I’m so excited to have found a way to make these vegan Portuguese bolos levedos without the traditional eggs and dairy! I loved these sweet muffins when I was young but it was rare that we had them. Only one of my grandmother’s made them and it was so infrequently that whenever I asked for them she never knew what I was talking about… it didn’t help that I would call them “black and white breads”! The darkened tops and bottoms come from these yeasted muffins being cooked on a skillet similar to an English muffin. They’re:
Sweetened
So Soft
Easy to make
Perfect as a breakfast muffin
And popular as a sweet burger or sandwich bun!
What Are Bolos Levedos
Bolos levedos in Portuguese directly translates to “yeast cakes”. They are very similar to an English muffin but are much sweeter, fluffier, and don’t have that slight “tang” that an English muffin has.
Both sets of my grandparents emigrated to Canada from the Portuguese island São Miguel where these muffins originated. I always enjoyed these as a breakfast muffin when I was young. When they’re fresh, they are delicious on their own but I will pretty much always pop them in the toaster and spread some butter on! If you’re familiar with Fall River Massachusetts Central Bakery’s, 3 Meal Muffin then you may know that these Portuguese sweet muffins have also become popular as a burger and sandwich bun!
Ingredients For Portuguese Bolos Levedos
Traditionally, bolos levedos are made very simply with:
- Yeast
- Eggs
- Milk
- Butter
- Sugar
- And Flour
For this egg and dairy free version, I make a few simple swaps:
- Applesauce in place of the eggs,
- Soy milk (or any plant milk) in place of the dairy milk,
- And vegan butter to replace the dairy butter!
That’s it! As with my vegan Portuguese sweet rice, Arroz Doce, I use less sugar than is traditional. BUT this recipe gets a natural boost of sweetness from the added applesauce and that helps to bring the level of sweetness up to the sweetness in the traditional muffins.
*I have tried this recipe using whole wheat flour in place of the white flour and it worked quite well! I found I had to add about ⅛ cup more plant milk since the whole wheat flour is a little more absorbent but other than that… the recipe worked as written!
Making Vegan Portuguese Bolos Levedos
I’ve found a few different methods for making bolos levedos and Maria Lawton at Azoreangreenbean has a traditional recipe you can take a look at! After much experimentation, I have settled on a process that is incredibly similar to how many traditional bakers make these sweet muffins.
- First: mix the yeast and water with a pinch of sugar and allow it to activate for a few minutes and get frothy.
- Meanwhile: gently heat the milk and butter on the stove-top until the butter is just melted.
- In a large bowl: whisk the sugar, salt, and applesauce until combined.
- Add the milk and butter mixture to the applesauce mixture.
- Then add the frothy yeast mixture.
- Slowly add in the flour and mix it with your hands until it comes together as a sticky dough.
- Let that sticky dough rest for 30 minutes,
- Then gently fold it on itself to form a neater ball of dough and let it rise for an additional 1 hour.
- Once the dough has doubled in size it’s time for the fun part!
- Pull the dough into smaller pieces and fold them into neat balls.
- Lay the smaller dough balls in a small mound of flour, coat them in the flour, and pat them into a flat muffin shape!
- Allow these individual muffins to rise for another 30 minutes and then it’s time to cook them!
- Heat a skillet (or two, or three!) over low heat,
- Add the muffins to the dry skillet and allow to cook on the first side for 8-10 minutes until golden brown on the underside.
- Flip them over and cook 5-8 minutes to cook all the way through and brown the other side.
- Allow to cool and devour accordingly!
Recipe Cost
This recipe makes 8 muffins and costs us approximately: $2.29 CAD or $0.29/muffin.
Making traditional bolos levedos with eggs and dairy would actually cost us roughly: CAD $2.35! So our vegan Portuguese bolos levedos recipe is not only super tasty and fluffy… it’s also just as inexpensive to make at home!
Purchasing these sweet muffins from a bakery would cost us roughly $1.65/muffin.
So what do you think? Will you make some vegan Portuguese bolos levedos and have them toasted for breakfast with butter or jam? OR will you pile on the savoury toppings and use them as a sweet bun for your favourite burger or breakfast sandwich? Let me know in the comments below!
And make sure to grab a copy of my ebook “Da Terra” with 25 Vegan Portuguese Recipes!
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The Best Portuguese Muffins – Vegan Bolos Levedos
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 8 muffins 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Sweet, easy to make, perfect for breakfast, & my childhood favourite! These vegan Portuguese bolos levedos are inspired by my avo’s!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tsp active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water (105-110 degrees F)
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- ½ cup soy milk
- ⅓ cup applesauce
- ⅓ cup cane sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see note for using whole wheat flour)
*All the ingredients for this recipe are from our pantry and freezer tips!
