top 9 Allergen Free Brioche Bread?
We do not currently have a gluten free dough recipe to recommend, although we are working to create one.
For the remaining ingredients, yes you can.
The only other allergen ingredient may be the vegan butter Ensure that you are using a soy free, dairy free butter. We use Flora or Earth Balance Soy free that comes in a red tub.
Nothing else included in the recipe contains a Top 9 allergen.
Can I make this into vegan brioche buns?
Yes! Following the recipe as instructed but instead of braiding or shaping for a loaf you are going to equally cut into pieces and roll. See our vegan hamburger buns recipe for better instructions.
Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant to make vegan brioche bread?
Instant yeast rises faster and less of an issue. However, you can still use active dry. It typically will take longer to rise, so just follow the instructions for letting is rise until doubled in size.
Can I prep vegan brioche bread ahead of time?
This bread can be made and stored in an air tight container for 5-7 days.
Also — when making the dough, once you put cover the bowl to rise, instead of leaving in a warm place, you can place the bowl in the fridge up to 2 days before you plan to use it.
Just make the recipe as written, cover and place in fridge until ready to use.
Can I replace the yellow potatoes with something else?
Yes! Regular white potatoes, sweet potatoes or even fresh or canned pumpkin can be used. If using sweet potatoes or pumpkin it will alter the color a bit but not the taste.
This purpose of using this is both for color and to be the “egg” in the recipe. So you can use any of these in a similar manor.
Can I make this vegan brioche bread oil free?
You can! We recommend that you follow our recipe for our vegan everything dough which is an oil free bread recipe. Then just follow the steps for the rising and braiding.
It won’t have the richness that you get from the vegan butter; however, it will still be great.
How do you eat vegan brioche bread?
Vegan brioche is delicious plain, as is, with nothing else added to it; however, you can toast it, making sandwiches or even use it to make french toast. The possibilities are endless.
How do I make vegan french toast with brioche bread?
We love turning this into vegan french toast. If you desire to make french toast out of it, then you can follow the instructions that we have for our vegan babka french toast. Just scroll down to the french toast sections once you have your brioche bread made.
We do not recommend letting brioche get stale first like we do with the babka. We prefer to be able to use right away once it has cooled.
What other bread recipes can I make?
If you love bread, this you will love these other recipes. Here’s some of our favorite:
- The Best Vegan Dinner Rolls
- Vegan Chimichurri Monkey Bread
- Easy Vegan Garlic Knots
- Vegan Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
- Vegan Italian Cheesy Bread Rolls
- Tuscan Mushroom Rolls
- Vegan Ham Broccoli and Cheese Rolls
- Vegan Sausage Egg and Cheese Rolls
- Easy Vegan Soft Pretzel Bites
- Vegan Bread Bowls
- Vegan Pesto Rolls
- Easy Vegan Focaccia
- Vegan Hawaiian Rolls
Vegan Brioche Bread
Ingredients
- 5 ½ – 6 cups flour (we prefer bread, can use all-purpose)
- ¾ cup vegan cane sugar
- 2 packages instant yeast (1 package = 2 ¼ tsp)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric, Optional for color (omit if swapping with sweet potato)
- 1 ¼ cup yukon potatoes, cooked (sub with sweet potato or pumpkin)
- 1 cup vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ¾ – 1 cup water
For the simple syrup
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together 5 ½ cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt and turmeric (if adding). Set bowl aside.
- In a second bowl (preferably a stand mixer bowl if you have one), with the paddle attachment, cream the potato, butter, and vanilla together. Add in ¾ cup of water and combine.
- Add the flour mixture in 3 parts. Blend on low speed using the paddle attachment between the first 2 parts. Remove the paddle and scrape off any excess on the attachment back into the bowl. Switch to dough hook and add the rest of your flour on low speed until all the flour is combined.
- Knead in the stand mixer for 15-20 mins or until it doesn't stick to the bowl. It will pull away from the dough. Still slightly sticky but not sticking to your hands. *If dough is dry add additional water 1 tablespoon at a time. If too sticky add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Spray bowl, form into a ball and place ball inside. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 60-90 minutes in a warm, draft free place until doubled (may take longer).
