This brioche bread recipe is so fluffy it practically melts in your mouth. Serve it warm or toasted with salted butter and you will never want to try any other bread recipe after this one!
We love brioche so much that we made sure to incorporate it in our amazing bread pudding and brioche french toast.
What is Brioche
Brioche is a French origin bread made with flour, yeast, and a high egg and butter content. The high butter content is what gives brioche that fluffy and tender crumb. The taste results in a richer buttery flavor that just can’t compare to standard white bread. You can get creative with this bread by making it into a sweet breaded Nutella bread, or brioche douts, or even as hot cross buns! And then you can always go the savory route by making it into burger buns and serving it over a juicy homemade patty.
Ingredients for this recipe
- Dry ingredients – you will need basic bread essentials like AP flour, salt, yeast, and a tiny amount of white sugar.
- Wet ingredients – use warm milk to activate the yeast, vanilla for flavor, and butter and eggs to give the bead the irresistible buttery texture.
How to Make Brioche Bread
- Make the yeast mixture– Add milk, sugar, and yeast into a bowl or large measuring cup. Then let the mixture sit in a warm place for about 20 minutes. In the bowl of a mixer, combine flour, salt, and yeast mixture.
- Add everything into a stand mixer– Whisk eggs and vanilla, then add them to the bowl. Also, add softened butter and combine using the hook attachment until the dough forms into a ball.
- Knead and rise the dough– Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead it. Place the brioche bread dough into a greased bowl and let it rise covered until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
- Make the braid and bake it– After the brioche dough is done rising, divide it into 6 equal pieces. Using three of those pieces create a braid and place it into a greased loaf pan. Then let it rise covered for 1 hour. Brush with egg wash and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
What makes it different from other breads?
Typically, most bread recipes like my multigrain harvest and rustic bread have yeast, flour, and water as the base. Brioche, on the other hand, has a lot of butter and eggs to aid in that soft and fluffy crumb.
Brioche Bun
If you prefer not to do the braiding method as pictured below, you can just roll three brioche buns and place them side by side into the loaf pan.
What is it used for?
The best way to enjoy a warm loaf of homemade brioche is by toasting it and slathering on a thick layer of salted butter and a drizzle of honey on top, YUM!! But you can always use the stale leftovers in french toast or bread pudding with vanilla rum sauce!
How long does it keep?
Keep the brioche in a plastic bag at room temperature for up to 4-5 days. The more airtight the bag, the fresher the bread will taste. And if it goes stale, pop it in the oven for a few mins at 300 degrees Fahrenheit or make bread pudding and french toast out of it.
Try these other delicious bread recipes
- Nutella Brioche: brioche bread with swirls of Nutella
- Poppyseed buns: Pull apart buns with sweet poppy seed filling
- Pumpkin bread: Loaded with toasted pecans and pumpkin seeds
- Brioche bun recipe: Perfect for homemade burgers!
Brioche Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup warm milk 110 degrees Fahrenheit
- 1 cup granulated sugar divided
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 7 -7 1/4 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled off with knife
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 eggs (+1 egg for egg wash)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
Instructions
Make the yeast mixture
- In a glass bowl or large measuring cup, combine milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and yeast. Leave this mixture in a warm place for about 20 minutes. Once it becomes frothy, give it a quick stir.
Mix all ingredients (but butter) in a stand mixer
- Place the flour (start with 7 cups) and salt, and 3/4 cup sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Then pour the warm yeast mixture into the bowl.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and give them a quick whisk just to loosen them. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla extract to the rest of the ingredients in the mixer bowl.
- Using the hook attachment, beat the dough until it begins to come together.
Knead in the softened butter
- Cut the butter into slices and add 1/2 cup. Continue kneading the dough until the butter is well incorporated.
- Add the remaining 1/2 cup sliced butter and knead the dough on high speed for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. If the dough isn't coming together well enough, add the remaining 1/4 cup flour.
Rise the dough in a greased bowl
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and round it into a ball. Place it into a bowl greased with oil (lightly grease the top of the dough as well). Then cover with a cheesecloth and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
Braid the dough and rise again
- Once the dough has proofed, divide it into two equal pieces. These two halves will make two loaves of bread.
- Starting with one of the two dough halves, divide that half into three equal balls. Roll those three balls into long strands.
- Begin crossing over the three strands in a braid-like fashion. Once you get the end, pinch the dough to seal the braid. Repeat steps 8-9 with the other dough halve. (If you don't want to do a braid, just place the 3 dough balls on the loaf pan.)
