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How To Make Milk Brioche Bread: Pro Baker's Easy Secrets For A Sweet ...

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Alexandria Brooks

Fri, November 15, 2024 at 3:34 PM UTC

It's no secret that fresh bread, including brioche, makes your morning toast and sandwiches much tastier. So, it's worth making it yourself as homemade brioche bread can be just as fluffy and buttery as the bakery kind. Plus, when stored properly, it stays fresh in the freezer for up to two months. The richness of brioche (sometimes called "milk brioche") makes it great to enjoy plain, with a tasty spread or in any bread dish. We tapped a pro baker for shortcuts so you can prepare a milk brioche bread recipe with ease. Here's more on this luxurious bread and two ways to bake your own batch at home!

What is brioche bread?

Brioche is a French treat made from a yeast dough that's enriched with butter, eggs, milk and sugar. It's often thought of as a bread and pastry hybrid due to its rich sweetness and pillowy yet flaky texture. But you can use it like other regular bread to liven up sweet or savory sandwiches, French toast or croutons.

The origins of brioche

While brioche's precise history is debated, it's long been a French staple that originated in the country's Normandy region. The word "brioche" was first printed in 1404; however, this bread's popularity soared in the 18th century. During this time, food storages in France caused bread prices to rise. This led to brioche becoming known as a luxury food item since it's more indulgent than standard bread. While this bread is now a mainstay at bakeries everywhere, you can recreate it at home using everyday baking staples.

3 baker's tips for best-ever homemade brioche bread

Traditionally, making brioche is a labor of love—but you can speed up the process in a few ways. Below, baking expert Nathan Myhrvold shares three simple shortcuts that ensure a fluffy and golden brown brioche loaf.

1. Use instant dry yeast over the active dry kind.

Since instant yeast is finer than active dry varieties, you don't need to activate it for the usual five to 10 minutes. Therefore, you can combine the yeast with the rest of the ingredients and still end up with a well-risen dough. (Note: Instant yeast can be substituted for active dry in a 1:1 ratio.)

2. Mix the dough in a food processor.

The quick action from the food processor's blades does wonders for evenly mixing the wet and dry ingredients together. This ensures the ingredients are fully incorporated without flour going everywhere on your counter. Use the mixing time suggested in your desired recipe for best results.

3. Let the dough rise in the fridge overnight.

Brioche benefits from a long rise time in order to deepen its flavor. Simply place the dough in a greased bowl and refrigerate it covered for around 12 to 14 hours. The dough will be stretchy and doubled in size, which are signs that you'll have an airy loaf once baked.

How to make milk brioche bread

Below, you'll find two recipes for this bread — one that's simple and another that mimics a bakery-style preparation. Whichever method you choose, you'll end up with a loaf to slice and slather with softened butter, jam or Nutella. Or even better, to make these recipes for Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly, Air Fryer French Toast and a Patty Melt. Yum!

Easy Homemade Brioche

This video from Savor Easy's YouTube Channel showcases a straightforward milk brioche recipe that produces airy and flavorful bread. You can use Myhrvold's food processor tip to form and knead the dough for about 7 minutes or until it's smooth. Other steps including braiding the dough add a wow-worthy touch to your homemade loaf.

Bakery-Style Brioche

Bhofack2/Getty

Myhrvold shares an alternative method of making brioche, which can be found in his cookbook Modernist Bread at Home. The French sweetened pastry dough pâte sablée is the namesake of this brioche recipe, which is borrowed from the traditional pastry-making technique of rubbing or cutting the fat into the flour. A food processor will most efficiently accomplish that task. The eggs and milk are blended in at the end, unlike with most other brioche recipes.

Ingredients:

2 cups bread or all-purpose flour

⅔ cup butter, cold, cut into small cubes

1¾ tsp. Instant dry yeast

3 eggs + 1 egg yolk, cold

Directions:

Making the dough:

Place flour in food processor's bowl. Add butter, sugar, salt and yeast. Pulse until mixture resembles very coarse cornmeal. Add 2 eggs and milk. Mix until combined, scraping bowl as necessary. Continue to mix until shaggy mass forms, about 5 minutes.

Rest covered at room temperature 2½ hours. During rising process, perform 5 four-edge folds—one just after mixing and then one fold every 30 minutes. To do this, pull each edge of dough to center, cover and continue resting until it's time to fold again.

Transfer to larger greased bowl, cover and refrigerate 12 to 14 hours.

Dividing and shaping the dough:

Grease 10x4x3-inch deep nonstick loaf pan with cooking oil or spray.

Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Turn each cut square of dough over so it's smooth side up. Pick dough up and tuck edges in and under to form rough ball shape. Place ball on work surface seam side down. Allow dough to rest on surface 15 to 20 minutes, covered.

Prep for baking:

Place balls into prepared loaf pan. Combine remaining egg and egg yolk to make egg wash. Apply thin coat of egg wash using pastry brush.

Rise dough 3½ to 4½ hours, until increased in size.

Apply another coat of egg wash.

Baking and serving:

Bake in 400°F oven 10 minutes. Rotate pan. Reduce heat to 350°F oven and bake another 20 to 25 minutes or until golden amber brown.

