Soft and Buttery French Brioche Recipe

Baking is one of my favorite pastimes. I enjoy baking cookies, cakes, breads, pies, muffins, cupcakes, and much more.

French Brioche

During the stay-at-home order, I decided to tackle a few recipes I hadn't tried making before. One of them was French brioche. I was inspired by the brioche my husband bought a few weeks ago, which I loved. It was soft, buttery, and sweet—perfect with a cup of coffee. I thought I'd like to try making this famous French bread at home.

Bread Requires Room-Temperature Ingredients

Here is a useful tip: Whenever you are baking bread, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. It's essential to get the temperature right because bread baking requires precision. The day I was making the dough was perfect. It was sunny and warm. Warm temperatures help facilitate a nice rise for the dough.

Time-Consuming (But Worth It)

The process of making brioche dough is similar to making croissant dough. For example, the croissant dough, or détrempe, requires that you begin a day ahead of time, as it needs to be chilled overnight. It's the same for the brioche dough. The next morning, all I had to do was take it out of the fridge and continue with the next step in the recipe.

This process is a bit time-consuming, but you will be very pleased with the result. I did forget one step, however, which was the egg-washing step. I made sure to include the egg-washing step in the instructions below so that you won't forget!

Warm Baked Goods Are the Best

These buns and loaves are so delicious that it is difficult to resist the temptation to eat one as soon as they come out of the oven. Try to wait until they cool down a bit, first! The texture of the buns and the loaves are amazingly perfect. It's soft and light, exactly as it is supposed to be. The next day, I sliced the brioche loaf to make French toast. They were delicious. I was so happy with the result.

Let's see the full ingredients.

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 4 large brown eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup and 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or orange essence (optional)
• Egg wash, for brushing (2 egg yolks mixed with 2 tablespoons water or milk)

Instructions

1. Make the sponge: In a mixing bowl, combine 1 egg, 1 cup of flour, and milk. Combine the mixture evenly by using a spatula. The mixture will be very sticky. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.
2. Transfer the mixing bowl with the sponge mixture to the stand mixer. Combine remaining eggs (lightly beaten), flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla essence. Attach the dough hook and start mixing at the medium speed for 10 minutes or until it's well-combined.
3. Reduce the speed to combine the butter little by little into the mixture. Continue mixing at high speed for 10-15 minutes to combine. If the dough is still sticky add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time.
4. Once the dough is formed, cover the dough with cling wrap and let it sit out for 2 hours or until it's double in size. Open the cling wrap and use a spatula or your finger and poke to let the air out from the dough.
5. Wrap the bowl with cling wrap again and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
6. The next day: Take chilled dough out of the fridge and turn it out on a baking mat or floured surface.
7. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
8. Now it's time to shape the loaf and the bun. For the buns, divide the dough into equal-sized balls (I made 12 balls). Transfer them into a prepared square pan and loosely cover with cling wrap.
9. For the first loaf: Divide the dough into 8 equal-sized balls and transfer them into a prepared loaf pan and loosely cover with cling wrap.
10. For the second loaf: Make 5 equal-sized balls, transfer them into another prepared loaf pan, and loosely cover with cling wrap.
11. Let the dough proof for 2 hours before baking.
12. Before putting the buns in the oven, brush the tops with the egg wash.
13. Bake the buns and loaves for 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.
14. Transfer buns and loaves to a wire rack, and let cool completely.
15. Use a serrated or bread knife to slice the loaf. Enjoy with butter, clotted cream, or jam.

Photo Tutorial

Combine remaining eggs, flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla essence.

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© 2020 Liza

Comments

Liza (author) from USA on August 23, 2020:

Peggy, you're welcome. I've always wanted to make brioche buns or bread. It was time-consuming, but it was very worth it! Yes, the smell of warm baked brioche was heavenly. I can't wait for Fall to come and make the brioche again. I bet your mom's bread was amazing!

Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on August 22, 2020:

Thanks for your recipe on how to make Brioche. In my memory, I can almost smell the loaves of fresh yeast bread that my mother made when coming fresh out of the oven. Your recipe sounds delicious!

Liza (author) from USA on May 28, 2020:

You're welcome, Rajan :)

Rajan Singh Jolly from From Mumbai, presently in Jalandhar, INDIA. on May 28, 2020:

Never had it so it is something new for me. Thanks for sharing.

Liza (author) from USA on April 16, 2020:

Hi Mitara, indeed, this recipe is time-consuming but, you will be very happy with the outcome. Fresh and warm baked goods in your house. I bet your family will love it too. Thanks for your lovely comment.

Liza (author) from USA on April 16, 2020:

Hi Linda, the brioche almost best with any kind of spread you like! The French toast was absolutely amazing. I ended up making it twice! Thank you for your lovely comment.

Mitara N from South Africa on April 16, 2020:

I love the thought of fresh buttery bread on my tastebuds. Definitely going to try, looks like its worth the time.

Thanks for sharing

Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on April 15, 2020:

The brioche with jam and the French toast look delicious. I love the thought of soft and buttery bread.

Liza (author) from USA on April 13, 2020:

Thank you, Liz. Yes, it was time-consuming but, after seeing the result, I was so pleased. The tiredness is gone and replaced by the decadent brioche slices. I'm ready to make more!

Liz Westwood from UK on April 13, 2020:

These look amazing and very professional. They might be time consuming, but I guess time is more readily available in lockdown.