Brioche
This egg- and butter-rich bread is delightfully tender. We love to use this dough for shaped and filled sweet breads.
While this is a classic brioche dough, the braid and plain round aren't the classic shape this loaf would take in France, where it's generally presented in its traditional topknot form: a small round nestled atop a larger one. Make it that way if you choose; chacun a son gout!
Read our blog about this bread, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Dough
- 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup lukewarm water
- 10 tablespoons butter
Directions
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2) Form the dough into a ball (it'll be very soft), place it in a greased bowl, cover the bowl, and it let rise for 1 hour. Then refrigerate the dough for several hours, or overnight. This will slow the fermentation and chill the butter, making the dough easier to shape. |
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3) Divide the chilled dough into 12 pieces to make mini-brioche; leave it whole for one large round brioche; or divide it in half for two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaves. |
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5) To bake a large, round brioche: Place the pan into a preheated 400°F oven. After 10 minutes, reduce the oven heat to 350°F and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes more. Check the brioche after 15 minutes; tent with aluminum foil if it appears to be browning too quickly. Brioche should be a deep brown when done, should sound hollow when tapped, and will read 190°F at the center using an instant-read thermometer. (It's easy to underbake, since it browns so quickly!) Remove the brioche from the oven, and after 10 minutes remove it from the pan to cool completely on a rack. |
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Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 25 mins. to 35 mins.
- Baking time:
- 25 mins. to 45 mins.
- Total time:
- 6 hrs 50 mins. to 17 hrs 20 mins.
- Yield:
- 2 loaves or 12 mini brioche
- Recipe comments (5) »
Tips from our bakers
- For iced mini brioche, combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar with 1 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch of salt, and enough cream to make a "drizzlable" glaze.
- Want to garnish your braided loaves? Brush the unbaked loaves with an egg wash made with 1 tablespoon cold water mixed with 1 large egg white, then sprinkle with pearl sugar or coarse white sparkling sugar. If you plan ahead, the yolk saved from the white can be added to the brioche dough for extra richness.
- If you're baking the brioche as a braided loaf, add an extra yolk to the dough, reserving the white. Just before baking the risen loaves, whisk the reserved white with 1 tablespoon milk, brush on loaves, and sprinkle with pearl sugar or sparkling white sugar.
- A full-sized, fully baked brioche should register 190°F at its center using an instant-read thermometer. Loaves and small rounds should measure 205°F.
Reviews
11/15/2009
We used a couple laoves of this to make french toast that was out of this world.
10/21/2009
Great recipe! I was a bit skeptical since it differs from Peter Reinhart's (love his books!) but it worked out great for my cinnamon rolls. Thanks!
04/26/2009
This recipe worked far better than I had anticipated. I am new to baking from 'scratch' and this recipe along with the tips from the blog helped me turn out two beautiful loaves of bread. Thanks a bunch!
02/24/2009
Brioche is really easy as long as you plan ahead a bit. Try using the dough to make White Chocolate Lemon Buns (note: Whole Foods here makes their version of these and sells them for 79 cents each) - pat about 2 ounces of the chilled dough into a circle, sprinkle with white chocolate chips, roll up to enclose the chips and put, seam side down, into greased muffin tins. Let rise and bake (I do 20 minutes at 360 for my oven). Once they are baked, roll the entire bun into a glaze made with the juice and zest of one lemon, a pinch of salt, mixed with enough powdered sugar to make soupy icing. PLacer on a rack to set (if you can stay away until they aren't so messy) then serve to raves. These are great keepers in a plastic baggie. 10 seconds in the microwave restores day one texture.
Nancy - I just love stuffed brioche - sweet or savory. Try ground sausage and cheese. Yum. Elisabeth @ KAF
02/13/2009
This CAN be done in a day if you start in the morning... it is an easy, though time-consuming, recipe. Well worth the wait - it is DELICIOUS! Of course it won't get a chance to cool before your family members demand that you cut into and slather it with even more butter than it already contains. Try it with a little wildflower honey or homemade elderberry jam. Ummmm! Anyhow, after the first rise, I put a rolling pin to it and then rolled it up and popped it into a pan. It seemed like the easiest way to shape it at the time. My parents, who are brioche lovers, gave it two thumbs up as well!
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