Brioche Bread Recipe

5 from 1 vote

With a few simple ingredients, a genius Asian cooking technique, and minimal effort, you can make a soft, buttery rich brioche loaf with this no-knead recipe.

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Rising Time1

Total Time1 1

Course: Breads and Quick Breads

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Christmas, easy, Thanksgiving

Servings: slices

Author: Marissa Stevens

Ingredients

Tangzhong (starter)

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Brioche Dough

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast see recipe note #1
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons butter plus more for greasing loaf pan (see recipe note #2)
3 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs divided (one for egg wash before baking - see recipe note #6)

US - Metric

Instructions

For the tangzhong (starter)

Whisk together the starter ingredients (water, milk and flour) in a small saucepan until smooth.
Place saucepan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes until mixture has thickened and the whisk leaves visible lines at the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

For the brioche dough

Whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
Heat butter and milk until butter has just melted in a small saucepan. Remove from heat to cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, whisk together warm water and one egg. Whisk in warm milk and butter mixture until combined. Pour over flour mixture and add tangzhong; stir thoroughly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until no dry flour remains and you have a shaggy, sticky dough. Tightly cover bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and chill for 12 to 24 hours to rise slowly in the refrigerator.
Butter a 9" x 5" loaf pan well to prevent sticking (a 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan will also work, increasing the baking time ~5 minutes).
Remove dough from refrigerator. If it has not risen fully, allow it to continue to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size.
Turn risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and with lightly floured hands, gather dough into a ball, then pat into a rectangle with short ends that are slightly narrower than your loaf pan length (~8-inches for a 9" x 5" loaf pan and ~7 1/2-inches for a 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan). Starting from one short end, roll the dough into a tight coil, pressing down along the seam as you go to minimize air bubbles in your final loaf. Once you've rolled the dough into a cylinder, adjust it on your work surface so that the seam-side is down; pinch the seam on each edge and tuck under so that the top is smooth (no seams). Transfer the dough, seam-side down to prepared loaf pan. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until loaf is puffy and light to the touch, about 1 hour or up to 2 hours or longer if dough is straight from the refrigerator.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 °F (177 °C).
Whisk together remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush over loaf with a pastry brush. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and an instant read thermometer reads at least 190 °F (88 °C) at the center of the loaf (tent with foil if top is getting too brown). Remove from oven and let cool in pan 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully turn loaf out onto rack to cool before slicing.

Video

Notes

To substitute active dry yeast for instant yeast, increase the amount to 2 teaspoons. In step 3 of the recipe, whisk a teaspoon of sugar into the warm water and sprinkle yeast over the top. Let stand 5-10 minutes until yeast is foamy. Whisk in egg and slightly cooled butter and milk mixture. Add this yeast mixture to dry ingredients and proceed with recipe.
If using unsalted butter, add another 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt.
If your room temperature isn't warm enough for the dough to rise, use this tip from Cooks Illustrated magazine to create a proofing oven: place the dough in the covered bowl on the middle shelf of your oven and a loaf or cake pan filled with 3 cups of boiling water on the bottom shelf. Close the oven door and you've created a great atmosphere for the dough to rise.
If you prefer a softer topped loaf, brush with melted butter before baking and while hot, straight from the oven if you like.
To freeze unused bread, allow it to cool completely and transfer to a freezer safe bag or container. Thaw in the bag at room temperature. Use within 2 months.
If scaling the recipe (2x, 4x), note that you'll need to reference the number of eggs in the ingredient list for step 3 of the recipe as the quantity is text and won't change. One egg for the egg wash will likely still be enough if you double the recipe, but you may need a second egg if you make a larger quantity.

Nutrition

QR code

Scan this QR code with your phone's camera to view this recipe on your mobile device.