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Vegan garlic dough balls – these incredible dough balls with garlic butter are easy to make and so very moreish!
Served with a cheesy cashew dip they make a great centrepiece for a celebration, and are perfect party food too.
These vegan garlic dough balls with cashew cheese dip are soft, fluffy, buttery, garlicky, herby, insanely delicious and incredibly moreish!
The attractive pull-apart wreath shape makes them the perfect impressive looking centrepiece for parties and celebrations, or they would be great to snack on while watching a movie.
They take a little bit of time, as all bread does, but aren't difficult at all to make, and really are worth the effort!
What Do I Need To Make Vegan Garlic Dough Balls?:
Bread flour: I really recommend using white bread flour rather than plain flour to make these dough balls as the higher protein content helps to create that fluffy, chewy bread texture. Plain flour will work if that is all you have though. I don’t recommend using wholemeal flour, it will make the dough balls too dense.
Instant yeast: I always prefer to use instant yeast when making bread as it can just be added straight to the flour and doesn’t need to be activated first. See below for instructions if you only have active dry yeast.
Olive oil: A bit of olive oil in the dough helps to make the dough balls soft and adds flavour. Go for a mild one, not extra virgin. You can also swap the olive oil for any other neutral oil.
Non-dairy milk: Soy milk is always my favourite for baking as it has the highest protein content so most closely resembles dairy milk. Any variety of non-dairy milk will work however, but go for an unsweetened one if you can, and definitely soy milk if you have it.
Salt: You simply cannot make good bread without salt. Don’t omit it.
Sugar: Just a teaspoon to help feed the yeast, making the dough rise.
Vegan butter: To make the garlic butter. Either a block or tub variety is fine. I used Flora original.
Garlic: Lots of it! You will need some for the garlic butter and some for the cheese dip. I go for 4 large cloves in the garlic butter; reduce it to 3 if you prefer a less pungent flavour!
Herbs: I use oregano and parsley in my garlic butter topping, but feel free to use whatever finely chopped herbs you like. Rosemary and thyme would work well.
For The Cheese Dip:
Cashews: Soaked and blended cashews form the base of the cheese. I don’t recommend swapping them for another kind of nut.
Tapioca flour: This thickens the ‘cheese’ and helps to give it a slightly gooey, stretchy texture. I don’t recommend swapping it for another type of starch as you won’t get quite the same texture.
Nutritional yeast: This provides the ‘cheesy’, savoury flavour.
Cider vinegar: Adds a bit of tang to better replicate the flavour of cheese. You could use lemon juice instead but you may need to use a bit more of it.
How To Make Vegan Garlic Dough Balls:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Place the bread flour in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook), add the yeast to one side and the salt and sugar to the other.
Pour in the olive oil, milk and water and mix to form a rough dough.
Knead, either by hand on an unfloured surface or with the stand mixer on a medium/high speed, for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. It should be slightly tacky to the touch but should pull away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and set aside to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
Punch down the risen dough and give it a brief knead to knock out any air bubbles.
Divide the dough into small pieces, about 30g each. I use a scale for accuracy. You should have around 29 pieces.
Shape each piece into a ball by gathering the edges up and pinching them together. Keep going until you have a neat, well-sealed ball.
Flip the ball over, cup it with your hand over the top and roll it until it is smooth.
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Grease both the inside and outside of an approximately 11cm wide, 4cm deep ramekin and place it in the middle of the baking sheet.
Arrange the dough balls slightly spaced apart in two circles around the ramekin.
Loosely cover the baking sheet and set aside to rise for about 30-40 minutes until the dough balls are puffy and spring back slowly most of the way if you poke one gently with a finger.
While the dough balls are rising make the garlic butter and cheese dip - melt the butter, crushed garlic and herbs in a pan.
For the cheese dip, blend the soaked cashews, tapioca starch, nutritional yeast, garlic, vinegar, salt and water until very smooth.
Pour the mixture into a pan over a medium heat. Whisk constantly until it comes up to a simmer and thickens. Remove from the heat and cover with parchment directly on the surface to prevent it from forming a skin.
When the dough balls are ready to bake, pour the cheese mixture into the ramekin and spread it level. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the top if you like and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. Gently brush the dough balls with about ⅔rds of the garlic butter.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Brush the balls with the rest of the garlic butter then serve warm.
Top Tips:
All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Make sure that your yeast isn’t out of date! Old yeast can lead to bread that doesn’t rise.
Don’t be tempted to add more flour to the dough, it is supposed to be a bit soft and sticky. If you add too much flour the dough balls will end up being dry and dense, not light and fluffy.
The rising time of the dough will vary depending on how warm it is; on hot days it will rise much faster than on cold ones.
You can make these vegan garlic dough balls all in one day, or you can make the dough in the evening and place it (covered) in the fridge to rise overnight then continue with the rest of the recipe in the morning. In this case the second rise may take longer as the dough will be cold.
The dough balls are best eaten on the day they are baked, preferably still warm; but they will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
What Kind Of Yeast?:
I always use instant yeast (also called easy bake yeast) when I am baking bread as it doesn’t need to be activated in liquid first, you can just add it straight to the flour. I highly recommend buying instant yeast if possible.
