Easy Brioche Bread Recipe - Step by Step

This classic brioche bread recipe makes deliciously buttery and tender bread.

If you are a budding bread baker, perfecting a french brioche recipe is one of the best ways to broaden your bread baking portfolio. This post has step-by-step instructions to show you how to make this homemade brioche bread at home. 

What is brioche bread?

This french sweet bread is a French classic. It’s an enriched and buttery bread with rich flavor. It has a delicate and tender crumb and is not overly sweet. Use it both for both sweet and savory dishes.

The first use of this french bread dates back all the way to 1404. Back then it was likely a sourdough brioche and leavened with wild yeast using a sourdough starter. However, this is a much more easy brioche loaf recipe since it is using commercial yeast. 

What is enriched bread?

An enriched dough is one where there is the addition of fats and proteins to the bread dough. Brioche dough has a large amount of butter and eggs added to the dough. 

The addition of all this fat means the dough reacts a little differently to standard bread. The high butter content slows gluten development down so the initial kneading process is trickier than regular bread. However, with patience and time, you can build up the strength the dough needs.

What should brioche dough look like?

Brioche develops over several stages and the look and feel of the dough change throughout. The first stage makes a thick dough that uses all the ingredients except for the butter.

In stage two, add in the cubed butter, a bit at a time. Butter brings in fat and liquid. The dough will become slack and sticky with the addition of all this moisture and fat. 

Once the butter has been added, it is time to develop the gluten in the dough. This is done by kneading the dough, preferably in a bench mixer until it becomes glossy and strong, pulling away cleanly from the sides of the mixer. 

This is a slow and steady process. The dough will seem so sticky, but all of a sudden it will come together and become glossy and strong.

Making brioche by hand

You can make brioche by hand, but you will need plenty of patience and elbow grease. With the addition of all the butter you may think ‘is my brioche dough too sticky?’ and you could be tempted to add more flour. Resist the temptation, and continue kneading. 

A slap and fold method works well for a very sticky dough. The dough can be slapped down hard on the bench and folded over itself. Use quick motions to avoid it sticking too much on your hands.

The flour

For this recipe, all-purpose flour is used, one with a protein level of around 11%. This protein content is enough to develop the gluten but not too much that the bread becomes chewy. Using bread flour with protein levels can lead to chewy brioche.

All-purpose flour protein levels can vary between brands, and the name of the flour itself can vary between countries. It’s best to check protein levels rather than just the name of the flour.

The yeast

The yeast used in this recipe can be instant yeast or active dry yeast. Instant yeast will rise faster than active dried yeast. Whichever one you use, it needs to be viable. Usually, the instant yeast sachets are pretty full-proof, but sometimes active dried yeast can lose viability.

To test the viability of yeast before beginning, warm the milk (to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C) and mix in the yeast along with one tablespoon of the sugar. Leave it to sit for 5-10 minutes first. If it becomes foamy, it's good to go.

The eggs

Eggs sizes vary in not only weight but also in name depending on what country you're in. Some are labeled large, extra-large, and jumbo, while others are labeled by number. The actual volume of the egg within each shell varies a lot too within these labels.

It's easiest to use a scale to measure the eggs and go from there.

Approximately 260-270g of the egg is used in this recipe. That's around 5 large eggs with a volume between 1.75oz/52g and 1.9oz-/54g (measured without the eggshells.)

The butter

Use good quality in the dough. It can be unsalted butter or salted butter. If using salted butter, decrease the salt in the recipe slightly.

Equipment

Stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment- A stand mixer makes this brioche recipe nice and easy. It is possible to knead by hand too, but with such a large amount of butter and eggs in the dough, it takes a lot of arm muscle.

Loaf pan- Two standard 8.5 x 4.5 inch (21x11cm) loaf pans are used.

Step-by-step instructions

Here is a rundown of the recipe steps.

Step 1 - In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the warm milk and stir in the yeast and sugar. To this add the eggs, flour, and salt. Turn the mixer on medium-low speed and combine until it forms a thick but slightly sticky dough. Mix this dough for around 5 minutes to begin developing the gluten.

Step 2 - Add in the cubed butter. Incorporate each cube before the next addition.

Step 3 - Turn the mixer on medium speed and keep it mixing until the sticky dough starts to strengthen and come together and pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. It will seem very sticky but don't add more flour. Too much flour makes dense bread.

For the best gluten development and brioche crumb, keep the dough mixing for at least 15-20 minutes.  Proper gluten development will allow you to stretch the dough so thin you can almost see through it. This is called the window pane effect.