As you can see from the photo above, we have been quite busy baking bread this weekend. These vegan and gluten free mini buns have been a family favourite for a while now. Some of you might remember seeing two photos (uno | due) on instagram at the start of the summer. These buns are perfectly tiny in size, very easy to prepare and contain no egg, butter or nuts nor any yeast or baking powder. Miracle bread, really. They don’t even need any kneading or leavening time. When baked right, they get a nice crust and a softly textured crumb without being gooey or dense. Since we always try to sneak in vegetables in every dish, we have done three different versions here: carrot & parsnip, spinach & banana and beet & date. And that is just the start, you can easily add whatever vegetables you have at home.
We are not dedicated gluten free in our family, but this recipe is great as a lighter bread to mix up with rye bread, crisp bread and whatever else that makes it into our kitchen. The psyllium seed husks are very good for your gut, containing loads of fiber and the gluten free flours are also more easily digested than regular wheat flours. The buns have a touch of sweetness and are so great on a brunch or breakfast table with a slab of butter or some avocado slices. And they’re perfect in kids lunch boxes too. Even babies can enjoy them as there are no allergens in this recipe, just leave out the salt.
A few notes about this recipe
- Don’t skip the psyllium! Not only is it really good for your gut, but psyllium is also the magic glue that holds the bread together, making it soft and not crumbly at all. There are lots of gluten free recipes using xantham gum or chia seeds but we encourage you to stick with psyllium on this one. Depending on where you live, it can usually be found in larger supermarkets, health food stores or online. It is also a lot cheaper than chia seeds.
- First time? If you’ve never baked or tasted gluten free bread before, don’t expect that it will taste exactly the same as when you use wheat flour. The texture is slightly different and so is the flavor. Not in a bad way, just a bit different. However, this recipe is truly one of the easiest and tastiest that we have tried.
- Gooey? Sometimes the inside texture of the bun can end up a bit gooey. The most common reason for this is if you slice them open too early, you should always let the bread cool off a bit first so the inside will set properly. If they are still gooey, then either you have used too much liquid in the dough or the buns need longer baking time. If you have a baking thermometer you can stick it inside one of the buns, they should reach approx. 210°F / 100°C when they are done inside. We have experienced that the baking time can vary between 35 minutes and up to 60 minutes, depending on the oven, the size of the buns and how many sheets you are baking at the same time. If your bread ends up gooey, a last minute solution is always to put the slices in the toaster :)
Gluten Free Vegetable Buns
Makes 12-14 buns
The recipe is inspired by the gluten free buns in this book by Anette Harbech Olesen
3 tbsp psyllium seed husks
2 cups / 1/2 liter lukewarm water or plant milk (plant milk is optional but gives the bread a slightly richer flavour)
150 g vegetables of choice, see note below
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp flaky sea salt
1 1/2 cup / 150 g rolled oats, choose cert, gluten free if intolerant
1 1/4 cup / 150 g buckwheat flour
1 1/4 cup / 150 g rice flour
Vegetable add-ins, choose one of these flavourings:
EITHER 1 carrot + 1 parsnip, grated (150 g)
OR 1 packed cup / 70 g fresh spinach, chopped + 1 banana, peeled and mashed
OR 1-2 beetroots, grated (130 g) + 6 dates, mashed and stones removed
Topping
1/4 cup / 30 g seeds of choice (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, chopped sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds)
Set the oven to 375°F / 190°C. Mix psyllium and water in a large bowl, stir to combine and leave for 15 minutes to thicken. Then beat the psyllium gel vigorously with a hand whisk for a few minutes to get as much air as possible into the gel. Add vegetables, salt and oil and whisk for another minute or until all is combined. Fold in the oat and flours. You can use your hands to work the flours into the dough. Roll the dough into a log (it might be a bit sticky) and divide into 12 equal pieces. Use the palms of your hands to form them into small buns, dip your hands in warm water to avoid the dough to stick to them.
