This classic french brioche recipe is one I originally picked up while attending boulangerie (bread) school and working in London. The loaf is soft and buttery and just a tiny bit sweet. It’s absolutely delicious, and this easy brioche recipe is perfect for your next brunch!
25 - 45mlmilksee instructions for exact measurement
7gactive dry yeast
300gof all purpose flour
7gsalt
25gsugar
165gunsalted buttersoftened
Instructions
Crack your eggs and weigh them to figure out how much egg you have from your 3 eggs. Subtract off that weight from 185 to figure out how much milk you’ll need. I.e. if your eggs weigh 150g, then you would want 35 g of milk. Gently warm the milk in a pan or the microwave so that it’s luke warm.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and set aside while you weigh out your other ingredients.
Add everything except the butter to the bowl of your standing mixer, and gently start mixing with the dough hook on your standing mixer. Once the ingredients are mostly combined, turn up the speed to medium high and knead for 9-10 minutes, or until the dough just about reaches window pane stage*. You might find that at first the dough seems dry, just keep kneading it, and you should see it soften up by the end of the kneading period.
Turn your machine down to medium and start adding the butter. You want to add the butter in 5 stages, letting each chunk of butter fully incorporate before adding the next piece. Make sure you let the machine run for another couple minutes after the last piece of dough is incorporated.
Transfer to a greased bowl and cover and let rise for an hour or until it’s doubled in size.
Knock back the dough by gently kneading the air out of the dough, and then shape it into a round again. Put it back in the bowl, cover it and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.
Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and arrange them in a greased or parchment paper lined loaf pan. Cover the pan with a damp cloth and let it rise for about an hour and a half to 2 hours, or until the dough is puffy and doesn’t spring back when poked.
Optionally brush the brioche with egg wash (a tablespoon of egg and a splash of milk) and then bake at 350 and for 30 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 190 F. Check the loaf after about 20 minutes before the time is up and cover with tin foil if it’s look well browned already.
Notes
To test, stretch a small piece of dough between your fingers. If you can see light through the dough without the dough ripping, then you’re ready.