Brioche

by cookingwithauntjuju.com

I loved baking and eating this butter and egg-rich bread. My kitchen smelled so good and my tummy was very happy just eating a sliced piece.  This is a classic brioche dough in taste but it is denser and more cake-like than the typical brioche. Actually, it was closer to a pound cake texture – not quite what I expected to make French toast!  My bread did look like KAF’s except they braided theirs.

For French toast I would use another recipe such as Julia Child’s recipe from her book “Baking with Julia” which is lighter and would have a more authentic shape. I found there are lots of recipes to choose from to get a more appropriate bread for French toast.

I have included the recipe for making 2 small loaves but if you want the recipe to make 1 large brioche or 12 mini brioches go here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/brioche-recipe

To make this bread, King Arthur Flour (KAF) recommends using a stand mixer or bread machine. The bread kneads for 15-20 minutes and would not be easy to do this by hand.

Brioche

  • 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup Baker’s Special Dry Milk (you can buy this from KAF) or 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
  • 3 tbsp. sugar
  • 1-1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 tbsp. instant yeast
  • 3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk (optional) so you can use the white to brush on the loaves before baking
  • 1/4 cup lukewarm water
  • 10 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tbsp. milk plus 1 large egg white combined and sprinkled with sparkling sugar

In my stand mixer I combined all of the above ingredients and with my dough hook kneaded it for 15 minutes. It starts out sticky and then becomes smooth.

Form the dough into a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover it and let rise for 1 hour. The dough doubled in that time. Then refrigerate the dough for several hours or overnight. This will slow the fermentation and chill the butter, making it easier to shape.

I decided to make two small loaves and I was going to braid them and at the last minute decided against it since I was using it for French toast and you would not be able to appreciate the pretty shape of braiding.

I divided the dough and placed each half in each greased pan and tried to shape it. Cover and let rise for 3 hours, maybe less or maybe more. You want it to double and look very puffy. Once again the dough doubled and reached the rim of the pan but I was a little heavy-handed when I brushed the tops with the milk mixture and the bread collapsed a little. I did enjoy the sugar topping but I could have eliminated this step because I used the bread for French toast.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting with foil after 15 minutes. The loaves should register 205°F. This bread does tend to brown too quickly so keep an eye on it. It also browned a little too much when I baked it for French toast.

Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com

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dsc_0153 dsc_0162 dsc_0166 Store-bought on the left and my homemade brioche on the right.dsc_0211

29 thoughts on “Brioche”

  5. Pingback: Brioche — cookingwithauntjuju.com – Top Food and Drinks

  8. Judi,
    Your brioche is the best I have ever seen. It would make my tummy very happy too 🙂 I have to make this!

    Reply

    • Thanks very much Sandhya – it was hard not to have two slices before I made the French toast for breakfast. Too dense as I prefer a lighter French toast like the kind I bought from Whole Foods – but oh how good the flavor!

      Reply

  10. I love biroche but have never made my own. This looks so delicious and I can only imagine how good it made your kitchen smell! Happy FF and I hope you have a lovely weekend! 🙂

    Reply

    • Thanks Petra – I like to make bread in stages where it ferments over night and then the rising and baking the next day. It has all the great flavors of brioche – eggy and buttery 🙂

      Reply

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