Brioche is a French bread and it is characterized by a sweet rich flavor and a flaky texture. Having never tried Brioche before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This bread lives up to its reputation. It was so easy to make and it tastes amazing. On top of the fact that we loved eating it, the fact that I can put this dough together in about 5 minutes, let it rise for a couple hours and then stick it in the fridge until a later date, makes this recipe a keeper. The dough actually improves after a day or two. When you are ready to make some bread, you simply take out as much as you need, form it into the shape you want, let it rise for half an hour or so and then bake it.
Fresh bread, warm from the oven with only minutes of effort sounds too good to be true, but it works. With this recipe, I’ve made standard French bread size loaves, small baguettes, hamburger buns (which we enjoyed with the Crockpot Pulled Pork); everything I’ve tried so far has been great. This is a recipe from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. After trying just this one recipe, I am hooked. I imagine that I’ll be trying many more this year, if I can just stop making this one! I’m looking forward to using this bread recipe for French toast one of these days as well.
Unbelievably Easy Brioche
Recipe adapted from and with thanks to Artisan Breads and Good Life Eats
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 4.5 teaspoons granulated yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 8 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 1/2 cups melted butter
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole wheat flour I used freshly ground hard white wheat
Instructions
- Add the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, melted butter and water to a 5 quart bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the all-purpose and whole wheat flour to the liquid mixture. Stir with a dough whisk or a wooden spoon to combine. You can also use a stand mixer with a dough attachment.
- Cover the dough and let rest for 2 hours, at room temperature, until doubled in bulk. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill. After chilled, remove a portion of the dough. Store the remaining dough covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days; otherwise you can freeze it in 1 lb. increments for up to 4 weeks.
- Shape the dough into whatever shape you desire and then cover with a towel and let rise for 20-40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place your oven rack in the middle of the oven.
- Bake the bread for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.
blackbookkitchendiaries says
this looks so yummy! thank you for sharing this.
Inside a British Mum's Kitchen says
Making your own broiche is REALLY impressive. I bet your kitchen smelled heavenly! I might be brave enough to try.
Mary x
thekitchenaffaire says
wOWW.. Truly impressive 🙂
David says
Sounds great. How many loaves of brioche (or about how many pounds) does this recipe make?
David
Mary says
Hi David, this makes about 3-4 medium size loaves. I typically quarter the dough and get four small loaves from this batch. Good luck!
Saranaya says
Can I avoid the eggs from this recipe ?
Mary Younkin says
You can certainly try an egg alternative. However, brioche isn’t going to be the same without the eggs.