About 5 minutes before bread is fully baked, take it out of oven. Remove loaf from pan and place on wire rack over a baking sheet. Return to oven to finish baking.

Remove bread from oven and allow it to cool completely. Slice and serve.

Storing homemade brioche bread

For maximum freshness and flavor, place the bread in an airtight container to keep excess air out. Then, store the loaf at room temperature for up to two days or in the freezer for no more than two months.

Keep reading for more ways to sharpen your home baking skills!

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Let Them Eat Brioche, Warm From The Oven - Los Angeles Times

Brioche may be the perfect bread for spring. It's light and airy -- and beautiful, with fat fluted edges and a jaunty knob atop a crust that's shiny golden brown. A basket of mini-brioches is irresistible on a buffet table, or set out a large one on a cutting board at the dinner table. A great brioche has a hint of sweetness, and the rich flavor of eggs and butter.

In France, brioche is popular as a breakfast cake. In fact, Marie Antoinette's famous "Let them eat cake" was actually "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche." Brioche dough is used to enrobe sausages or pates before baking, while foie gras is often served with sliced and toasted brioche. By extension, toasted brioche is also wonderful with chicken liver mousse or softer pates; it makes excellent sandwiches, and it's swell with Champagne. Or you can just serve it warm with homemade strawberry jam.

In the unlikely event there's any left over, slice some up for French toast the next morning. There's nothing better.

Making brioche can seem intimidating; it's certainly easier to hop in the car and pick some up at the nearest decent bakery. Yet there's something so wonderful about pulling it out of the oven, steaming hot, and tearing off a tender, feathery morsel. And the truth is, in the world of bread-baking, brioche is much less complicated and more forgiving than something like pain au levain.

The trick would be finding the best recipe: one that resulted in a brioche with the best flavor and texture with the least time and effort.

Some brioche recipes call for kneading, but I looked for recipes in which a stand mixer would do the work. I found them in "The New Doubleday Cookbook," Julia Child's "Baking With Julia," (written by Dorie Greenspan) and Jacques Pepin's "La Technique."

Brioche can be made with or without a starter (an extra step for fermenting yeast, which adds depth of flavor). The yeast mixture or starter is beaten for a long time with flour, eggs, butter, sugar and salt. Recipes differ in how the ingredients are added. As the dough is beaten, it becomes very elastic.

The classic brioche a tete (topped brioche) isn't the only way to go; you can also shape them into loaves or simple rolls. Brioche pans, small and large, are now easy to find in better cookware stores.

I started with the recipe from "The New Doubleday Cookbook," called Brioche II (Easy Method), chosen because it looked so simple. It required no starter, just a packet of yeast.

Unlike Child's recipe (developed with Nancy Silverton), which called for beating the dough before adding the butter bit by bit, the Doubleday recipe required creaming the butter until fluffy before adding the flour mixture and eggs. Though the resulting brioche had good color -- a nice golden brown -- the crust was a bit thick, almost dry.

Next I tried the Pepin recipe. I was almost certain this would be the best. Pepin, after all, is French, and a master of technique. This one required no starter; you just let the yeast mixture ferment for 5 minutes, then all the ingredients were beaten together -- for just 8 minutes, as compared with 15 for Child's recipe. The most striking difference here was the amount of sugar called for, just 1/2 teaspoon. (The Doubleday recipe called for 3 tablespoons, and Child's used 1/3 cup.)

But the Pepin brioche came out of the oven not very brown, with a crumb that was almost pudding-like. The flavor was overwhelmingly eggy and very buttery.

In the end, the Child-Silverton recipe was the favorite -- not just for me, but for the entire Times food staff. The crust was a gorgeous, deep golden brown -- helped perhaps by the extra sugar -- and the crumb was delicate, feathery and light. The flavor was deep and wonderful: just eggy enough, nice and buttery, with only a tiny hint of sweetness.

Their recipe takes a bit more work: You need to make a sponge starter, which is the quickest of starters to assemble but still tacks on an extra 30 to 40 minutes. The recipe also tested our stand mixer's endurance (a sturdy stand mixer is recommended) since it called for beating the dough for such a long time. That extra seven minutes beyond Pepin's recipe, though, may be what produced the extra fluffiness in the brioche. Beginning with a starter resulted in deeper flavor, so it was well worth it, especially because you can let the dough rise overnight.

But then I thought, why let the dough rise in a bowl overnight, as Child suggests, when it could just as easily rise in the pan? That way, there'd be no rolling and shaping the same morning you wanted to serve and bake the bread. It would be done the night before.

When I tried this, it worked beautifully. The next day I had fresh brioche cooling on a rack, still warm as I was about to serve it.

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Brioche

Total time: 1 1/2 hours plus rising time and overnight refrigeration

Servings: 24 (2 loaves)

Note: Adapted from "Baking With Julia" by Dorie Greenspan (William Morrow and Co., 1996).

Sponge

1 package active dry yeast

1/3 cup warm milk (100 to 110 degrees)

1 egg

2 cups flour

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk in a mixing bowl. Stir until the yeast is completely dissolved.