Instructions
- Combine the yeast with the warm water and ½ teaspoon cane sugar. Stir and set aside to activate for 5 minutes.
- Gently warm the milk and butter on the stove top or in the microwave until the butter is melted. Careful not to heat the milk too much as you don’t want it to boil. (You can just melt the butter and add it to your room temperature milk but heating the milk just a bit will help the dough rise a bit faster).
- In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, salt, and applesauce until combined.
- Add the milk and butter mixture. Stir.
- Then add the activated yeast mixture. Stir gently.
- Now, slowly add in the flour and gently mix it in with your hands. Gently turn the dough ball on itself to incorporate all the flour. This dough is meant to be sticky so it may seem like it’s too dry as you’re incorporating the flour but resist the urge to add more liquid, keep gently kneading, and when all the flour is incorporated it should be quite sticky again. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes. (See the photos above for a reference).
- After 30 minutes tidy the dough by gently pulling the sides away from the bowl and folding the dough into a neater ball. Cover again and let rise an additional 1 hour.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, add about ¼ cup of flour in a mound on a clean work surface, spread it slightly to cradle 3-4 balls of dough at a time (see the photos above or watch our recipe video!).
- Dampen fingers with lukewarm water. Pull a handful of dough and separate it from the larger ball of dough. Pull and fold the sides of the dough you’ve separated so it forms a small, smooth ball and rest it in the flour. Form 3 or 4 of these smaller balls of dough at a time, resting them in the flour mound.
- Working one at a time with the small formed balls, flip them over to cover the other side in flour and then pat them between your palms to flatten them. Lay the flattened dough on a lightly floured surface.
- With all of the dough formed into individual flattened muffins, set them aside (with space between each) on a lightly floured surface and allow to rise for another 30 minutes. You can again, drape a clean cloth over them while they rise.
- After 30 minutes, heat 1 or 2 frying pans over low heat. Lay the bolos on the dry pans and cook for 8-10 minutes on the first side. I like keeping the heat low so you can be sure they are cooked through before the bottom gets too browned. You can lift them up with a spatula and peak underneath to monitor how much they are browning. After 8-10 minutes there should be a nice brown colour on the bottom and you can flip them over and cook the other side for 5-8 minutes until equally browned.
- Once cooked, allow to cool and then store on the counter for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for about 5 days, or in the freezer for longer storage!
- Enjoy as a morning muffin toasted with butter and/or jam OR use them as a sweet bun for sandwiches and burgers!
Notes
Approximate Cost: $2.29 CAD ($0.29/muffin) vs. $2.35 using dairy milk, dairy butter, and 1 egg.
I have tried this recipe using whole wheat flour and found that I had to add about ⅛ cup more milk since the flour is more absorbent but otherwise it worked well as written!
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: Portuguese
Michael
What is the quantity of sun-dried tomatoes? I made the bolos levedos using you recipe (awesome btw) and now want to make the breakfast sandwich but haven’t been able to figure out the amount of sun-dried tomatoes.
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh great I’m so glad you liked them! I use 45g which is probably about 12-15 pieces of dry packed sun-dried tomatoes. If you have about 4 or 5 pieces per omelette that’s what I usually do! If the tomatoes are quite large you can cut them in half. I hope this helps and you enjoy the sandwich!
Leah
I made these tonight with oat milk and the recipe was spot on! The dough made exactly 8 muffins and I was able to fit them all in my extra large skillet for browning. The browning took me much longer because I forgot to preheat the pan first, but it all worked out! They are soft and fluffy and lightly sweet – I honestly like these better than any English muffin I’ve ever eaten. I ate mine with homemade strawberry blueberry jam.
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh fantastic! That’s so great to hear. Thank you for letting me know you loved them. Enjoy them with that homemade jam!
Nadia
Excellent recipe. These bolos levedos came out perfect. I used coconut yogurt instead of applesauce, and they were magnificently fluffy. I will be making these regularly. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Kathryn Alexandre
That’s so great to hear! I’ll definitely have to try them with yogurt. That’s a great substitution. Thank you so much for letting me know!
Chrissy
I wonder if this could be made gluten free?
Kathryn Alexandre
I unfortunately haven’t tried making a gluten-free version. A quick search led me to some gluten-free english muffin recipes and as these are quite similar to english muffins I’m sure it could be done. My first attempt would be to try them with a gluten-free flour blend (with added xanthan gum if the blend does not contain it). It might take a bit of experimentation but keep me posted if you give it a shot and find a combination of ingredients that works for you. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help right now!