Our delicious Vegan Brioche Burger Buns are so fluffy and soft that you can make them for friends and family, and they won't notice the difference from the classic Brioche Buns.
The first time we looked into making Brioche Burger Buns we got a bit sad seeing so many dairy ingredients. Sometimes replacing those "essential" ingredients don't give you the same results. This one was definitely a bit tricky. Lucky for you, after many tries and failures, we have perfected this recipe!
During these last years, restaurants serving delicious Gourmet Burgers have been expanding all over the globe. During quarantine, with restaurants having to shut down temporarily, people have been creating this gourmet burger at home. We got inspired by our favourite burgers joints here in Mallorca, Spain where we live: Raimundo and Badal Burger. Both serving vegan options, they are a must at least once a month!
Tangzhong
The first thing you want for your brioche buns is for them to be soft. With this Japanese technique called Tangzhong, your buns will be softer but they will also rise faster, be easier to knead, be moister and last good for longer.
What is the Tangzhong Technique?
Basically, this technique consists of cooking a small percentage of the total flour and milk (from 5% to 10%), creating a kind of paste before combining it with the rest of the ingredients.
To make these perfect vegan buns, you will need vegan butter, fresh or dried yeast, flour, dairy-free milk, sugar, salt and water. To substitute the egg wash that gives the buns a glossy look, we use maple syrup and milk.
Let's get technical
In the world of bread making, you will see the hydration level mentioned a lot. This is basically the percentage of liquid to flour in your mix/dough. The higher the hydration level (70-80%) the wetter and stickier the dough will be. The amount of liquid in your dough will affect the final result of the bread. The higher the water content, the bigger the air pockets in the crumb. These buns have a 73% hydration level. Once you get more comfortable making bread you can test different ratios but for now, you don't need to worry about that and can follow our recipe.
Make sure you prepare the brioche buns in advanced, as they need a total of 2 hours rise time. We normally prepare them during the morning, to have them for dinner. From our recipe, you get 8 medium-size buns or 6 larger buns. You can always freeze the buns and they will taste just as good. Before your next burger night, let them thaw out for a few hours, then toast the insides in a pan or under the grill/broiler.
Tips
- If this is your first time making brioche buns, the mixture may seem too wet and sticky. Don't panic, it's the right way to go. If you are kneading the mixture by hand you will need a good 15 minutes. If you are using a kitchen aid, 10 minutes should be enough.
- To remove any sticky dough from your hands, take a pinch of flour and rub your hands together.
- The milk should be loop warm, but make sure that you don't overheat it otherwise it could "kill" the yeast.
Complete your Burger night
- Check our Easy Vegan Burgers. Prepare them in 20 minutes, cook (even grill) and enjoy! These burgers are delicious and the perfect option to go with the brioche burger buns.
- As a side dish, try our Lemon and Rosemary Potato Wedges or for a fresher option, our Vegan Coleslaw.
Vegan Brioche Burger Buns
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 37 g flour
- 180 g milk
Rest of Dough Ingredients
- 440 g flour Unbleached all-purpose
- 14 g dried yeast or 35g fresh yeast
- 25 g sugar
- 165 g soy milk luke warm
- 9 g salt
- 40 g vegan butter
Vegan "egg" wash
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons soy milk
Instructions
- First, make your Tangzhong. Heat a pan on medium-high and add the flour and milk. Wisk until the mixture thickens and forms a consistent paste. Set aside to cool.
- Add the remaining flour, salt and sugar to a bowl. In a jug, mix the remaining milk and yeast. For this recipe, I used fresh yeast but you can also use dried yeast, just allow it to sit in the warm milk for 5 minutes.
- Pour the liquid into the bowl of flour and add the Tangzhong and vegan butter. Incorporate all ingredients and hand knead for around 10-15 minutes. Once you have a nice shiny ball of dough, leave it to rise in a greased bowl for 1 hour.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, place it onto your work surface and push out the air. Check the weight and divide into 6-8 balls (6 for larger buns, 8 for small to medium-sized). Place them on a tray with some parchment paper, cover and leave them to rise for another hour.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C / 340° F. Apply your vegan "egg" wash to the buns and add sesame seeds, poppy seeds or any other kind of seeds if you wish. Place the buns inside the over and bake for 10-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and remove if they are browning too much.
- Serve with your favourite burger and topping.
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Nutrition
Cory Varga says
I recently started using the Tangzhong technique in my vegan Japanese bakes and what a difference it makes. Such a simple idea which makes items fluffy and amazing. Love this, thank you for sharing.
