This recipe for brioche is an easy way to prepare the fluffy, buttery bread from France. I’ve reviewed a lot of recipes and adjusted to make it as simple as possible. However, I recommend to use strong bread flour, and do not skip the stretching using bread hooks, as this is a necessary step to get the light consistency.
Although I make the brioche in smaller portions using muffin tins, you can also choose to make loaves. You’ll just need to increase the baking time. Enjoy the brioche warm, but I find it reheats well, especially in an air fryer or the oven.
Ingredients
450g white bread flour
1 tsp salt
50g caster sugar
7g dried active yeast
100 ml milk (whole milk makes for a richer dough)
4 eggs at room temperature
200g unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
1 egg, beaten for brushing brioche
Instructions
First, in a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix lightly with a spoon. Next, warm the milk in the microwave but do not make it boil. You should be able to touch the side of the glass. Mix the milk into the flour mixture until combined.
Use the dough hooks of either a stand or hand mixer and mix on medium. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix with the dough hooks until well-combined. Scrape sides as needed. Gradually add the softened butter, and mix until combined.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise at a warm room temperature for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Divide the dough into about 10 balls and put each of these into a non-stick muffin cup. I use silicone muffin tins but if you don’t have those, then you may need to grease the tin with butter and dust with some flour.
Put the tins in the unheated oven and leave to prove for 45 mins until almost doubled in size. Remove the tins to the work surface.
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Finally, lightly brush the top of each ball of dough with the egg white. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 mins, then remove and cool completely. Eat warm if possible but they also taste good if kept in a container at room temperature for the next couple of days.
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