Brioche is simply a yeasted bread enriched with milk, eggs and butter, and is almost as essential to French bakeries as baguettes. Originally from Paris, the slightly sweet dough is usually baked into loaves of bread of the same name, but can also be turned into an endless number of sweet and savory baked goods as well.
And while it may sound complicated and fancy, baking this classic recipe at home is similar to making any other yeast bread. To help demystify and explain the technique for how to make brioche dough, we asked James Beard Award nominated Pastry Chef Caroline Schiff (of Gage and Tollner restaurant in Brooklyn, New York) to share her tried and true basic brioche recipe, as well as expert tips for how to take that one basic recipe and turn it into three of her favorite recipe variations below.
Caroline explained to us that “brioche is nothing to be intimidated by. In fact, it’s one of the easier doughs in my bread repertoire, and the most versatile. Not too sweet and not too savory, brioche can be used for so many things, from buttery loaves, to sticky buns, doughnuts, babkas, savory rolls, and everything in between. Once you’ve mastered this butter-rich, silky dough, the possibilities are endless!”
Caroline Schiff’s Basic Brioche Recipe
Caroline’s base recipe for brioche is about as straightforward as it comes. The key is to use good quality ingredients, especially so for the milk, butter and eggs – the high fat content of these ingredients ensures a rich and silky dough. It’s also important that all of the ingredients are at room temperature so they can be easily and fully incorporated into the dough which will improve the final texture. The other tip Caroline shared with us is to be sure to knead the dough in a stand mixer for about 30 minutes until it is shiny and elastic. Being patient during this critical step will reward you with light and airy, pillowy soft bread.
This recipe will yield about 14 brioche buns, 24 doughnuts or one 9x13-inch loaf of bread.
1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon (240 ml) whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (17 grams) instant yeast
12 tablespoons (170 grams) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (85 grams) granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) kosher salt
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
4 1/2 cups (540 grams) all purpose flour
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, whisk together the milk and yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add the softened butter, sugar, salt, eggs, egg yolks, and flour. Mix on medium speed until shiny and elastic, which will take about 30 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula after the first 15 minutes to ensure all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
- Lightly spray a large mixing bowl with neutral cooking spray. Transfer the dough to the bowl, and cover with plastic. Allow the dough to proof at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- When the dough has doubled in size, gently punch down, cover again with plastic and transfer to the fridge to proof for at least three hours and up to overnight.
