At its heart, brioche is the gorgeous love child of a pastry chef and a bread baker. Think of it as part bread-part cake that combines the backbone of a dessert maven’s repertoire (milk, eggs, sugar, and butter) with the rich yeast of the boulangerie. Find four other ways to try this recipe out, here!
Basic Brioche Dough
Makes 12 Mini Brioche à Tête, 1 large Brioche à Tête, 1 Bubble-Top Brioche Loaf, or 1 Brioche au Chocolat Loaf
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup warm whole milk (80°F to 100°F)
- 3 tablespoons (36 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (9 grams) active dry yeast
- 3¼ cups (406 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine warm milk, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add 1½ cups (188 grams) flour and eggs, and beat at medium-low speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove paddle, and cover; let stand for 30 to 45 minutes. At the end of this initial fermentation process, there should be small bubbles forming around the edges of the mixture.
- Replace paddle attachment with the dough hook. Add remaining 1¾ cups (218 grams) flour and salt. Knead at medium speed until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.
- With mixer running at medium speed, add butter, 1 tablespoon (14 grams) at a time, letting each piece incorporate before adding the next. Spray a large bowl with baking spray with flour. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F) until doubled in size, 1½ to 2½ hours.
- On a lightly floured surface, turn out dough and fold a few times to knock out a bit of air. Return dough to greased bowl; cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight (up to 16 hours).
You didn’t give the complete info on the Brioche. Put back in the fridge for 8 hours and than what???
Hey Marina,
Thanks for reaching out!
We put up our Brioche Dough recipe separate from the four different versions of baked Brioche that we offer, Bubble-Top Brioche Loaf, Brioche À Tête, mini Brioche À Tête, and Brioche au Chocolat. Each recipe calls for a different bake time and method for forming your brioche loaf. Any one of these different recipes will work for the basic Brioche Dough, so feel free to choose your own adventure. Happy baking!
Hi there! I think you linked to the back-end (requires a log in) version of these webpages. May want to update to the front-end version!
I just realized that as well…so I will have to look at other recipes to get an idea as to what to do next..Thanks
oh gawd post the rest of recipe instead of leaving everyone hanging wtf
Hi Wanna Darre,
thank you for reaching out! Which part of the recipe are you referring to that is left out? This is the whole recipe + more recipes that use this dough. Thanks!
Thank you all soooo much for this recipe!!!! Delicious and versatile. I add a little more sugae toy dough because I want that hint of sweetness you get with a good brioche. Next to being in France this is a good substitute, a favourite in our house. Ive tried a few recipes and none can hold a candle to this!
Thank you all soooo much for this recipe!!!! Delicious and versatile. I add a little more sugar to my dough because I want that hint of sweetness you get with a good brioche. Next to being in France this is a good substitute, a favourite in our house. Ive tried a few recipes and none can hold a candle to this!
Will allowing the dough to sit out with all those eggs be a health issue? This looks delicious,
Hi Karen,
thank you for reaching out! No, it is not a health issue with the dough only rising between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. It will be perfectly fine. Happy Baking!
Hi! Can’t wait to make this. Is there a substitute for baking spray with flour I can use??
Hi Ali! We recommend using baking spray with flour because that’s what worked best during testing, but you can go the more traditional route of greasing your pan with butter and flour. Just please keep in mind that we tested this recipe with baking spray with flour and found it to be most successful that way, so we cannot speak to the result of using a different method.
I’m a bit confused.
It says to use 1 T. or 9 grams of yeast and 3 T. or 36 grams of sugar. The equivalencies don’t match. is it 3x the amount of sugar or 4x?
I’ve had this problem in several recipes where the ratios differ depending on using grams or Imperial measurements.
Hi Teresa, thanks for pointing this out to us! We’re working on checking our measurements with the test kitchen and will get back to you shortly!
i think yeast and sugar have different volumes for the same mass (grams). that is why it is not a 1:1 change from units.
So how many eggs are needed ??
Hi Tanya,
Thanks for reaching out! This recipe calls for 5 large eggs (250 grams) at room temperature in the ingredient list. Happy baking!
[…] cinnamon babka, which is also known as a loaf of cinnamon bread. This cake is typically made with a rich brioche dough and topped with a chocolate or cinnamon filling. They are sometimes topped with streusel to add a […]
I myself, am confused as to why some found this recipe to be “incomplete” when this is a recipe on how to make/prepare the “dough” itself. (Which was well instructed I may add.) It would be providing instructions for a recipe yet decided. A recipe completely separate of this and decided by the reader themselves. This is just the recipe to get you to that step… I found it to be crystal clear and complete! Excited to try it out! I’m going to be attempting “brioche waffles!” Along with the chicken fingers to top it! Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated! Have a Blessed Day!