Brioche
Prep Time 30 minutes 
Cook Time 25 minutes 
Total Time 1 hour 
Servings 8Ingredients
- 500 gr plain flour
- 3 gr instant yeast
- 100 ml whole milk lukewarm
- 50 gr caster sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 egg room temperature
- 150 gr unsalted butter softened, cut into small cubes
- 1 egg yolk, for glazing
Equipment
Instructions
1. Activate the yeast
- Warm the milk until just lukewarm (around 37°C). Stir the yeast into the milk until dissolved. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
2. Mix the dough
- In the stand mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Attach the dough hook. Add the foamy yeast-milk mixture along with the eggs. Mix on low speed to bring the dough together.
3. Incorporate the butter
- Gradually add the softened butter cubes into the dough while mixing. Continue mixing for at least 15 minutes on medium speed. The dough should be smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky but should come away from the bowl.
4. First rise
- Cover the bowl with a clean towel or plastic wrap. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place (24-28°C) for about 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
5. Chill and shape
- Gently punch down the dough to release gases. Refrigerate for 1 hour to firm up the butter and make shaping easier. After chilling, divide the dough into equal portions (typically 8-10). Shape each portion into a smooth ball.
6. Second rise in tin
- Place the dough balls into a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise again for 1-1.5 hours until doubled.
7. Prepare for baking
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Brush the risen brioche gently with the beaten egg yolk for a shiny, golden crust.
8. Bake
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes or until the brioche is golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped underneath.
9. Cool
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
- For best results, ensure all ingredients are at room temperature to help the yeast activate smoothly.
- The chilling step after the first rise is key to achieving the brioche’s delicate, buttery flakiness and ease of handling.
- Brioche dough is sticky but resist adding too much flour!
- Patience during rising is essential for light texture.
About this recipe
My husband loves his brioche, a loaf never lasts long after baking. The beauty of this brioche bread is that it goes with sweet as well as savoury. You can spread jam on it, use it for your burgers, or just eat it plain with a coffee in the morning. I like mine with an espresso, and yes, I put extra butter on it, which makes no sense given the whole brioche is already made of butter. I think it’s a French habit I can’t shake. And obviously you dip it in your coffee. Maximises both flavours!
Where brioche comes from
The word brioche first appeared in written French in 1404, and the name comes from the old Norman verb “brier,” which meant to work the dough with a wooden roller called a “broye.” So from the very beginning, the name described the technique rather than the thing itself. Brioche developed in France as a sort of bread, improved since antiquity by generations of bakers, with some butter, eggs, and sugar coming later. It gradually evolved from the blessed bread of the church into something more refined, more costly, and considerably more delicious.
Its roots are in Normandy, where the exceptional butter and dairy production made enriched doughs a natural development. For a long time brioche bread was reserved for the wealthy and for special occasions, because the ingredients needed to make it, good French cultured butter, eggs, fine flour, were expensive and not something ordinary families had to spare every day.
Which brings us to the famous quote. “Let them eat brioche” is widely attributed to Marie-Antoinette, but it actually appears in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s autobiography, written before Marie-Antoinette even became queen of France. The quote is taken to reflect either the princess’s frivolous disregard for the starving peasants or her poor understanding of their plight. She probably never said it, but the story was attached to her and it stuck. It made brioche more famous, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s true or false.
Pick the right ingredients and let it rest
The brioche bread recipe is defined by two things: the good French cultured butter content and how you add it. The butter goes in last, after the dough has already been developed through kneading, and it’s added gradually while the mixer is still running. This slow incorporation is what keeps the gluten structure intact while the fat works its way in. It takes patience and time, but it’s what gives brioche that characteristic texture of being rich and tender without being heavy or greasy.
The overnight rest in the fridge is another thing to do for a proper brioche bread. The cold firms the butter back into the dough after all that mixing, which makes shaping possible and gives the brioche its final structure. A rushed brioche that goes straight from mixing to the oven produces something flat and disappointing. The overnight rest is where the flavour develops.
The butter
A common flour-to-butter ratio for this recipe is 2:1, which tells you how much the butter is doing here. Use the best unsalted butter you can find, like the Isigny Sainte Mère for example. The flavour of the butter is what you’re actually tasting in every slice, so cheap butter produces a flat, one-dimensional result. A good Normandy butter or any high-fat European butter makes a real difference.
Using leftover brioche
Day-old brioche is honestly better than fresh for certain things. Brioche french toast, or pain perdu as we call it in France, is the best possible use for slightly stale left overs. It absorbs the egg custard more evenly than fresh ones, which is too soft and wet to hold up to soaking. Slice it thickly, leave it uncovered overnight, and it’ll be exactly right the next morning.
How to bake brioche
A brioche baked in a loaf format needs a pan that conducts heat evenly to the base and sides and allows the dough to rise freely without sticking. A aluminized steel loaf pan does the job perfectly. The even heat distribution is exactly what enriched doughs need, because too much direct heat too quickly sets the outside before the interior has finished rising. The right pan gives you that even, golden crust on all sides and the soft, pillowy crumb inside that makes a proper brioche bread worth every hour it takes to make.
How to eat brioche
For the sweet side, brioche goes with almost any jam or preserve. It’s particularly good with something slightly tart, like raspberry or apricot, because the bread itself is rich and sweet and it needs a bit of acidity alongside. Honey works beautifully too.
On the savoury side, a thick slice of brioche bread as a burger bun is really something. The richness of the dough against a good filling is a combination that makes sense, and it’s become quite popular in France for exactly that reason.
It also works beautifully as a base for bread and butter pudding, as a sweet burger bun, or thinly sliced alongside foie gras or smoked salmon.
Share your feedback and spread the love!
If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out! Leave a ★★★★★ rating and your thoughts in the comments, it helps fellow French foodies discover this recipe too. Snap a photo and tag @obviously.french on Instagram. Come talk about it in our Facebook group. And don’t forget to save this recipe to Pinterest so you’ll always have it handy for your next French-inspired meal!
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