- Punch it down. Let rise again for 40-60 minutes until doubled in size again (may take longer).
- Prep two bread loaf pans with parchment paper and grease with oil. Set aside.
- Uncover, punch down again and take out.
- For the 3 or 6 bun loafs – For the 3 roll loaf – Cut your dough into 6 even pieces. Use a scale for accurate measurements. Gently flatten a piece, fold left and right sides into the middle, then roll ends into a log. Place 3 pieces in each of your bread pans next to each other. For the 6 roll loaf – Cut your dough into 12 even pieces. Use a scale for accurate measurements. Grab a piece and fold the ends under shaping into a ball. Then roll the dough into a ball with the ends at the bottom. Make 2 uneven rows of 3 balls.
- Cover for 35-40 to rise again.*If you push the dough and it springs back it's not ready. If it doesn't spring back at all or very slowly it's ready.
- 15 minutes before done, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Make the simple syrup by adding the maple syrup and melted vegan butter to a bowl and whisk.
- Once ready, brush the dough with the simple syrup mixture.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or under golden brown on top. Remove from oven and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Let’s see your creations!
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Joanne Annese
All I can say is This may be the best bread I’ve ever had! Hands down. The shape is a little weird( my fault) I tried the side cooling and then switched to the standing. Probably just took out of the pan too soon. All that aside 😲 wow imma gonna be fat!! XO love 💕 it! My house smells amazing, I’m so happy it was a 2 loaf recipe!! 😁 Thanks guys
LarishaBernard
We are so glad that you were able to use your new mixer and make this! That makes us so happy!
Meggan Leal
THIS 👏🏻 RECIPE 👏🏻 SLAPS 👏🏻
This bread is so MOTHERFLUFFING DELICIOUS and easy to make.
I needed vegan brioche for a recipe and didn’t feel like driving three hours to Sprouts, and figured I would dedicate three hours to this instead.
NO REGRETS.
SO HAPPY.
It is so much fluffier and tastier and richer than the Sprouts one I usually buy.
The only problem is I might eat it all before I make my recipe with it. 🤣
LarishaBernard
LOL at your timing thoughts!
Brittany
This was the best vegan brioche I have made thank you!!!!!
I wanna try to convert it to a sourdough recipe. I’m struggling with the moisture in the potato. Any thoughts or suggestions?
LarishaBernard
So happy you enjoyed it! We haven’t tried with sourdough, let us see what we can do
Brittany
So update on sourdough conversion. Took me two attempts to get it right. I did the same two loaf recipe used 200g or approx 1 cup of sourdough starter. I started with the max flour 6 cups, and reduced the water by 1/4 cup and added back in 1 TBS at a time as needed and came out perfect just like the original recipe! Everything else remained the same except no yeast obviously. Thank you so much for all your hard work and delicious recipes!
Steph
Made this today and it came out great! I went the sweet potato route. I used active dry yeast and had no problem but I started the dough the day before and did the first rise in the fridge overnight. I did 12 balls for a tear and share in a 10 inch springform pan. I filled each one with vegan chocolate chips and they came out great. Thank you so much for the recipe!
LarishaBernard
So happy that you enjoyed the recipe, love the chip idea
Angus Kroll
Would this recipe be possible if using a bread machine?
LarishaBernard
We haven’t tried, but if you do, let us know!
Jegan
Can I take insted of vegan butter just the normal butter?
LarishaBernard
We are vegan so we don’t have recommendation for non-vegan products
Paul
I’m assuming the vegan butter used in this recipe is a regular salted butter? There are some unsalted vegan butter products now so it’d be nice to specify. Thanks!
LarishaBernard
Yes, though either shouldn’t affect it much
Sowmya
Love the recipe. Our bread came out very very soft and AMAZING.
Quick question, can I prove it overnight in the fridge and then bake?
