Learn how to make homemade brioche, an irresistibly rich, buttery bread with a soft, tender crumb. This recipe is a 2-day baking project, since the dough rests in the refrigerator overnight to lower its temperature, as well as develop proper flavor and texture. A stand mixer fitted with a dough hook is essential for best success.
Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
What Is Brioche?
Brioche originated in France and stands out from other breads because it’s enriched with butter, eggs, and milk. The result is a bread that bakes up puffy, fluffy, flaky, and oh-so-soft. It’s a treat all on its own, and makes for truly indulgent grilled cheese or next-level French toast casserole!
Technically, brioche is a viennoiserie, which is a category of rich, sweet baked goods made with yeasted dough that falls somewhere between breads and pastries. Croissants, pain au chocolat, and croissant bread are also in this category. But unlike those, there are no lamination steps today.
Ingredients You Need
You need 7 ingredients altogether. They’re the same ingredients in my soft dinner rolls, which is also a rich dough. However, brioche requires more butter, sugar, eggs… and a bit more time!
The other main difference you’ll see between this recipe for brioche compared with many of my yeast bread recipes is the temperature of the milk, eggs, and butter. We’ll get into that below, when I walk you through the steps.
- Flour: You need bread flour for this recipe. All-purpose flour is convenient for most, but bread flour produces the best structure here. There are no other changes to the recipe if you use all-purpose flour.
- Yeast:Â You need 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast, which is 1 standard packet (7g).
- Sugar:Â Sugar feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and tenderizes the dough. Plus it gives this brioche its characteristic mildly sweet flavor.
- Salt: You can’t make flavorful bread without salt!
- Milk:Â For the softest brioche, use whole milk.
- Eggs: 3 eggs provides structure and richness.
- Butter: Butter promises a flavorful, soft, tender brioche. You’ll add it in later, a little at a time.
To learn how to make homemade brioche, I turned to the king. King Arthur Baking, that is; specifically, their Big Book of Bread, which is one of my favorite cookbooks for discovering the hows and whys of bread-making. The recipe you see below was adapted from the basic brioche in that book.
How to Make Homemade Brioche
Start by whisking all the dry ingredients together in the bowl of your stand mixer, then add in the milk and eggs.
Start the mixer on medium-low speed and let the dough hook mix it all together. The dough will come together slowly. Stop the mixer periodically to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The dough will look very shaggy at first, but just keep mixing, and eventually it should form a mass around the dough hook.
Trust the process.
Increase the mixer speed to medium, and let it run for 8–10 minutes. After 8 minutes, if the dough isn’t wrapped around the dough hook and slapping the sides of the bowl, add a little more flour—just a Tablespoon at a time—until it is. This long kneading time is developing the gluten network, creating strength and elasticity.
Again, trust the process.
A Key Step: Plasticizing the Butter
While the mixer is running, it’s time to take all your frustrations out on some innocent pats of butter. Isn’t baking fun??
Place a piece of parchment paper on top of a sturdy cutting board. Cut a cold stick of butter (113g/8 Tbsp) into 8 equal pieces, and lay them out on the parchment. Place another piece of parchment on top. Now use a rolling pin to pound the butter until it’s very thin, about 1/16th of an inch (about 1.6mm); you don’t want it any thicker than 1/8th inch (3mm), or it will be too difficult to incorporate into the dough.
Why do we pound the butter? Because we want the butter to be pliable enough to incorporate into the dough, but still cold so that it doesn’t raise the temperature of the dough when we add it in. This technique is known as plasticizing the butter, and it’s often used for pastry lamination.
When your dough has been kneaded for long enough and the butter has been thoroughly plasticized, it’s time to put it all together.
Add the Butter to the Dough
With the mixer running on medium-low speed, add the pieces of cold butter into the bowl, 2 pieces at a time. Wait for the butter to be completely incorporated into the dough before you add the next 2 pieces—this can take up to 2 minutes. If it’s not incorporating and sticking to the bowl, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then try again.
Once all the butter has been incorporated, let the mixer run for another couple of minutes. The dough should be slapping the sides of the bowl, and it should look very smooth, shiny, and elastic.
When your brioche dough has reached this point, shape it into a ball and place it in a greased bowl:
Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate it overnight, for at least 12 hours. This dough can fit into any schedule, because refrigerating for up to 48 hours is fine!
Shape the Brioche Loaf
There are many, many ways to shape brioche, but the one I’m showing you is the one that gave my team the best result: super tall, super fluffy, super flaky bread!
