Chocolate Chip Brioche
This chocolate chip brioche loaf is tender, fluffy, and buttery, with a gorgeous golden exterior. It’s dotted with rich dark chocolate chips.
Brioche is a bread of French origin, renowned for its high egg and butter content, which gives it a tender and fluffy crumb. The dough is light, with a touch of sweetness, and typically has a dark, golden, and flaky crust from an egg wash applied before baking.
Adding chocolate chips to the brioche elevates the traditionally plain bread to a really delish treat that’s great fresh or toasted. You can also use it to make an indulgent breakfast like chocolate chip French toast or a decadent dessert like bread and butter pudding!
Check out more brioche recipes like brioche donuts, brioche cinnamon rolls or brioche hot cross buns!
Ingredients
Find the ingredient amounts for this delicious homemade bread recipe in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a rundown of the dough ingredients.
- All-purpose flour- one with a protein level of around 11%. This protein content is enough to develop the gluten but not too much that the bread is chewy.
- Yeast – Either instant or active dry yeast. Instant yeast will rise faster than active dry yeast. To test the viability of yeast before beginning, warm the milk (to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C) and mix in the yeast with one tablespoon of the sugar. Leave this yeast mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes first. If it becomes foamy, it’s good to go.
- Milk. This can be whole milk or skim milk.
- Large eggs. For the dough and the egg wash at the end which will give it that golden sheen.
- Granulated sugar.
- Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- Salt.
- Butter – There is plenty of butter needed as it’s an enriched brioche dough. You can use salted or unsalted butter at room temperature.
- Semisweet chocolate chips.
Method
Add the warm milk and stir in the yeast and sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook attachment or in a large mixing bowl. If using active dry yeast, let this mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
Add eggs, flour, vanilla, and salt to the milk mixture. Turn the mixer on low speed until it forms a thick and fairly stiff dough.
Add in the room temperature butter, a few cubes at a time.
Turn the mixer to medium speed and keep mixing until the sticky dough strengthens and passes the windowpane test. It should pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
For the best gluten development and brioche crumb, mix the dough for at least 10 minutes. The dough should feel smooth, soft, and strong.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly oiled bowl.
Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and let it proof in a warm place until doubled size.
Optional – Fridge proof
The dough can rise further in the refrigerator for extra flavor before being shaped. This is an optional step.
Deflate the dough gently, and reshape it into a ball again. Cover it tightly and place it in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours. The cold dough will be stiff the next day, but it will loosen up when shaping it.
Shaping
Pull the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Weigh the dough on kitchen scales and cut it into four even pieces.
Take one piece and shape it into a rectangle. Press chocolate chips onto the bottom half of the rectangle, then fold it in half.
Press a few more chocolate chips on the top, then gather the sides of the dough to create a ball, tucking the chocolate chips inside.
Turn the ball upside down so it’s seam side down, rolling it on the bench slightly to create some surface tension.
Repeat with the remaining dough pieces and chocolate chips.
Line two 8.5 x4.5 inch (21x11cm) loaf pans with parchment paper. Place two dough balls into each of the loaf pans.
Let the shaped dough rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
When the bread has risen, gently whisk an egg and one tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the dough with the egg wash.
Bake the chocolate brioche bread for approximately 30 minutes until a deep golden brown. If it’s browning too fast, loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil after the first 20 minutes of baking. However, don’t fear a deeply caramelized top – it brings great flavor.
Storing
Once baked, allow the brioche bread to cool before slicing. Brioche can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. Alternatively, it can be frozen in a freezer bag for future use.
Chocolate Chip Brioche
This chocolate chip brioche loaf is tender, fluffy, and buttery, with a gorgeous deep golden exterior. It's dotted with rich dark chocolate chips.
Ingredients
- 120g (1/2 cup) lukewarm milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dried yeast
- 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 500g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 170g (3/4 cup) butter, at room temperature, cubed
- 200g (7oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Egg wash
- Large egg, whisked with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Add the warm milk, yeast, and sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook attachment. If using active dry yeast, let this mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
- Add eggs, flour, vanilla, and salt to the milk mixture. Turn the mixer on low speed until it forms a thick and fairly stiff dough.
- Add in the room temperature butter, a few cubes at a time.
- Turn the mixer to medium speed and keep mixing until the sticky dough strengthens and passes the windowpane test. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl. Mix the dough for the best gluten development and brioche crumb for at least 15 minutes. The dough should feel very soft but strong.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and let it proof in a warm place until doubled in size.
Optional - Fridge proof
- The dough can rise further in the refrigerator for extra flavor before being shaped. This is an optional step. Deflate the dough gently, and reshape it into a ball again. Cover it tightly and place it in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours. The cold dough will be stiff the next day, but it will loosen up when shaping it.
Shaping
- Line two 8.5 x4.5 inch (21x11cm) loaf pans with parchment paper.
- Pull the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Weigh the dough on kitchen scales and cut it into four even pieces.
- Take one piece and shape it into a rectangle. Press chocolate chips onto the bottom half of the rectangle, then fold it in half.
- Press a few more chocolate chips on the top, then gather the sides of the dough to create a ball, tucking the chocolate chips inside.
- Turn the ball upside down so its seam side down, rolling it on the bench slightly to create surface tension. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces and chocolate chips.
- Place two dough balls into each of the loaf pans.
- Let the shaped dough rise in a warm spot until it has doubled.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
- When the bread has risen, gently whisk an egg and one tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the dough with the egg wash.
- Bake the chocolate brioche bread for approximately 30 minutes until a deeply browned. If it's browning too fast, loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil after the first 20 minutes of baking. However, don't fear a deeply caramelized top - it brings great flavor.
- Once baked, allow the brioche bread to cool before slicing.
Notes
*The cup sizes given are US-sized cups. Note that these are smaller than metric. For best results, use grams.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 460Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 359mgCarbohydrates: 57gFiber: 3gSugar: 17gProtein: 10g
This is an informational estimate only. I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist
