About This Recipe

What is Brioche?

Brioche is a delectable French bread that boasts a rich, buttery flavor and a tender crumb thanks to its unique blend of ingredients, including eggs. It’s a popular choice for breakfast pastries and makes for an excellent base for sandwiches and burgers.

What I love about this recipe:

With every bite, you’ll experience a soft and airy texture that simply melts in your mouth. The sweet stiff starter is a crucial ingredient that expertly reduces the sour flavor, while the tangzhong adds an indescribable softness. This recipe cannot only be made independently, but can be your go-to recipe for any sweet dish. Trust me, this brioche recipe is guaranteed to top all others and leave your taste buds craving more.

Why this recipe works

Sweet Stiff Starter

“Sweet” and “stiff” both contribute to a reduced sour taste in the loaf. Sweet stiff starters are excellent for enriched loaves like brioche where one is looking to achieve a beautiful bread pull over a perfect crumb. Learn more about sweet stiff starters here.

Tangzhong

The addition of a tangzhong not only creates added softness and fluff, but also aids in keeping the brioche fresher on the counter for days. You won’t regret taking to time for this addition! Learn more about tangzhong here.

The Ingredients

Egg and butter play an important role in this loaf! Both add richness and flavor to the dough, as well as help to create a tender and moist texture. Without them, brioche would not be the same delicious and indulgent treat that it is known for. Bread flour is important for gluten development, but can be substituted with all-purpose flour in this recipe if necessary.

Gluten Development

Gluten is developed in this recipe by kneading the dough in a stand mixer until it is smooth, glossy, and passes a windowpane test. This ensures a strong loaf with minimum effort on the baker’s part.

Bulk Fermentation

Due to the addition of sugar + the high fat content, rise times can be longer all across the board. Letting the dough rise as much as possible, but not too much, contributes to the airiest of loaves. Using a proofing aid can speed things along. Take care not to let the dough rise too much in this case, as it will continue rising in the fridge as dough temperature drops. Read more about dough temperature here. Otherwise, a slow rise at room temperature to double in size will ensure a perfect texture.

Shaping

For simplicity, this dough is shaped into rounds. But, this loaf can also be braided, if desired. This shaping technique allows the “pull factor” to really be shown off.

Egg Wash

This helps give the loaf its beautiful brown color! Without the egg wash, the end result just would not be the same.

Baking Method

The temperature of 375 F is just the perfect amount to provide a beautiful oven spring, without cooking the loaf too fast. The end result is an airy, fluffy, beauty!

Suggested Baking Timeline

8 PM (Day 1)

+Make the sweet stiff starter

+Make the tangzhong (option one)

8 AM (Day 2)

+Make the tangzhong (option two)

+Mix and knead the dough

8:30 AM (Day 2)

+Begin bulk fermentation in a proofer set to 75 F or 80 F

12-2 PM (Day 2)

+Transfer dough to the refrigerator overnight

8 AM (Day 3)

+Shape the brioche.

+Allow the brioche to rise until it reaches the top of the loaf pan.

2-4 PM (Day 3)

+Bake the brioche and enjoy!

Suggested Baking Timeline 2

8 PM (Day 1)

+Make the sweet stiff starter

+Make the tangzhong (option one)

8 AM (Day 2)

+Make the tangzhong (option two)

+Mix and knead the dough

8:30 AM (Day 2)

+Begin bulk fermentation at room temperature (68-72 F)

5-8 PM (Day 2)

+Transfer your dough to the refrigerator overnight

8 AM (Day 3)

+Shape the brioche.

+Allow the brioche to rise until it reaches the top of the loaf pan.

2-4 PM (Day 3)

+Bake the brioche and enjoy!

FAQs

Can I do stretch-and-folds instead of kneading in my stand mixer?

I would not recommend performing stretch-and-folds (on their own) as a method of gluten development on this dough. Due to the high fat content of this loaf (lots of butter!), gluten is difficult to develop. There are methods of developing the gluten by hand, but they are painstakingly time consuming and require lots of muscle power. If your stand mixer cannot take the high power required to knead this loaf, lower the speed and knead for longer. You can even give the mixer (and the dough) a rest if needed, then continue kneading until a windowpane is formed.

Brioche

Recipe by Caitlin VincentCourse: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack, SideCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Advanced

Prep time

minutes

Resting Time

hours

Baking Time

minutes

Yield

loaf

Brioche is a delectable French bread that boasts a rich, buttery flavor and a tender crumb thanks to its unique blend of ingredients, including eggs. It's a popular choice for breakfast pastries and makes for an excellent base for sandwiches and burgers. With every bite, you'll experience a soft and airy texture that simply melts in your mouth. The sweet stiff starter is a crucial ingredient that expertly reduces the sour flavor, while the tangzhong adds an indescribable softness. This recipe cannot only be made independently, but can be your go-to recipe for any sweet dish. Trust me, this brioche recipe is guaranteed to top all others and leave your taste buds craving more.

Ingredients

Sweet Stiff Starter
40 g active starter (3 tbsp)
80 g all-purpose flour (⅔ cup)
40 g water (3 tbsp)
10 g sugar (2 tsp)
Tangzhong
25 g bread flour (3 tbsp)
120 g milk (½ cup)
Dough
250 g bread flour (2 cups)
30 g sugar (2 tbsp)
10 g salt (1 ½ tsp)
125 g egg (2-3 eggs)
1 stick butter, softened (½ cup; 113 g)
All of the sweet stiff starter
All of the tangzhong
Egg wash
1 whole egg
1 tbsp water

Directions

Make the sweet stiff starter. Twelve hours before you plan to mix the dough, mix all ingredients for the sweet stiff starter. Cover and rest at room temperature.
Make the tangzhong. Combine all ingredients for the tangzhong in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture thickens. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and cool completely before incorporating into the dough. This can be done 12 hours before with the sweet stiff starter and placed in the fridge, or before mixing the dough and cooled in the freezer.
Mix the dough. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine the sweet stiff starter, tangzhong, bread flour, sugar, salt, and egg. Roughly knead to incorporate the ingredients.
Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until everything is well incorporated.
Knead the dough.
- KitchenAid: Knead on a medium-high speed (speed 6-8) until the dough slaps the sides of the bowl and passes a windowpane test (15-25 minutes). CAUTION - when the dough is almost finished kneading, the stand mixer will start to “jump.” Take care that it doesn’t “jump” off the counter.
- Ankarsrum: Using the dough hook and scraper attachment, knead on a medium speed (speed 5-6) 15-20 minutes, until the dough becomes strong enough to climb up the dough hook, push the scraper away from the side of the bowl, and pass a windowpane test.
Bulk Ferment. Form the dough into a neat round and proof until it increases in volume by about 50% in a proofer set to 75 or 80 F (3-6 hours) or double in size at room temperature (68-72 F) on the counter (8-12 hours).
Transfer your dough to the fridge overnight. (Working with a cold dough is much easier due to the stickiness of this dough. Do not skip the fridge.)
The next morning, butter a loaf pan.
Shape the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into eight pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place inside your loaf pan.
Cover and proof until the dough reaches the top of the pan (6-8 hours).
Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Make the egg wash by whisking one whole egg with one tablespoon of water until smooth. Brush the egg wash all over the top of the loaf.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Cover with aluminum foil (to prevent the egg wash from burning) and bake 10 minutes more, or until the internal temperature registers 190 F.
Enjoy!
How to store: Store at room temperature in a bread or ziploc bag for three to five days.