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A Filipino classic-made vegan! These soft, fluffy, and sweet bread rolls are great for a snack or meal, any time of day. They can be enjoyed on their own or with sweet and savory fillings.
Many of you have requested that I share more vegan Filipino recipes from my childhood, and today I am making that happen! Pandesal is a classic Filipino bread roll that I knew I needed to veganize.
I remember when we used to pick up fresh pandesal at Filipino bakeries on the weekend and enjoy them as a family, so I’m excited that I can now do that again when my family visits us here in Washington, but all vegan, of course.
Pandesal (or pan de sal) is a famous yeast-raised bread in the Philippines and is something that always reminds me of my childhood. Pandesal is to the Phillippines as croissants are to France or focaccia is to Italy. It is THE bread of the Philippines. Although its name in Spanish technically translates to salt bread, pandesal is not a salty bread, but it is more on the sweet side!
I thought that these would be hard to veganize, but it was easy to make without eggs and milk.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Lukewarm water: The temperature should be between 105 and 110°F for proofing.
- Active dry yeast: We used active dry yeast which needs to proof separately before mixing with the rest of the ingredients. If you want to use instant yeast, use 25 percent less active dry.
- Granulated sugar: Used to activate the yeast and sweeten up the bread. If you would like sweeter pandesal, increase the sugar to 1 cup. Coconut sugar can be used in place of granulated sugar, but keep in mind that it will create a darker dough/result.
- Vegan Butter: We really enjoy using Country Crock Plant Butter.
- Unsweetened plant-based milk: You can really use any type that you’d prefer, we typically opt for soy or almond.
- Salt: Not only does salt add flavor, but it also works to tighten the gluten strands that are formed, which makes them stronger.
- All-purpose flour: We have not tested this recipe using bread flour or whole wheat flour.
- Plain breadcrumbs: Not all breadcrumbs are vegan, so double-check the ingredients!
There are many ways to serve pandesal, which makes it so great! It pairs well with sweet and savory fillings so that you can enjoy it any time of day.
Here are some ideas for you to try out:
- Dipped into coffee or hot chocolate (this was my favorite as a kid)
- Filled with vegan butter and fresh jam (coconut jam is great in pandesal!)
- Stuffed with vegan cheese slices or a vegan cheese spread
- Used to make a vegan ham and cheese sandwich
- Loaded with peanut butter or any nut butter of your choice!
If you enjoyed this pandesal recipe, you might also like:
- Ube Pandesal
- Filipino Chicken Adobo
- Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag)
- Vegan Chicken Afritada
- Filipino Barbecue
- Ube Pichi Pichi (Filipino Sticky Cassava Snack)
Vegan Pandesal (Filipino Bread Rolls)
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 20 rolls
Description
A Filipino classic-made vegan! These soft, fluffy, and sweet bread rolls are great for a snack or meal, any time of day. They can be enjoyed on their own or with sweet and savory fillings.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup* + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups warm unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 to 6 cups of all-purpose flour
- Oil, for the pan
- 1/2 cup plain and fine breadcrumbs
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the lukewarm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar until dissolved. Add in the active dry yeast and gently mix it to combine. Set this mixture aside for 5-10 minutes to activate. You will know it is ready when it is fluffy!
- Stir together the melted butter, warm milk, remaining sugar, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture.
- Slowly add the flour until a smooth dough forms.
- On a lightly floured work surface or with a standing mixer, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes.
- Grab another large bowl and lightly coat it with oil. Transfer the dough to the oiled bowl, toss it around, and cover it with a clean and damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm area for 1 hour or until doubled in size. We raise ours in the oven with the oven light on (no heat!).
- In the meantime, get your baking dish ready. You can use either a lined baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat or grease a few small glass or metal baking dishes (enough for 20 pieces).
- Punch it down once the dough has risen and portion the dough into 20 even pieces. If you want this to be extra precise, you can use a kitchen scale. Next, shape each dough into balls (see video for how we did ours).
- Add the breadcrumbs to a wide bowl or plate and gently coat each pandesal roll in the breadcrumbs. If the rolls are too dry to cover, you can spray them with cooking oil or water to moisten them up. Transfer the rolls into the prepared dish, reasonably close together (about 1/2″ apart), to help them fluff up as they bake.
- Cover the pan(s) with a clean cloth or plastic wrap and place them in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. We raise ours in the oven with the oven light on (no heat!).
