This is my trusted brioche dough recipe I use again and again. This recipe yields about 2 ½ lbs of raw brioche dough, enough for 1 regular sized (8-½" x 4-½" x 2-½" inches), two mini loaves, or about 2 dozen donuts. This basic brioche dough recipe can be taken and used for a brioche loaf, brioche donuts, brioche pull-apart bread, or any brioche variation you like.
Brioche used to be quite baffling to me. And even still, sometimes I'll try out a different brioche recipe because I bought a cute new cookbook. It has a recipe with more eggs/all-purpose flour/less yeast/whatever, and it won't turn out as well as the standard one that I developed over a year ago. This brioche dough recipe is my gold-star.
tricks to making really good sweet brioche dough
- Use bread flour
- Weigh your ingredients
- Temperature test the water you make the yeast with, so you don't kill the yeast (too hot) or don't activate it (too cold)
- Proof the dough in warm room (70-78F degree)
how to make a basic brioche dough
Brioche is a bit of a project. Just a warning. Below is a recipe with the specific weights and times for this brioche recipe.
The first thing you'll do is hydrate a single packet of yeast with ¼ cup of warm (110-130F) water and ½ teaspoon of sugar. Let the yeast mixture double in size. (I have tried recipes where you use instant yeast, or recipes where you mix yeast with milk. I like to see that the yeast has activated and is doing its thing before I move on.)
Next, mix your yeast, bread flour, sugar, salt, water, lemon zest, and eggs in a
Then, add in the butter piece by piece so it incorporates and mixes it all together. (specific mixing times below).
Proof the dough first by letting the dough rise in the mixing bowl for 1-2 hours, until it's doubled in size. Then punch it down, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and throw it in the fridge overnight (8 hours if you're working during the daytime).
After resting in the fridge for 8 hours, at this point, your dough will be nearly ready to bake into whatever recipe you're going to use -- but fair warning that there will be another rise, about 3ish hours more, once you shape your dough into whatever shape/form you're going to bake.
Happy brioche eating!!!
Brioche recipes to try
Sweet Brioche Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 packet of active dry yeast 7g hydrated with ¼ cup of 110-120F water and ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup 150g water
- 4 cups + 3 tablespoons 500g of bread flour
- heaping ¼ cup 60g caster sugar -- granulated is OK, but see here on the importance of using caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons 10g fine sea salt
- 4 eggs
- Zest of ½ lemon
- ½ cup 6 tablespoons or 125g softened unsalted butter, cubed
- Materials needed
- KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook
- Candy thermometer
Instructions
- Hydrate the yeast. Mix yeast packet with the warm water and sugar, and let the foam double in size.
- Make the brioche dough. Mix the flour, sugar, water, activated yeast, lemon zest, salt and eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until it's all combined. Then turn up the speed to medium high and let it run for about 5 minutes, or until the dough starts coming away from the sides and forms a ball. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for a minute. Slowly add the butter to the dough, about 25g at a time. Once it is all incorporated, mix on high speed for 5min until the dough is glossy, smooth and very elastic when pulled.
- Proof the dough. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave to proof in the bowl until it has doubled in size - about 1-2 hours. Punch down the dough – then re-cover the bowl and put into the fridge to chill overnight. The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and shape into whatever brioche style you're going to bake/fry/eat. Cover lightly with Saran wrap and leave out in a 75F room for about 3hr, or until about doubled in size, then bake or fry according to that recipe's instructions.