It is called Brioche Nanterre.
When you take the dough out of the refrigerator, you’ll notice it slightly rose and expanded. That’s expected. Also, the butter will have re-solidified and the dough will feel a lot more manageable to work with. It’s cold and easy to shape:
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape them into balls, the same way we shape sweet potato dinner rolls. Take a piece and stretch the top of the dough while pinching and sealing the bottom. Make sure the dough balls are smooth on top and sealed on the bottom.
Place each dough ball into a greased loaf pan, staggering them a bit. See next photo.
Cover and let the dough rise at room temperature until it just reaches the top of the loaf pan. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this takes about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours. Don’t get nervous if it takes a bit longer than 2 hours. The dough rises a little slower and not as high because it’s cold. But don’t worry—this brioche puffs up nice and tall in the oven!
When you’re ready to bake the brioche, brush the top of the loaf with egg wash, to get that beautiful golden sheen.
Baking & Cooling Homemade Brioche
Expect this brioche loaf to bake for around 35–40 minutes; most of our test loaves needed the full 40 minutes.
Let the loaf rest in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for at least an hour. Patience pays off here because as the loaf cools, the crumb sets, and you’ll get neat, fluffy slices. That said, if you just can’t resist sneaking a warm slice, go for it. Just know the texture will be a little softer than when it’s fully cooled. And have some butter, homemade honey butter, or cinnamon butter at the ready!!
Success Tips for Making Brioche
After many rounds of testing, here are the most important things my team and I learned:
- Use a stand mixer: Brioche requires a really long mixing time, so I strongly recommend using a stand mixer (fitted with a dough hook) to make it. It is very difficult (and a lengthy process!) to make brioche without one.
- Keep things cold: The milk, eggs, and butter should all be cold when you begin. The long mixing time means the dough will gradually warm up. Keep the butter in the refrigerator until you’re ready to add it to the dough, and pound it with a rolling pin between sheets of parchment paper to make it pliable (but still cool).
- Give it a rest: Once the dough is kneaded and ready to rise, cover it tightly and refrigerate it for at least 12–16 hours. The buttery dough will be very soft and difficult to handle, and you need to allow the butter time to re-solidify, so the dough will be workable and easy to shape. (You can actually leave it in there for up to 48 hours, so that allows for flexibility for when you bake it.) The cold air also slows down the yeast activity and fermentation, which enhances the bread’s flavor.
- Use a kitchen scale: In addition to using a food scale to weigh the ingredients for the most precise measurements, it really comes in handy for dividing the dough into 6 evenly sized pieces. Simply weigh the entire ball of dough, then divide that number by 6 to determine how much each dough ball should weigh.
- Tent with foil: Loosely tent the loaf with aluminum foil halfway through baking. This prevents the top of the loaf from burning before the center has fully baked.
- Let it cool: As tempting as it is to slice into warm, freshly baked brioche, it’s best to wait. Cutting too soon can make the inside seem dense or gummy because the steam hasn’t had time to escape. This is true for most breads, including yeast bread and quick bread.
You can use either American or European butter in brioche. European butter has a touch more butterfat (about 82–85% compared to 80% in American), so the flavor is a little richer and creamier. That extra bit can really shine in a bread like brioche, which is already loaded with butter, eggs, and milk. That said, the difference isn’t huge. If European butter is what you have, go for it! Otherwise, American butter will bake up a perfectly soft, fluffy loaf. It’s what we used in many test loaves.
Yes, absolutely. You can divide the dough into 12 smaller rolls, rather than 6 larger pieces. Arrange the shaped rolls in a greased 9×13-inch pan. Proceed with step 8 below. Shorten the bake time to around 25–28 minutes.
My team and I tested this dough in a braided design in the loaf pan. The finished bread was considerably dense, due to the tight braiding technique. For the tallest, fluffiest brioche, I recommend the brioche nanterre shape instructed in the recipe below.
Description
Learn how to make homemade brioche, an irresistibly rich, buttery bread with a soft, tender crumb. This recipe is a 2-day baking project, since the dough rests in the refrigerator overnight to lower its temperature, as well as develop proper flavor and texture. A stand mixer fitted with a dough hook is essential for best success. Be sure to use cold milk, eggs, and butter. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Add the milk and eggs, and mix on medium-low speed for 3 full minutes, until the dough comes together and forms a rough mass around the dough hook. It will be shaggy at first, but just keep mixing until it comes together. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Increase the speed to medium and let the mixer run for 8–10 minutes. Do not shorten this time. The dough should wrap itself around the dough hook and be slapping the sides of the bowl. If that isn’t the case after about 8 minutes, add a little more flour, 1 Tbsp at a time, and keep mixing.
