Today’s recipe is for gluten free brioche buns that are so soft they almost feel like the real thing!
Update: for sweet brioche rolls (rather than burger buns), I now have another recipe.
I posted my first attempt at brioche buns a long time ago and although it gathered a good amount of attention, I wasn’t 100% happy with the result. I was new to baking bread at the time and still had a lot to learn (still do now at some extent!). After some practice, however, I have finally reached gluten free brioche buns perfection!
Even my non-coeliac boyfriend is so impressed, he went as far as saying they feel just like ‘normal’ bread. At least when straight out of the oven. Success!
I’m not even exaggerating when I say this. I never thought I would experience such soft, elastic, bouncy bread ever again, let alone it be homemade. The first bite honestly blew our mind!
I mean, look at it and see for yourself. When was the last time you were able to bend a gluten free bread bun like this? And without it breaking apart or at least crumbling a little!? This is so elastic it’s almost unreal. The closest I’ve come to what I remember real bread being in all my gluten free years.
The only downside – but this applies to all homemade bread, gluten free or not – is that these gluten free brioche buns are best eaten fresh. They do lose some of their elasticity by the next day, although they’re still very tasty and easily softened again in the microwave.
The nutrition side
Not that you need any other reason (or excuse) to eat brioche buns, but did you know that they’re also not too bad nutrition wise?
They contain less carbs than standard gluten free white bread rolls, a bit more protein (about 10% of your daily needs), a good amount of all vitamin B (including 17% of your daily B12 needs) and nearly 20% of your daily needs of Vit A and E. Among other things.
(Info taken from entering ingredients in a nutrition tracker)
Tips for best results:
1. Use bread flour.
2. Don’t skip or shorten the resting time. Be patient and let the dough double up in size. To make life easier – if you don’t have two hours to sit around at home while the dough rises by the oven – you can prepare it the day before and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight.
3. Use a bun tray. With gluten free dough needing more liquid than ‘normal’ bread, this is especially important for the buns to cook with the right shape. But if, like me, you don’t have one, then it’s ok you. You can still use a flat tray.
4. Freeze the dough before using it. Once you’ve allowed the dough to rise, put it in the freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. As the dough is very wet and impossible to handle (the ultimate downside of gluten free baking!), this will make it much easier to handle so you can actually shape it into buns.
5. Don’t let the gluten free brioche buns sit around for too long after being taken out of the oven. Homemade bread is notorious for drying out quickly so let them cool down a bit, then quickly store them in an air tight container.
6. Reheat next day (or older) leftovers in the microwave for 30 seconds to make them soft again.
7. They’re best eaten fresh, the same day you baked them. Like I mentioned above, homemade bread can taste fantastic when freshly made, but has a tendency to go stale pretty quickly. So I recommend making these fresh on the day you plan to eat them. I’ve never tried this, but some people make the dough in advance, keep it in the freezer and defrost as needed when they want bread so it’s something to consider for best results.
Gluten Free Brioche Buns Recipe:
- 250g gluten free white bread flour (I used Doves Farm)
- 1 tsp dry active yeast (I used Allinson)
- 1-2 tsp xanthan gum (only if your flour blend doesn't already contain it)
- 1+1/2 tsp caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 150ml whole milk
- 100g unsalted butter
- 2 medium eggs (50g each)
- 1 egg (to brush over the buns)
FREEZING TIME: 45 mins to 1 hour
BAKING TEMPERATURE: 200C (400F)
Note: the amount of flour needed will depend on what flour blend you use as some need more liquid than others.
Directions
How to make the dough:
- Warm up the milk in the microwave in 10 seconds increments until lukewarm.
- Add the sugar and yeast to the warm milk, stir and let it sit for a few minutes until frothy (as seen in the picture above).
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt and xanthan gum (if applicable) in a mixing bowl.
- Melt the butter in the microwave in 10 seconds increments.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the frothy yeast/milk mixture, melted butter and 2 eggs. Mix well until you reach a smooth creamy dough that resembles cake batter.
- Cover the bowl with cling film and let the batter rest and rise in a warm place for about 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge). What I do is turn the oven on to the lowest temperature and place the bowl on the opened door (so it’s not actually inside the oven). Note: grease the cling film with oil or a low calorie oil spray (my personal favourite) to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to it as it rises.
- Then put the risen dough in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour. This will make the dough more solid and much easier to handle so you can actually shape it into buns.
How to make the buns:
- Grease a bun or normal baking tray with oil or cooking spray.
- Take the dough out of the freezer and shape it into buns with your hands. Now this dough is fairly sticky so you’ll want to wet your hands first (shake off any excess). Be gentle with the dough and don’t apply pressure; you just want to shape the buns while still keeping the dough light and airy. Pressing too hard will get rid of the air bubbles the yeast created so just pass the dough from one hand to the other gently without pressing.