Brush with olive oil, sprinkle some seeds on top and bake for about 45-60 minutes (depending on the size of the buns and oven), they are ready when the crust is golden and firm and the inside sounds hollow when you knock on the bread. If they have a soft crust, they need more time. Let cool before slicing them open. Enjoy with a slab of butter, nut butter or some avocado slices. Store in a bread jar or paper bag in room temperature. Or freeze, if you make larger batches.
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UPDATE: OMG, all tickets sold out in the first hour! We’re looking into adding an extra session. Send an email to promotie@gottmer.nl with the subject: “Green Kitchen waiting list” and you’ll be the first to get more information if we add an extra event. Meanwhile, you can also enter the competition on Jamie Magazine website for a chance to win 1 of their 10 tickets. Thank you for your enthusiasm!
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And while we are on the subject of brunch recipes. We are really happy to announce that we are coming to Amsterdam next month and will teach two brunch workshops at the beautiful SLA Zuidas. The first session is between 10-12 and the second session between 14-16. The events are arranged by our Dutch publisher Becht and they have set an amazing price to make sure that everyone can afford this – only 45€! We will talk about our approach to food and demonstrate six delicious new brunch recipes. There will be lots of tasting, handouts, Q&A time and information about the ingredients. We will also be selling and signing our books and take some time to chat with you. So, if you are in Amsterdam next month, we’d really love to meet you. Click here to get your tickets!
Today is Isac’s first birthday! We’ve celebrated with banana pancakes and popsicles flavoured with watermelon, his favourite thing in the world. More about the popsicle recipe …
A couple of weeks ago we had a little picnic for our baby boy with family and a few close friends. It was kind of …
98 Comments
Oh I can’t find the ticket link. Our the tickets already sold out? I would really love to see you guys in Amsterdam.
Hmm, there should still be some tickets left.
Here is a link to the first session: https://tibbaa.com/order/v8mp9fnoze
And here is to the second: https://tibbaa.com/order/vvtv4ztdyl
Hope to see you there!
/David
Hinthere! I had two friends cancel so I have two tickets for sale for the 19th of sept. You can send me a message or buy them here: https://www.ticketswap.nl/tickets/374948/29af0d4682/middag-tasting-green-kitchen
Those buns are such beauties! I love the vegetable add-ins as natural dyes and sweeteners.
Oh bummer… sold out already!
I’d love to try these buns as I have everything to make them in my pantry, excepted the psyllim husks… I know you said not to skip them, but I don’t really want to go shopping just for them, so do you think I could replace them with chia or flax? Thanks!
I love the idea to add veggies in bread, in gluten-free bread! I’ll totally try your recipe ^_^
those buns look absolutely gorgeous! i love the colour in the beet one! and thank goodness it is a no-knead gf loaf, cos MAN ain’t nobody got time for that :)
ooh too bad it’s already sold out. I was looking forward to this!
Oh, soldout :(. I was so looking forward…
Yes, it sold out a lot quicker than we anticipated. Sorry about that! I will check with our publisher if there is a waiting list or any possibilities for us to do another event.
All best,
David
Hi! Do you think you would be able to organize other workshops in Amsterdam? The tickets were sold out soon after publishing this and it looks like I’m one of the many disappointed people who didn’t make it on time ;) Thanks!!
Hi Irene! I had two friends cancel so I have two tickets for sale for the 19th of sept. You can send me a message or buy them here: https://www.ticketswap.nl/tickets/374948/29af0d4682/middag-tasting-green-kitchen
My enormous addiction to bread made me love these buns just by looking at them! And I am looking forward to meeting you guys in Amsterdam next month. I am super excited!
These are some gorgeous buns!
Oh wow, this is again such a very amazing recipe! I would really loooove to come to Amsterdam (as I live in Belgium), but sadly (or not so sadly) I’ll be in Thailand at that time. Hopefully I’ll meet you somewhere in the future, in the meantime I’ll be busy cooking about everything from your blog and books ;)
I have mine I the oven now, but I’m not sure how many degrees the oven should be at? Right now I have it at 200
I have been searching for more fun and practical ways to use psyllium seeds and this is definitely it!! You guys always come to the rescue. And love those pictures, especially with the 3 varieties in a row and labeled.