Brush with egg wash and bake
- Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray and place the braided dough into the pan. Cover with a cheesecloth and let it proof in a warm place for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
- Once the dough has proofed, brush with egg wash (1 beaten egg + 1 tsp water). Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted on April 5, 2017, but we have tweaked it a bit since then to improve it.
PS: This brioche bread recipe has been adjusted, here are our old images.
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Oliviah says
I found that many other brioche bread recipes call for overnight refrigeration. is there a reason why you chose to opt that common step out?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Oliviah, you can refrigerate if you want. I’ve tried both methods and got the same results, so I figured why not speed up the process?
Jacky gomez says
Hi, could you refrigerate the second half of the dough for baking the next day? Also, could I use instant yeast instead? And if so, same process?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Jacky, yes you can refrigerate the other piece of dough. Just make sure it wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the fridge before the last rise. And yes, instant yeast will work here. You will need the same amount.
Belinda says
Hi,
I want to ask why did you choose to use all purpose flour instead of bread flour? Because usually we would use bread flour to make bread. Would it be different if we use bread flour?
Thanks.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Belinda, typically homemade bread would need bread flour, but brioche works best with all-purpose flour since the lower gluten gives it a lighter crumb. But you can still use bread flour if you prefer. It will still taste delicious 🙂
Belinda says
Cool… Thanks for the input. I surely will try it 🙂
Timo says
Is it possible to freeze in half of the dough for later use?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Timo, yes you can freeze half the dough for later use 🙂
Katherine says
Are you supposed to add all 6 eggs to the dough or are you only supposed to add 5 and reserve one for the egg wash ?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Katherine, the 6 eggs are for the dough. You will need an additional egg for the egg wash. Thanks for the question. I hope you love this brioche bread recipe! 🙂
Gregory Rupp II says
This recipe was incredible. Not very hard at all if the steps are followed properly. The only hard part was the waiting. lol Especially while it was baking. My Goodness, I was so glad it was done when it was, wasn’t sure how much more smelling it without eating it I could take. Then when it was done it was almost too beautiful to eat. Almost. 🙂 Was very grateful this recipe was so good. Tried another before it that was just awful, wasted ingredients and came out a completely mushy, wet disaster. So second time ever trying to make Brioche and it came out so good people couldn’t believe it. Also great to be reassured that the first try wasn’t my fault.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Gregory, thank you so much for such an awesome review! I am very happy to hear that this brioche bread recipe turned out great for you 🙂 Brioche bread is actually one of my weaknesses lol! I feel like it teases me when it slowly rises in the oven! That is why I have multiple different brioche recipes on my blog. I hope you enjoy more recipes from my blog 🙂
Dorothy Graves says
Mon.6, made the brioche bread did not have a stand alone mixture did everything by hand was not that hard and did not take that long .came out beautiful and delicious. my husband and i had some when it came out of the oven and with dinner. I was afraid it would not be good the next day made toast delicious love it. I did take a pic but I am not on instagram, Facebook. next I will try the hamburger buns
thanks
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Dorothy, thank you so much for your kind feedback! I am really happy to hear that you enjoyed my brioche bread recipe 🙂 I hope you enjoy the brioche burger buns and many more recipes from my blog 🙂
Kristina says
My absolute favorite bread to make, and the recipe is so easy to follow. It’s so delicious and tastes like a sweet bread. Thank you for such a great recipe!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Kristina, thank you so much for your kind feedback! I am very happy that you enjoy this brioche bread recipe! 🙂
Richard says
what are the measurements of your loaf pans?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Richard, sorry for the delayed response. I have been away from home. This loaf pan is 9×5 inches. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Deborah Good says
can the bread braids be baked without putting into loaf pans?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Deborah, the brioche bread can be baked on a baking sheet instead of a loaf pan. It just might not be as tall.
Zoya says
This recipe is great on the first day, but not on the second. Too buttery! I’ve tried other brioche recipes with less butter and it was much better the next day. Probably because too much butter it’s not as fluffy or soft next day. Of course it didn’t go to waiste my son just microwaved it for few seconds. Love your other recipes, but will not repeat this one.
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you for your input Zoya. Brioche is known as the bread of eggs and butter. The butter is was gives brioche that amazingly fluffy and soft texture. I have other brioche bread recipes on my blog, I hope you give those a try 🙂