If you are only able to get active dry yeast then you can still use it but the method will be a little different.
Stir 12g of active dry yeast and the sugar into the lukewarm milk and water. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes until it has become bubbly then proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.
How To Tell When Bread Is Baked:
The best way to tell if bread is baked properly is to check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. It should reach at least 90°C/194°F.
Overbaked bread will be dry and if it is under-baked then you will be eating raw dough, yuck! It is impossible to give a one-size-fits-all baking time as all ovens vary.
I really do recommend investing in a probe thermometer, it is an incredibly handy kitchen tool!
If you don’t have a thermometer then a toothpick inserted into the centre of a dough ball should go in and out smoothly with little resistance and come out clean.
Can I Freeze These Vegan Garlic Dough Balls?:
Yes, any leftover dough balls can be frozen. Freeze them on the day that they are baked to preserve freshness but make sure that they have cooled completely first.
Freeze them in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Allow to defrost at room temperature then refresh them in a low oven before serving.
Can I Make Them In Advance?:
The dough balls really need to be eaten on the day they are baked, preferably while they are still warm from the oven. So I don't recommend baking them in advance.
You can make the dough the evening before you want to bake them and let it rise (covered) in the fridge overnight; then continue with the recipe as written the following day.
Can I Make Them Gluten-Free?:
No, I’m afraid that you cannot use gluten free flour. Making gluten free bread is tricky and the entire recipe would need reworking. Gluten free baking is not my area of expertise so I cannot advise you.
It is best to use a recipe that is designed to be gluten free rather than trying to adapt a non gluten free recipe.
What To Serve With Vegan Garlic Dough Balls:
The dough balls go great with the cheesy dip, but you could also serve them with hummus, pate, marinara sauce, just as they are or with anything else you can think of really!
More Vegan Sharing Bread Recipes:
- Vegan pretzel bites
- Vegan beer pretzels
- Vegan garlic pull-apart bread
- Vegan pesto bread
- Easy flatbreads
- Vegan garlic naan bread
- Easy vegan cornbread
- Pumpkin bread rolls
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
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5 from 1 vote
Vegan Garlic Dough Balls
Vegan garlic dough balls – these incredible dough balls with garlic butter are easy to make and so very moreish! Served with a cheesy cashew dip they make a great centrepiece for a celebration, and are perfect party food too.
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine vegan
Keyword bread
Prep Time 45 minutes minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes minutes
Rising Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
Servings 29 dough balls
Author Domestic Gothess
Ingredients
Dough:
- 500 g (4 cups) white bread flour
- 10 g (3 teaspoons) fast action (instant) yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy) lukewarm
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) water lukewarm
Cheese Dip:
- 75 g (2 + ⅔ oz / ½ cup) raw cashews
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 ½ teaspoons tapioca starch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) water
Garlic Butter:
- 85 g (rounded ⅓ cup) vegan butter/spread
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
Place the bread flour in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook), add the yeast to one side and the salt and sugar to the other (if salt comes into direct contact with the yeast it can kill it).
Pour in the olive oil, milk and water and mix to form a rough dough.
Knead, either by hand on an unfloured surface, or with the stand mixer on a medium/high speed for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. It should be tacky to the touch but should pull away from the sides of the bowl cleanly. If it feels too wet you can add a little more flour as needed, don't add too much though or the bread will be dry.
Place the dough in a ,ightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
While the dough is rising, place the cashews for the cheese dip in a bowl, pour over enough boiling water to generously cover them and set aside to soak.
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Grease both the inside and outside of an approximately 11cm wide, 4cm deep ramekin and place it in the middle of the baking sheet.
Punch down the risen dough and give it a brief knead to knock out any air bubbles.
Divide the dough into small pieces, about 30g each. I use a scale for accuracy. You should have around 29 pieces.
Shape each piece into a ball by gathering the edges up and pinching them together. Keep going until you have a neat, well-sealed ball. Flip the ball over, cup it with your hand over the top and roll it until it is smooth.
Arrange the dough balls slightly spaced apart in two circles around the ramekin. About 11 on the inner circle and 18 on the outer circle (depending on how many balls you have).
Loosely cover the baking sheet and set aside to rise for about 30-40 minutes until the dough balls are puffy and spring back slowly most of the way if you poke one gently with a finger. If they spring back quickly then they need a little longer.
While the dough balls are rising preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7.
Make the garlic butter - place the vegan butter, crushed garlic, parsley and oregano in a pan and heat gently until melted. Set aside.
Make the cheese dip - drain the soaked cashews well and place them in a blender with the garlic, tapioca, salt, nutritional yeast, vinegar and water. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Pour the mixture into a pan over a medium heat. Whisk constantly until it comes up to a simmer and thickens. Remove from the heat and cover with parchment directly on the surface to prevent it from forming a skin, set aside.
When the dough balls are ready to bake, pour the cheese mixture into the ramekin and spread it level. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the top if you like and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. Gently brush the dough balls with about ⅔ rds of the garlic butter.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden. A probe thermometer inserted into the centre of one of the balls should reach at least 90°C/194°F. Brush the balls with the rest of the garlic butter then serve warm.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos. If you have a question I may have already answered it above!
- As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- Cheese dip adapted from Bish, Bash, Bosh by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby.