One question about the oats though. If I double up on buckwheat and rice flour to replace oats will it alter the desired texture too much?
I have recently discovered your beautiful book in New Zealand. I have not made this recipe, but I substituted 1 cup of Quinoa flour for the 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats in the Quinoa and Cauliflower Pattie Recipe in Vegetarian Everyday and they worked fine – held together well and great flavour. It may be worth trying this here.
This recipe sounds divine!Can not wait to make them! One question thou what’s the oven temperature. Thanks for a lovely bread recipe.
Hi Kelly, thanks for letting us know. I think that first line got about the temperature got accidentally erased, but I have added it know. It should be 375°F / 190°C.
/David
These buns are beautiful! Such elegant colors and flavors– yum. I can’t wait to make these and slather them in coconut butter and avocado slices for breakfast.
Hi! I don’t know if it’s just me but I couldn’t find any suggestion of temperature for the oven? Would 175 C be good?
Looking forward to baking these though, they look tasty!
Hi Sara, so sorry, it must have disappeared somehow but I have added it know. It’s supposed to be 190°C.
/David
Thank you! I made two of the versions today and they turned out delicious. Instead of dates I put honey with the beets, which worked fine, and with the carrot/parsnip one I just followed the recipe completely. I did alter the heat to a few degrees lower since I had the fan turned on and two baking sheets. All in all – great recipe!
Wow, these look and sound incredible! I can’t wait to try them <3
Sounds absolutely delicious – I even think of making them now ;-)
These vegetable buns are GORGEOUS–all of them sound so good!
These look SO good! Love the colors! Going to give these a try this week, thanks for sharing!
Hi! These look amazing. I was wondering if I could substitute the rice flour with spelt flour? If not, are there any other substitutions you might recommend? Thanks:)
They look absolutely delicious! I just love it when you can eat and enjoy gluten-free treats that looks this beautiful.
I love that these vegetable buns are vegan!! Using the psyllium husk to hold the dough together was genius. :)
OMG those look absolutely amazing! I love how fuss free they are!
Quick question though, is the rice flour you used brown rice flour or white rice flour?
Thanks! X
Amazing photos! I can’t wait to try the recipe. How do you serve the buns? Just as they are or with a spread?
Would the dough hold to make bigger buns or a loaf even? Oh, and thanks for inspiring me to lead a far more vegetable loving life.
I work at SLA! It’s such a great place! I’ll also be joining the workshop, can’t wait! These buns are the cutest!
These look wonderful. Would these still work if I substituted the buckwheat flour for rice flour as my sister is allergic to buckwheat? H x
These look wonderful. Could I use chia seeds, soaked in the same way, instead of the husks? I have loads of chia seeds and wondered if they would work?
Hi Luise and David,
what a pitty. Both sessions are sold out…
I wonder if you could fit in a 3rd session… I’d love to see you in Amsterdam! :-)
Hi Cristina! I had two friends cancel so I have two tickets for sale for the 19th of sept. You can send me a message or buy them here: https://www.ticketswap.nl/tickets/374948/29af0d4682/middag-tasting-green-kitchen
I have all the ingredients at home. Can´t wait to try them. They look so beautiful. Im a big parsnip fan. So the buns with parsnip will be the first ones I will bake. Wish you will come to Cologne one day!
I can’t wait to try these! Quick question: can you use psyllium seed powder instead of the husks? If so, would it be a one to one sub? Thank you!
There in the oven now…I’m so curious how it will turn out! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Too quick :-) Sorry for the spelling errors :-)
Just brilliant. I love how you give different versions and the use of veggies in these too! And yay for psyllium, excited to see it used more and more instead of the gums. Excited to try out that carrot and parsnip!! Have a blast in Amsterdam <3
Hi there. What are your thoughts on using juicing pulp in these buns instead of the vegetables?
Just an update to anyone else trying to re-use juice pulp: I did try these buns with a lemongrass/cucumber/celery/spinach/apple juice pulp. The texture turned out great but the flavor was not excellent (though still edible). Next time I will try to use some fresh produce to flavor the buns and some juice pulp.