Laura says
It makes a big difference doesn't it? Thank you Cory!
Lindsay Fuce says
These look amazing!!!
Farrah says
Ooo, I love the sound of this!! *-* Can't wait to try making them now that my oven is finally working again!
meight says
Tried this, and it turned out amazing! Thank you.
Carmen Castrovillari says
Hi guys! I have just taken them out of the oven and tried a bit! They are the best recipe for buns I had ever made 😀 THANKS!
Laura says
Hi Carmen! So happy to hear that! Thank you
Sofia says
Can I use bread flour? Will it make a difference ?
Laura says
Hi Sofia, we have never tried before with bread flour but I'm sure it will turn out fine, let us know!
Flurina Aurelia says
I made these last night and they were so good! I had never tried the Tangzhong technique before, but it was very easy to follow and seems to have made a huge difference! 🙂 Whenever I need burger buns from now on, I will definitely use this recipe as well. Thank you!
Laura says
Thank you! Yes, Tangzhong technique does make a difference! Happy to read that you loved them!
veenaazmanov says
These Buns are soft and look so fluffy and delicious. They are so easy and perfect as Burger Buns.
Gunjan says
Such a fantastic recipe. Well explained and absolutely doable.
Laura says
Thank you!
Mama maggie's Kitchen says
These burger buns look soooo delicious! This will be perfect for our burger night soon.
Laura says
Enjoy! 🙂
Kushigalu says
Love this vegan version of brioche buns. Looks so perfect. Thanks for sharing. I will be making this soon.
Laura says
Thank you, enjoy!
Jenny says
The best homemade brioche buns I have ever tasted. We had veggie burger night yesterday, and I made the buns, and they were such a hit. Delicious, fluffy goodness. They were perfect, thanks so much!
Laura says
Thank you Jenny! Happy you liked them!
Erin says
These are the most perfect looking burger buns! I love that you can prepare them in the morning for dinner. A great time saver!
Laura says
totally!
Alex says
I love how technical you get! Baking recipes with inexact directions drive me crazy. Especially bread ones. So thanks for all the detail.
Laura says
Yes, you need to be exact when making bread!
Beth says
What a beautiful golden finish on these brioche buns - I can see how much focus has gone into creating the perfect recipe.
Laura says
Thank you Beth
Melanie says
Tried these this morning, they were amazing! Even my husband (who is not a bread lover, loved these!)
Laura says
Thank you Melanie, Happy you liked them!
Jacqueline Debono says
These vegan buns look fantastic. I’ve never heard of the Tangzhong technique before. So interesting! Definitely want to try it out!
Laura says
It definitely makes a difference when using the Tangzhong technique, you should try!
Mame Noonan says
Looking forward to making these! Can I use coconut milk instead of soy?
Laura says
Hi Mame, we've never tried using coconut milk. For this exact amounts of the rest of the ingredients we cannot reassure that the Buns will come out perfect, but if you want to give it a go, let us know how they turn out!
Maria gomez says
Habt ihr es schonmal mit einem kleinen Schuss Maggi in dem Teig versucht? Das Ergebnis ist NOCH flauschiger
Laura says
Hi Maria, never tried before! Thanks for the tip 🙂
Lindsay Shalliday says
My go to bun recipe. Works every time. Super soft and delicious!
Laura says
Thank you Lindsay! 🙂
Paul says
Hi,
Would it be possible to use whole wheat flour (or chickpea flour) for these?
Also, would oat milk work? I'm not a huge fan of soy milk. Picky, yes?
Other than that, the recipe looks awesome!
Thank you!
Laura says
Hi Paul, to make our Brioche Buns we recommend following our recipe steo by step including the ingredients. Whole wheat flour tends to be thicker and therefore, you will need a higher amount of liquid. As well, oat milk is thiner than soy milk, so I cannot give you the exact measurements using these ingredients. Sorry, if oyu try the recipe swaping these ingredients let us know how it goes!
Greta says
Hi, does the butter need to be melted or cold or room temp. ?
Laura says
Hi Greta, the butter does need to be melted, I will add that to the recipe, thank you!
Benjamin says
Made with dry yeast and exact measurements, but not tons of rise. Any ideas?
Laura says
Hi Benjamin, it should rise with dried yeast as well. Was it cold the room temperature? That could be a problem when trying to rise dough.
Linda says
Has anyone tried making these with sourdough starter instead of yeast?