Psst. Wanna see my buns? July 1, 2011

I feel like I should be in an alleyway, wearing a trench coat.
No, you can’t see those buns, but you might be interested in my brioche-style buns!

I’ll admit that I have no idea what a brioche-style bun actually should taste like, but these are pretty yummy. I was reading an article about overrated places to eat in France (as if I were going there and needed to know what to avoid. Psh.), and this one place had some fancy “brioche-style buns” for breakfast. So I hopped onto the world wide web and found myself a recipe. Then I veganized it. Bam! That’s how we do that, yo.

And since I know this is what you’re waiting for, here are my buns:

I should be ashamed. But I’m not.

Just a warning: these things seem to take forever to make. Damn you, rising time!

Light Brioche Buns
adapted from New York Times site

1 cup warm water (appx 105 degrees)
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp EnerG egg replacer
2 1/2 Tbs water
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 Tbs room temperature Earth Balance
1 Tbs almond milk
Sesame seeds (optional)

1. In a small glass bowl, combine 1 cup warm water, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (My mix didn’t get very foamy, but it did have bubbles on top)

2. In a smaller bowl, mix 2 1/2 Tbs water with 1 1/2 tsp EnerG egg replacer and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk flours and salt together. Add Earth Balance and squish into the flour with your hands to make it crumbly. Using a stiff spatula or a wooden spoon, add yeast mixture and egg replacer mixture, and gently stir, scraping the sides of the bowl until a dough forms.
Turn the dough onto an unfloured surface and knead for about 8 minutes. The original recipe said to knead by “scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic.” I have no idea what that means so I kind of stretched the dough, then picked it up and dropped it onto the counter. It seemed to work.

4. Form a ball with the dough and put it back into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (which I don’t have) or a slightly damp towel and put it into a warm place to rise and double. This takes 1-2 hours, so get a book.

5. Slap some parchment onto a baking sheet and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Gently roll the pieces into balls (this is the shape your buns will stay, so make ‘em pretty!). Put them on the sheet about 2 inches apart. Place a clean towel over them and put the baking sheet in a warm place for another 1-2 hours. (This is when you dance to KNOTBSB in the kitchen.)

6. Make sure the rack is in the center of your oven. Put a shallow pan of water on the lowest rack (I used my glass brownie pan) and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix remaining egg replacer (1/2 tsp) with milk and brush it gently on your buns. If using, sprinkle your sesame seeds on now. (I really wanted to add a little salt, too, but decided not to. I bet it’d be delicious.)
Bake for 15 minutes, turning the buns once, until the tops are lightly golden blonde. When they’re done, move to a rack to cool.

Now, see my buns in action:

Go, buns, go!

Now that I’ve written this, I’m going to check it 300 times to make sure I didn’t mess something up. I don’t want anyone wasting ingredients. That would be lame-O.