Ooh wow, this recipe is just genius! Those are the cutest little buns I’ve seen. Your photos are getting more and more gorgeous every day!
I LOVE that you’ve added veggies in there. I can’t wait to try making them with different flavour combos. <3
Hi there!! :) I would love to try this recipe, but are there any subs for psyllium? Thank you/ Obrigada!! :)
These buns look adorable. I love the flavour combos. Very different.
I can’t wait to try the carrot and parsnip version but these all look so good! I love psyllium, it’s such a wonder ingredient!
This recipe looks really amazing. I really would like to make these buns, but I have a question: Could I use more buckhweat flour instead of the rice flour? Or is rice flour in this case important to add?
What beautiful buns, you make everything look out of this world! Such a good idea to use beetroot. Big thumbs up for using psyllium husk too, definitely on board with that. Thanks for a lovely post! :)
Wow, love the colours! These would be perfect for a dinner party side plate (or just for my lunch!).
Plus, I can’t eat yeast so this is a fabulous addition to my bread repertoire!
Thanks!
Nicola
The colors for this are stunning. One of these sounds with some salted butter sounds like a great addition to breakfast. I’m particularly curious about the beet and date one- I’m working on liking beets and these buns look like a creative and fun way to try them.
Yummi, but where Can I buy buckwheat flour in Denmark?
Wow! Love the pictures and the little hand, so cute! These little buns look delicious! Always a huge huga fan of your photography!
Hi! Would these still work if I substituted the rolled oats for rolled buckwheat? Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with all of us!
Absolutely amazing dish..especially the dressing of the recipe is just too good. Really eager to prepare the recipe especially the carrot and parsnip one, my all time favorite.Thanks a lot for this really delicious dish.
Didn’t have rice flour, so I replaced it by amaranth flour and the buns turned out perfectly! It baked them for about 55 minutes. Thanks for the recipe!
And I only had psyllium husk powder, I used 2 tbsp of that!
These look magnificent. I love how you sneak the veg into everything. It’s truly brilliant and you guys always pull it off! I can’t wait to try these gorgeous buns. Step 1 will be to get my hands on some psyllium husk! Thanks for the recipe :)
xx Sydney
Yum! I made the banana/spinach version and used a mix of sorghum, quinoa and buckwheat flours. They were spot on! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Great recipe! I only have psyllium husk powder and I was wondering how much I would need to substitute for the husks
Wow, these look delicious!! would love to make the beet and date ones. Could these be eaten like a scone or are they more like a bread roll??
Both the rolls and photos look absolutely stunning! I’ve never seen anything like this before and can’t wait to try out the recipe – love the snuck in veggies.
Wow, they really look delicious! As my son has an egg allergy, I am also very happy that it is a vegan alternative. I am going to save this blog. :-)
First of all those are really amazing food photos. Those buns also look delicious. I had a light lunch so they look even more tasty now. Thanks for the recipe.
I love the colours & the photography! I would love to try this gf vegan bun & I’m glad you mentioned that they were baby friendly…I haven’t been able to really get in the kitchen since my sweet boy was born but this might be great motivation!
These are beautiful! (Then again, when is anything you make not beautiful ? :) The kid loves anything carrot cake-like so I’ll have to try these out with him. Though beetroot and date sounds ace too, maybe I’ll just have to make all three…
I’m so impressed by this. Truly, truly impressed. I love all the detailed tips and suggestions. I love that you made three different kinds of buns. I love the colors, the photos.. Such a win. Thank you.
I just made the spinach and banana version. Didn’t have buckwheat or rice flour so I substituted with quinoa flour and coconut flour – the taste is addictive! And I love how similar they are to regular buns. Beautiful recipe!
I just made the beetroot and date buns and they are delicious. They go so well with a really good strong cheddar. Next time I would like to try this as a loaf, have you guys tried it? I think it will probably be necessary to decrease the oven temperature, and increase the time.
I tried the recipe using “fiber husk” instead of psyllium husk and it worked just fine, I just had to decrease the measurement to around 1-1/2 tbsp (around 15grams) since the fiberhusk is minced a lot finer.