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. If you are raising the dough in the oven, remove them before preheating! Bake the rolls for 23 to 26 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 10 minutes before serving, and enjoy.
Notes
- If you would like sweeter pandesal, increase the sugar to 1 cup.
- Coconut sugar can be used in place of granulated sugar, but keep in mind that it will create a darker dough/result.
- If you want to make the dough ahead of time, you totally can! Here are two options:1. When you reach step 6, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a resealable wrap instead of allowing the dough to rise, and then place it into the fridge overnight. Next, remove the dough from the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature, and continue rising (about 1-1.5 hours). Once it has come to room temperature, continue with the recipe.2. The second option is to place the dough into the fridge after step 9. Place the rolls onto your pan of choice, cover it, and place it into the refrigerator overnight. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature, continue rising (about 1-1.5 hours or so), and continue with the recipe.
- We made this recipe by hand, but it can also be made in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook.
- We have not tested this recipe using bread flour or whole wheat flour.
- Not all bread crumbs are vegan, so double-check the ingredients!
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Side
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan, Filpino
Love this! About to make it for the third time. For anybody who’s tried this with bread or whole wheat flour, what are the measurements and substitutions, if any?
Delicious! how do you store these? Theres only 2 of us and it made a lot for us to eat.
You can freeze them! Hope you enjoy 🙂
I tried this recipe and im not a baker but man it came out soft, really yummy and my daughter who has egg allergies can eat it. We tried adding cheese cubes in ours its so so yummy.
This is my second time making this recipe (last April in the beginning of the pandemic, and now again because I’m somehow nostalgic for early pandemic things we were all doing!) I LOVE this recipe, thank you for making it! I didn’t have almond milk so I used oat milk. I also didn’t have bread crumbs so I rolled each dough ball in coconut flour which worked beautifully! Last year I simply left out the bread crumbs because I didn’t have them and they were still just as amazing.
Omg!! I’ve made this over and over again and we just Love it!
Thanks you two!
Hi! I was wondering if I could sub the butter with oil instead?
Yes, that should work 🙂
This recipe turned out great, but I did have to add an extra cup of flour because my dough was quite sticky. I would love for my bread to be less dense. In the video, it appears that you added a full measuring cup of milk and then a smaller measuring cup of milk. The written recipe still reflects 2 cups milk. Can you clarify the correct proportions? Thank you!
Can I use whole milk instead of almond milk?
We are a vegan blog and only use vegan ingredients, so we don’t have any experience with cow’s milk.
Truly amazing, I’m obsessed! Came out perfect the first time and my family loved it.
Hello is it ok to omit butter?
You can omit the butter but it would need to be replaced with another fat, like coconut oil.
Thanks for this recipe. This is my first time to bake pandesal and it turned out to be great! Just one tweak – I used 1/2 sugar instead of 3/4 and it’s perfect for me!
Hi im in the process now of making these the buns are rising as i type all 20 minus the breadcrumbs cause being a diabetic i dont need the added starch and more carbs so with that said do you know the nutritional value for each bun?
Hey Nancy,
We aren’t sure of the nutritional value of this recipe. Sorry about that!
Great recipe! My family loves it :). I used half all purpose flour & half whole wheat. It brought back childhood memories from the Philippines! Thank you 🙂
I made them and they were very good, except the texture was not as soft as I’d like. But I’ve never had pandesal before so I think I’m just comparing with with Hawaiian bread rolls.
What’s the best way of heating them back up because they do get dry/stale after a day or so. Thanks!
how would we use instant yeast in this recipe?
We typically don’t use instant yeast, so we aren’t sure. Sorry about that!
could you sub the vegan butter for coconut oil?
Yes, you can!
can i use oil instead of vegan butter?thank you
yes, you can! 🙂
I have made these 2 times already and they always turned out amazing! I used almond crackers the first time and plantain chips as breadcrumbs the second time lmao. They are fluffy but a bit dense since the dough was really sticky so I added another cup of flour but overall recommend!
So fluffy and yummy! Thank you for sharing your recipe ❤️
Hi jasmine, what would you suggest as replacement for vegan butter? Couldn’t get it where I am at the moment. I have extra virgin Coconut oil, you think that would be good substitute? I wouldn’t mind having coconutie flavour in my pandesal. How about olive oil? I’d like to pick your brain on this. Thank you in advance.
Coconut oil should work, but we haven’t tested it! Hope that helps 🙂