2. Stir in the egg and 1 cup of the flour until blended. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of flour over the sponge to cover.

3. Set the sponge aside to rest 30 to 40 minutes. After resting, the flour will look crackly.

Dough

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups flour, divided

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

1. Add the sugar, salt, 4 beaten eggs and 1 cup of flour to the sponge. Using the dough hook on a stand mixer, mix on low speed for a minute or two, just until the ingredients look as if they're about to come together. Still mixing, sprinkle in one-half cup flour. When the flour is incorporated, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 15 minutes, stopping to scrape down the hook and bowl as needed. During this mixing period, the dough should come together, wrap itself around the hook, and slap the sides of the bowl. If, after 7 to 10 minutes, you don't have a cohesive, slapping dough, add up to 3 tablespoons flour. Continue to beat, giving the dough a full 15 minutes in the mixer -- don't skimp on time; this is what will give the brioche its distinctive texture.

2. In order to incorporate the butter into the dough, you must work the butter until it is the same consistency as the dough. Smash the butter with a rolling pin or work it with a dough scraper until it is soft and pliable. When it's ready, the butter will be smooth and still cool, not warm, oily or greasy.

3. With the mixer on medium-low, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time. When all of the butter has been added, raise the mixer speed to medium-high for a minute, then reduce the speed to medium and beat the dough until you once again hear the dough slapping against the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Clean the sides of the bowl frequently as you work. If it looks as though the dough is not coming together after 2 to 3 minutes, add up to 1 tablespoon more flour. When you are finished, the dough should still feel somewhat cool. It will be soft and still sticky and may cling slightly to the sides and bottom of the bowl.

4. For the first rising transfer the dough to a very large buttered bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

5. For the second rising deflate the dough by punching it down in the bowl and folding it over. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and knead a few times. Divide the dough in half to make 2 (8-inch) brioche. (Keep the dough that you are not working with covered in the refrigerator.) Shape three-quarters of the dough from each half into a ball on a lightly floured surface and place into 2 (8-inch) buttered nonstick brioche pans. Roll each of the remaining balls of dough into a pear shape. Use your fingers to make an indentation in the center of one brioche and fit the narrow end of the ball into the depression. Repeat with the remaining dough.

6. Cover the dough lightly with buttered plastic wrap or an inverted bowl and refrigerate. Let rise until doubled in bulk, 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

7. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

8. Brush the top of the brioche with beaten egg, taking care not to let the egg dribble onto the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. If the bread is browning too quickly, cover it lightly with foil. To test for doneness, insert a thermometer in the bottom of the bread. It should reach 200 degrees.

9. Let the brioche cool in the pans about 5 minutes, then remove the bread from the pans and let cool on a wire rack.

Each serving: 150 calories; 4 grams protein; 17 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 7 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 69 mg. Cholesterol; 115 mg. Sodium.

Variation: To make small brioche using 3-inch brioche molds, prepare the dough as directed. Set aside one-third of the dough and keep refrigerated. Roll the remaining dough into 24 golf ball-size rounds for the base of the brioche, and place one into each of 24 lightly buttered 3-inch nonstick brioche molds. Make an indentation in the center of each. Remove the leftover dough from the refrigerator and shape into 24 grape-size balls. Place a "grape" in each indentation. Cover the dough lightly with buttered plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let rise until doubled in bulk, 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes, and brush with the beaten egg. To bake, place the small brioche molds on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool as directed above.

Berry Brioche Bread Pudding With Lemon Fondant - Al.com

I am reluctant to use this recipe title because I didn't use brioche or any kind of stale bread. I used challah. But, despite my total recipe interference, it turned out great. It looks pretty too, don't you think? Hooray for challah and for the strawberries that came in my bag of frozen berries.

This recipe came to my attention from a wonderful cook in Tennessee. Unlike me, she actually follows recipes as they are written, although she occasionally puts her own spin on them. I also suspect she has a crush on the Food Network's Tyler Florence.

This particular recipe came from his cookbook,

.

Berry Brioche Bread Pudding with Lemon FondantServes 6 - 8

Ingredients:

6 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks3/4 cup whole milk3/4 cup heavy whipping cream3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon lemon zest1 12-14 oz loaf brioche2 cups mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)1 recipe lemon fondant (see recipe, below)

Directions:

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs and egg yolks, the milk, cream, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. Tear the brioche into large pieces; layer with the mixed berries in a deep 9-inch pie dish. Pour the egg mixture over the top and press down gently on top with the flat side of the spoon so that bread soaks up the liquid. Set in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Sprinkle the bread pudding liberally with granulated sugar. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until pudding has puffed up slightly and the custard has set. Serve warm bread pudding with a drizzle of Lemon Fondant.

Lemon Fondant - Thoroughly combine 2 cups confectioner's sugar, the juice of 2 lemons, and 2 teaspoons lemon zest in a bowl.

Definition of fondant:

noun. Sugar paste: a smooth paste made from boiled sugar syrup, often colored or flavored, used as a filling for chocolates or a coating for cakes, nuts, or fruit.

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