Fun Brioche Things

From fluffy dinner rolls to gooey cinnamon rolls

Fluffy brioche buns are topped with flaky salt and glazed with maple syrup for a perfect sweet and salty moment

There are so many delicious things you can make with my vegan butter brioche dough, but these are two special, seasonal treats.

First are my maple-glazed brioche buns, available below to all subscribers. I am a big dinner roll fan, but these might just be my favorite ones I’ve ever created. I swap out the granulated sugar for maple sugar in the brioche dough, proof them into puffy pillows, then bake them to a burnished golden brown. The final touch is a mirrored sheen of maple syrup, a sweet contrast to the crunchy flaky sea salt on top. I guarantee they will be the star of your Thanksgiving table! Though if you are looking for a slightly more savory roll for that occasion, look no further than my roasted garlic & herb brioche buns.

And then, for paid subscribers, I have a particularly delicious breakfast pastry this week: Biscoff crumble cinnamon rolls. They’re like my speculoos cinnamon bun babka, but made with even richer brioche dough, then topped with a decadent vegan Biscoff cream cheese frosting and, the coup de grâce, Milk Bar-inspired Biscoff cookie crumbs for a perfectly crunchy contrast to the soft and gooey rolls below.

These rolls are even better with maple sugar in the dough (but you can use granulated as well!)

Maple-Glazed Brioche Buns

Makes 12 rolls

1 hr active time, 12 hrs total time (includes overnight chilling)

Ingredients

1 recipe Vegan Butter Brioche Dough (Maple Sugar variation recommended)

Egg Wash

30 g (2 tbsp) liquid vegan egg substitute (JUST egg recommended)

10 g (2 tsp) unsweetened soy milk

Flaky sea salt (e.g. Maldon), for sprinkling

Maple syrup, for brushing

Instructions

Shape and proof the buns

1. Turn the dough top side down onto a lightly floured countertop and press lightly to de-gas

2. Divide the dough into 12 pieces of roughly 90 g each; cover them with plastic while you work

3. Lightly re-flour one portion of your countertop and leave another portion of the counter clean

4. Pre-shape the buns into a ball by placing one piece top side down on the floured portion of the counter; press lightly to flatten it out, then fold each of the edges of the dough into the center, pressing down to seal them in place

5. Turn the piece of dough over onto the clean portion of the counter and cup the dough from underneath with the heels of your palms; press the heels together beneath the dough and move them in opposite directions so that you pinch the seam underneath and rotate the piece of dough; it will become more and more of a ball shape

6. Finally, cup your hand over the ball of dough and rotate it against the counter so that the seam underneath catches on the counter and the surface of the dough becomes even tauter

7. Turn the ball over and give the seam a final pinch to seal

8. Repeat steps 4-7 with all the pieces of dough, then cover them with plastic and let them rest for 20 mins

9. Meanwhile, lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch rectangular baking dish with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper

10. Once the dough balls have rested, repeat Steps 4-7 with each ball, then place the balls top side up in the prepared pan

11. Cover the pan loosely with plastic and proof at 82 F for 2.5 hours, until the balls have roughly doubled in size and they are snugly touching

Bake and finish the buns

1. While the buns proof, preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center

2. Combine the egg substitute and soy milk for the Egg Wash and brush each bun lightly with this mixture

3. Sprinkle the buns with flaky sea salt and bake them until they are deep golden brown and the center bun registers 195 F in the middle, 30-35 mins

4. As soon as the buns come out of the oven, brush them with maple syrup; this will add a brilliant shine to the top

5. Buns keep for up to 4 days on the counter wrapped tightly in plastic wrap; for the best eating experience, if consuming more than 12 hours after baking, reheat the buns in a 300 F oven for about 10 mins, until just warmed through

Making maple-glazed brioche buns: (1) buns shaped, (2) buns proofed, (3) glazed with egg wash and topped with sea salt, (4) baked and brushed with maple syrup

Notes & Variations

Ingredient Notes

• Kosher salt: I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which has larger crystals than other kinds of kosher salt, normal table salt or fine sea salt. As a result, when measured by volume (teaspoons/tablespoons) it will add less "saltiness" than an equal quantity of the other salts. If you are not using Diamond Crystal, I recommend measuring your salt by weight, in which case you won't run into this issue. Otherwise, use half the volume quantity of salt

• Vegan butter: There are two main types of vegan butter: (1) margarine-style products that are basically butter-flavored vegetable shortening (e.g. Earth Balance or Violife), and (2) cultured-style products made from cashew, coconut, or other kinds of fats (e.g. Miyoko's). I generally prefer the first type in cakes, muffins, and frostings, where the more obvious "butter" flavor and greater stability, and yellow color are beneficial. I prefer the second type in recipes where the fat will caramelize, such as cookies, pie or tart dough, and bread, as margarine-style butters can develop unpleasant burnt oil flavors when heated to high temperatures. Also, cultured-style butter can be browned similarly to dairy butter, while margarine-style butter cannot

Things I Used

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Ingredients

Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Maldon flaky sea salt

Escuminac maple syrup

Equipment

Brød & Taylor countertop proofer

Bench scraper

13" x 9" baking dish

Pastry brush

These pillowy buns will be the star of your Thanksgiving table

The recipe for my Biscoff crumble cinnamon rolls is available for paid subscribers below!

The biscoff crumble is a crunchy contrast to these soft and sweet rolls