LarishaBernard
Yes you can
Nadine
Hey there, I thy it again, i posted a comment few days ago – I am from germany and I need to know, how much grams of potatoes I need? And is it weight uncooked, cooked, peeled or unpeeld? Because e.g. 1 cup of sliced potatoes weighs different than mashed potatoes.
Tank you for your answer and your effort 🙂 Greetings
Nadine
Hey there 🙂
I really love your recipe videos, so amazing, what you are doing!
I am from Germany and I don’t know what yukon potatoes are? I have cooked some potatoes, that I normally use for making Gnocchi or potatoe “Knödel” 🙂 can I use them? And I need to know how much grams of potatoes I need (weigh unpeeld or peeld?) – because you know 1 cup of sliced potatoes wighs different than 1 cup of mashed or completely mixed potoes 🙂
Thank you so much for your effort and answer 🙂
Greetings from germany 🙂
LarishaBernard
Hi there. Yukon are a white potato, so I would think what you have will work. It’s measuring cooked, peeled, and mashed. Unfortunately, we don’t have an exact amount but after looking up, it should be roughly 262.5g
Jennifer
My nephew made this & it was Delicious!! Wondering if anyone tried making it with Gluten free flour…Every time I’ve tried making any Gluten free bread it has been a disaster & waste of ingredients…
LarishaBernard
We have a free gluten free bread recipes on our site, more to come this year, but haven’t tried this one. It’s definitely not easy. You can find our GF recipes here: https://makeitdairyfree.com/?s=gluten+free
Zerubbabel
Could you use this recipe to make cinnamon rolls? And if so what would the bake temp and time be?
LarishaBernard
We haven’t tried but it could work we would think. Likely 350 F for 30-35 mins, but without testing we can’t say for sure
Frances Wharton
Such a fabulous recipe. No alterations were needed at all, which is always wonderful! We went a little posh and had beans on Brioche instead of the usual beans on toast, sooo delicious! 🤭🤩💚
LarishaBernard
I love it so much! So happy you enjoyed it
Caroline
This was an excellent recipe. I used it to make cinnamon rolls and they were heavenly. They had a lovely, light, elastic pull and a beautiful flavor. I followed the recipe exactly but at the end of the second rise, I stretched the dough into a 15”x24” rectangle. Rub on a 1/2 cup softened vegan butter and sprinkle over mixture of 1 cup brown sugar and 5 T cinnamon. I also added some chopped pecans. Roll long side of rectangle to the other long side of rectangle. Cut into 1 3/4” rolls(should get 12) and place in a buttered 10×15” pan. Allow to rise covered til touching(about 20 minutes) then I put them in the fridge overnight until ready to bake. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes. Frost as desired. So good! I can’t wait to try it in bread form, roll form, challah form, the possibilities are endless. Thank you for such a wonderful vegan recipe.❤️
LarishaBernard
oh wow that sounds incredible!
Molly
Just made this recipe and WOW! I used active dry yeast instead of instant … And sweet potatoes instead of Yukon.
I followed the recipe exactly and it came out sooooo tender and perfect! The top got a little too brown after just 35 minutes, that may be my ovens fault but other than that, I’m really blown away by this recipe.
Thank you so much Larisha + Andrew!
LarishaBernard
So glad that you enjoyed the recipe so much and it worked so well for you!
Seth
All I can say is WOW! I made this the day the recipe was posted and couldn’t have been more blown away. First of all, it was so easy to make. I’m in the beginning stages of my bread making hobby, so this was my first brioche (let alone vegan!). Second, the flavor was outstanding! The beautiful shiny crust, soft chewy interior and sweet finish made for quite the treat. Thank you so much for sharing! You all are always my first stop when trying to find new recipes 🙂 Thank you!
LarishaBernard
So glad that you enjoyed making it and eating! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipes as well
Cheryl
Hi! Can you share how you measured your 1 1/4 cup of potatoes? Not sure if the potatoes should fill the cup mashed, diced, shredded, e.g. It looks like you perhaps eyeballed it in the video.
LarishaBernard
fill the cup, mashed