Mmmmm… yummy! Those are perfect for a tea night or to take with you when traveling long distances. I’m curious about the ones with beet, I so love beet but am afraid to experiment with it. Hope they turn out great!
Yummm yummm… I like your recipes….. I am your new follower…
I just tried the banana/spinach and carrot/apple version (I had no parsnips on hand). The dough was very easy to make and the result is really yummy! I had to bake them for 70 minutes.
I Will definitely try other versions, thank you for the recipe.
I hope my son (15 months) will like them too :-)
These look fabulous, I can’t wait to try them all!
I wonder, however, can I substitute the psyllium with simple eggs and if so, how many eggs shall I use?
Thank you
These buns look amazing! I can’t wait to try them out. I don’t follow a gluten-free diet, so I don’t have those flours you use. I’m wondering if I can swap them out for all purpose and whole wheat at 1:1 ratio?
Hi Green Kitchen Stories
Can I use spelt flour instead of rice flour for these buns.
xx Cindy
Also works completely fine in a rye version where the rolled oats are replaced with rolled rye and both of the flour replaced with rye flour! (Tak for en opskrift, jeg vil benytte mig af resten af livet – ligesom alle jeres andre opskrifter)
Mange hilsner Cecilie
Oh they look so good! I have a question though, what do you top them with? Cos they seem quite sweet and I wonder if they only fit with things such as nutbutters or do they go in hand with things like hummus as well? Thanks for a lovely recipe!
Spinach & banana, really? Will it work? I can’t wait to try these out.
These are beautiful! but I have a lot of millet flour, which I have no idea how to use – do you think I can substitute the rice flour with millet flour?
I can not wait to try these!!!! Yum! Even though not vegan, the beet one would be so delish with some goat cheese and arugula! A couple questions: do you think you guys will ever teach a food photography workshop in North America?! Also, that background is beautiful! Is it a table or scrap piece of wood?!
Do you have any foodie recommendations for Amsterdam (other than SLA, obviously)? Planning a long weekend there and I’d love to hear any thoughts on where’s good for dinner/a quick lunch!
These buns look absolutely divine! I live in the dorms and so i was wondering if i can freeze these buns and if i can then for how long?
p.s Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe! <3
Hey! I was just wondering about the recipe, I can’t see that you have either yeast or baking powder. This is not needed? Really love your blog, very inspiring =)
I wonder these colors. Giving a excellent look to dish.
Hi there, please let me know where I can find the print button for your recipes on the site.
very yummy.. we should try it now.. Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe.
Those buns! Sound lively and THREE WAYS too, real treat.
Thank you, merry Xmas all.
Amazing recipe. I added strawberries and other exotic fruits. They came incredibly good. Thanks so much
These are amazing! I make the beetroot flavor often and I make substitutions when I don’t have the exact flours at home (spelt or amaranth). They always turn out delicious! I have no idea how they rise in the oven since there is no baking powder/soda but they do get bigger when they bake. Yummy! More recipes like this one please.
Hi guys
This is just to let you know that I’m trying to get to the potato salad from the recipe index and instead I land here… so the link needs to be changed. D
Thanks so much guys, this will be my go-to bread for now on! Perfect time commitment and they turned out great even with coarse buckwheat flour. I used apple and carrot, squeezing most of the the juice out before adding. Looking forward to experimenting with other veggies. You’re geniuses.
omg this looks so good!! I love the pictures, they are so gorgeous! Do you know anything I could sub buckwheat for in this recipe? I just used up all mine :( x
I’ve been a long time reader now, and so excited that you guys have been posting more often recently! I tried a few of your recipes and all of them were ADDICTING. The only one that wasn’t was the fat almond pancake, which I read that other readers were having problems as well. These buns came out beautifully (I think I’m mildly obsessed with them) Spinach and banana is a match made in heaven! Who knew?! I substituted all purpose for the rice flour and whole spelt for the buckwheat. I also used only two tablespoons of psyllium husk powder. Thanks, Luise and David for such an amazing recipe and eatin experience These were also made in a breeze