- Plasticize the butter: Place a sheet of parchment paper on a sturdy cutting board. Cut the cold butter into 8 equal pieces. Lay the pieces out on the parchment. Place a second sheet of parchment paper on top of the butter. Using a rolling pin, pound the butter to flatten it to about 1/16th of an inch thickness, or about 2mm. If the dough is not yet ready for the next step, transfer the butter, still between the sheets of parchment, to the refrigerator. The butter must be cold.
- With the mixer running on medium-low speed, add the butter, 2 pieces at a time. Use a knife or offset spatula to scrape the pieces of butter off the parchment paper and add them to the mixing bowl. Wait until the butter has completely incorporated into the dough before you add the next 2 pieces—this can take about 2 minutes. If the butter gets stuck to the side of the bowl, stop the mixer and scrape it down with a spatula. Once all 8 pieces of butter have been added, increase the speed to medium and let the mixer run for another 2 minutes (again, the dough should be slapping the sides of the bowl), until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic. It will be very soft.
- Refrigerate the dough: Grease a large bowl with butter, oil, or nonstick spray. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl, turning it to coat the dough in the butter/oil. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 12–16 hours, or up to 48 hours.
- Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- Shape the brioche: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. A bench scraper is always helpful for cutting dough. (Tip: If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the dough, then divide that number by 6 so you know how much each piece of dough should weigh. For example, if the dough weighs 850g, aim for each piece of dough to weigh around 140–145g.) Shape each piece into a smooth ball, and place in the prepared loaf pan, staggering the dough balls in a zigzag pattern.
- Cover the loaf lightly and let it rise at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours until it’s puffy and just reaches the rim of the pan.
- Adjust an oven rack to a lower position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).Â
- When the brioche has risen to the rim of the pan, brush the top of the loaf with egg wash. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until golden brown on top. For a more accurate test, insert an instant-read thermometer into the brioche; it’s done when the internal temperature reaches 195°F (91°C). If you notice the top browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil. (I always tent aluminum foil over the loaf around the 20-minute mark.)
- Let the brioche cool in the pan set on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes, then carefully flip the bread out of the pan and onto the rack to continue cooling. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. (The crumb sets as it cools, giving you neat, fluffy slices—but if you sneak a warm piece, just know it’ll be extra soft!)
- Cover leftover brioche tightly and store at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions – Overnight: See step 5. The dough must rest in the refrigerator for at least 12–16 hours, or up to 48 hours.
- Make Ahead Instructions – Freezing: It is best to freeze the brioche dough after it has had its bulk fermentation, which is the refrigeration step (step 5). To freeze, shape the dough as indicated in step 7. Wrap each ball of dough in plastic wrap and place them all in a freezer-safe container or bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight, then let the dough balls come to room temperature, place in the greased loaf pan, and proceed with step 8.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer | Silicone Spatula | Rolling Pin | 9×5-inch Loaf PanÂ
- Flour: I recommend using bread flour. All-purpose flour is convenient for most, but bread flour produces a chewier loaf of bread and I highly recommend it. If you can’t pick up a bag of bread flour, all-purpose is great in a pinch. The bread is still soft no matter which you use. I don’t recommend whole wheat flour because it doesn’t have the same baking properties as white flour or bread flour (the gluten levels are different). If you wish to use whole wheat flour, try my recipe for whole wheat bread instead.
- Yeast: You can use active dry or instant yeast in this recipe. Follow all of the same instructions. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Milk: I recommend using whole milk for the best, richest-tasting bread. Lower-fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch. Do not use nonfat milk.
- Doubling this recipe: For best results, I recommend making two separate batches of dough.
- Can I make this dough into smaller brioche rolls? Yes, absolutely. You can divide the dough into 12 smaller rolls, rather than 6 larger pieces. Arrange the shaped rolls in a greased 9×13-inch pan. Proceed with step 8. Shorten the bake time to around 25–28 minutes.
- Can I braid this dough instead? My team and I tested this dough in a braided design in the loaf pan. The finished bread was considerably dense, due to the tight braiding technique. For the tallest, fluffiest brioche, I recommend the shape instructed (2 staggered rows of the dough balls in the loaf pan), which is called Brioche Nanterre.
Recipe adapted from Basic Brioche Dough in Big Book of Bread by King Arthur Baking Company
