Roasted Garlic & Herb Brioche Buns

Made with fluffy olive oil brioche dough

Oct 06, 2023

∙ Paid

Vegan roasted garlic and herb brioche buns seen from above on a rack — Pillowy roasted garlic & herb brioche buns topped with fresh herb oil

In cooking school, we learned that the three primary conveyors of flavor are sugar, alcohol, and fat. That is, if you want something to taste like an herb, fruit, or spice, a great way to do that is by infusing that flavor into sugar (e.g. rubbing in citrus zest), alcohol (hello vanilla extract), or, in this case, oil.

My olive oil brioche is lovely as is, but for a showstopper dinner roll, I wanted to incorporate savory flavors that complemented the grassy complexity of the olive oil. Roasting garlic in olive oil not only creates an oil infused with the sweet umami of caramelized garlic, which I made into brioche, but it also yields the jewel-like cloves themselves, which I chopped and folded into the dough along with a blend of parsley (heralding back to classic garlic bread) and chives. Feel free to use whatever blend of fresh herbs (or even dry herbs) that you have on hand or prefer, but I like this pared-back duo because it really lets the garlic shine. These buns will be the star of your next dinner party - and are great practice for Thanksgiving!

Below I’ve provided the recipes for the brioche dough, for all subscribers, and the buns, for paid subscribers.

Hands holding vegan olive oil brioche dough — This satiny olive oil brioche dough comes together in less than 30 mins

During COVID, I finally enrolled in the online version of Harvard's Science & Cooking class through edX, which I'd always wanted to take. I loved learning more about the chemical reactions underlying fundamental baking processes and techniques, but my favorite part was the final project. I decided to test if I could make brioche with fats other than butter. I tried mashed avocado (yes, really) and pecan butter, but the best was olive oil. The difference in texture was almost indiscernible from the traditional butter version; in fact the olive oil loaf was even fluffier, with a slightly more open crumb. And, of course, the bread was lightly perfumed with the flavor of olive oil, which I find lends itself particularly well to savory applications, whether as a slice for a hearty lunch sandwich, or baked into rolls topped with garlic and herbs. I also love this olive oil brioche in sweet applications with citrus, for example lemon cardamom sweet rolls (coming soon!) But in reality the dough is extremely versatile, so whatever you decide to make with it, you really can't go wrong.

Olive Oil Brioche Dough

Makes enough dough for 1 loaf or 12 buns

30 mins active time, 12 hrs total time (includes overnight chilling)

Ingredients

Sweet Poolish

60 g (1/2 cup) bread flour

60 g (1/4 cup) full-fat, unsweetened oat milk

10 g (2 tsp) granulated sugar

0.75 g (1/4 tsp) instant yeast

Tangzhong

20 g (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) bread flour

100 g (1/4 cup + 3 tbsp) full-fat, unsweetened oat milk

Brioche Dough

1 recipe Sweet Poolish

1 recipe Tangzhong

390 g (3 1/4 cups) bread flour

150 g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) full-fat, unsweetened oat milk

60 g (1/4 cup) liquid vegan egg substitute (JUST egg recommended)

50 g (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil

50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar

6 g (2 tsp) instant yeast

9 g (1 tbsp) kosher salt (Diamond Crystal or see note below)

100 g (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Prepare and proof the Sweet Poolish

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and proof at 82 F for 4 hours - I recommend using a countertop proofer to keep the temperature consistent - see Things I Used below

Prepare and cool the Tangzhong

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 150 F and it has thickened
Remove the mixture from the heat; pour into a small bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and chill it in the fridge

Make and chill the Brioche Dough

Knead all ingredients except salt and second portion of olive oil on low speed for 3 mins
Add the salt and knead on medium-low speed for 5 mins
Increase the speed to medium and very slowly drizzle in the second portion of olive oil; it will take about 5 minutes to incorporate fully
Continue kneading on medium until the dough is smooth, shiny, and unsticks from the bowl, 7 - 10 mins longer
Perform the "windowpane test" by stretching a small bit of dough between your fingers; if it stretches thin enough to be translucent (hence "windowpane") without breaking, the dough is ready to proof. If not, continue kneading on medium speed in 1-min increments until it passes this test
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and gather it together into a ball, tossing to coat with oil
Proof the dough at 82 F for 1 hour - I recommend using a countertop proofer to keep the temperature consistent - see Things I Used below
Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight
The dough is now ready to be used in a variety of applications, including simple loaves or Roasted Garlic & Herb Brioche Buns (using the Roasted Garlic & Herb Dough variation below)

Shirtless man showing steps to make vegan olive oil brioche dough — Kneading olive oil brioche dough: (1) shaggy dough, (2) adding olive oil, (3) the windowpane test, (4) ready to proof

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

For Roasted Garlic & Herb Brioche Dough

Make Roasted Garlic Oil & Roasted Garlic Cloves: Combine 400 g (2 cups) extra virgin olive oil and 170 g (1 1/4 cups) peeled garlic cloves in a 9 x 9-inch baking dish; roast at 250 F for 1.5 - 2 hours, until the garlic cloves are golden brown and soft; allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then separate and reserve the Roasted Garlic Oil and Roasted Garlic Cloves
In the Brioche Dough, substitute equal quantities of Roasted Garlic Oil for the extra virgin olive oil
Roughly chop 60 g (1/4 cup) Roasted Garlic Cloves; finely chop 5 g (2 tbsp) fresh parsley and 2.5 g (1 tbsp) fresh chives
After the Brioche Dough has finished kneading and has passed the windowpane test, turn the dough onto a clean countertop and top it with the Roasted Garlic Cloves and herbs
Stretch and fold the edges of the dough into the center to enclose the ingredients, then press the dough to flatten; rotate the dough 90 degrees and continue this process of stretching, folding, and rotating the dough until the ingredients are evenly distributed; the dough might be a bit stickier than before
Continue with the recipe as directed