- Place the brioche buns on the greased tray, leaving space in between each bun.
- Beat an egg and brush over the buns while also smoothing the surface and edges as much as possible.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (200C/400F), on the middle shelf, for 20 to 25 minutes or until they turn golden.
- Let them cool on the baking tray for a bit and store in an air tight container. Note: don’t let them sit around for too long as homemade bread has a tendency to dry out quickly!
Enjoy!
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Hi, I tried this recipe and for my surprise it is the best I made so far in gluten free range. My son has Coeliac Disease and struggle to adapt to a gluten free diet. And he loved this brioche. Well done! Thank you for sharing this rather yummy recipe.
Aww I’m happy to hear he loves them! It’s hard to adapt to eating gluten free bread especially, but it gets easier. hehe
Can this recipe be put into a breadmaker to make a loaf?
Hey! I’ve never tried making this recipe into a loaf or used a bread maker before so I’m not entirely sure… Sorry I can’t be of more help with that!
Can Psyllium husk be used instead of Xanthan gum?
Hi! I’ve never personally used psyllium husk so I’m not 100% sure. I know that some people use that instead so in theory it should work, but I don’t know if it works as a one for one substitution. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Thank you. I will try it out and see. They look amazing.
Could you add choc chips to make it sweet?
Hi! As these are burger buns, they’re a bit different and aren’t that sweet (at least not like the usual sweet brioches). I was actually planning to make some sweet ones with chocolate chips soon so I’ll have to give it a try and let you know. 🙂
Kimi! Great recipe thank you so much. I’m a chef on a yacht and my owner is coeliac. Must try a few more recipes! Thanks again! Keep on cooking x
I made this recipe today for my coeliac husband and he was blown away by the taste & texture; he hasn’t had decent bread in about 20 years! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Wow, incredible blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is wonderful, as well as the content!
I just made it last week.. it taste soooooo good..my lil girls liked it ..
i’m in the states – what GF bread flour would you suggest as a sub for the doves?? i looked up dove’s on amazon and it was $32 for 2.5 lbs (massive ouch, is it made from gold?) i have all the separate GF flours in my possession, as well as the america’s test kitchen GF all-purpose blend.
Wow that’s expensive! haha It’s definitely a hell of a lot cheaper here in the UK as it’s a British company, the same price as any other GF flour blends. 😉 I only mention what I’m using in case people have access to the same products (as all GF blends behave differently), but of course people from other countries should substitute with whatever is available to them. I’m not very familiar with the blends you have in the US unfortunately so it’s hard to say. Do you have any blends that are specifically made for bread or pizza? These are basically “strong flour” that have a higher protein content. But if all things fail, you can always try using an all purpose GF blend instead.
I’ve actually been thinking about recreating this Doves Farm bread flour from scratch. When I manage to get hold of the individual flours, I’ll try and figure out the ratio. ?
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These make the best hamburger buns I have found in my 17 gluten free years! They taste great and are soft and tender, yet hold up to juicy tomatoes, ketchup or other items on hamburgers that wet the bread. I only adjusted the recipe to use the same measure of honey instead of sugar. I chose to cover and refrigerate overnight, then divided dough into 4 sections, shaped and placed in 4 5″ greased ramekins rather than the tray to support them as they baked. They turned out beautifully and I will be using this recipe from now on! Thank you!
After many years looking for a good gluten free hamburger bun recipe, this is now the one I go to every time. They taste delicious..better than any bought in the gluten free freezer section, and they are so easy to make. I think the weighing of ingredients is key to correct proportions of wet to dry. I replaced the sugar with honey, used King Arthur Gluten Free Bread Flour, and chose the refrigerate overnight method. I divided and rounded dough into four 5″ ramekins to make the buns large enough for the standard beef patty size. They were perfect! I was a little concerned as dough had risen and softened overnight, but looked very small when I shaped them and placed in the ramekins. I was amazed at how much they rise in the oven in just a few minutes! I have dough resting in refrigerator now..having hamburgers tomorrow! Thank you for a really good bun recipe!
I love this recipe! Happy I finally took the leap to make my own buns. For the bread flour I do 210g of gf Jules flour, 20g skim milk powder and 20g of expandex tapioca
Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe. Bread is not my strong point in baking and I am so glad I tried this brioche. The buns came out really soft and fluffy and they taste amazing. Will definitely bake these again 😀
Can you use almond milk as a substitute?
Hello Kimi! I just made these buns realizing I didn’t have eggs so I used 2tbsp chia seeds mixed and soaked in 8tbsps water to create the egg substitute. I did not have your GF flour so I used 100gr buckwheat flour, 100gr rice flour mix, 25gr almond flour, 25gr potato flour. Once left to raise for 2hrs, I put the 4 buns created, in the cold oven and set it to 180C and they were done in 30mins. Amazing!