Brioche

This week, I tackled one of my big baking blocks. Every time I’ve read a recipe for brioche, I’ve shied away. The instructions are so specific, and that overnight rise takes a lot of pre-planning. Now that I’ve done it once, I can safely say from experience, that it’s a LOT less work than it seems. Specific? Yes. It certainly does take a bit of planning, but most of the work is hands-off. The result of that bit of planning is soft, buttery, delicious bread that makes great dinner rolls or beautiful braided loaves, a slice of which, when spread with jam, rivals any dessert I’ve had in a while. Seriously, you need to try it sometime.

The basic brioche recipe is the base for a lot of other recipes. It can be rolled out, filled with jam or cinnamon-sugar, and twisted into a beautiful pull apart confection. You can turn it savory with some garlic and herbs or some pesto. You can shape it into hamburger buns for your next cookout. Plus, next day brioche makes the BEST french toast. If I sound a bit obsessed, it’s because since realizing it doesn’t take as much effort as I assumed, I think I might be making it a lot.

That’s probably a good thing, because I didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked. My little girl is in the “search and destroy” phase, and was just crowned “Princess No-Naps.” That combo doesn’t affect the baking, but does a number on the picture-taking. For that reason, I didn’t really get that tidy ingredients photo. The dry ingredients got weighed and thrown into the bowl of the mixer in preparation for the eggs and milk getting to room temperature with the chunks of butter.

The beginning stages of the dough is a set-and-forget type process. You can find brioche recipes where you develop the gluten by slapping the dough against a hard surface, but this recipe just lets your stand mixer and dough hook do all the work. Let me repeat that–there is absolutely no hand kneading needed for this WHOLE RECIPE!!

After your dough has been working for about 30 minutes, you start to incorporate the butter a little at a time. It takes a bit of time between each little handful, and you definitely need to give it the time it wants before adding the next little bit. When most of the butter is mixed in, you set and forget again for another 10 minutes.

You come back to a smooth, shiny dough that’s still a bit sticky, but manageable. Use as little flour as possible to dust your hands and work surface while you work with the bread. Again, there is no kneading, but we’re going to do a little patting and folding. Both before and after the first rise, we’re going to do two envelope folds. Gently pat the dough into a rectangle just big enough that you can fold in onto itself in thirds like I do in the photos below:

Pat the folds down again, then fold it in thirds again, this time top to bottom. You’ll allow this to rise for an hour, and then repeat the folds, both the left to right and top to bottom in the same order you did it the first time. After the second time, you put it back in the bowl (seam side down), cover, and pop it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, you’ll have to let the dough come back up to room temperature, because it will be very stiff. You don’t want it to get too warm, because it will start to rise again, so find a happy balance where the dough becomes pliable and easy to shape. From here on out, you’ve got a lot of freedom. I divided the dough in half and made half into dinner rolls for that evening and used the other half for a braided loaf to devour the next day.

Shape it however you’d like, spray down the loaf pan or sheet pan with cooking spray or line with parchment first (but still spray), brush the dough with an egg wash (you’ll do this twice, so don’t toss the extra!) and set it aside in a warm place. Even though it’s warm here in Florida, our worship of the almighty air conditioning makes for poor rising conditions. I proof my dough in the oven with the oven light turned on to keep it safe from draft and add juuuuuust enough residual heat from the light.

Time for the bad news. At this point, you still need to let the dough rise for 2 1/2 hours. I promised you easy. I didn’t promise you quick. You’re looking for the dough to double in size and be nice and puffy. Egg wash it again, and then bake.

You never think much about taking the internal temperature of baked goods, but that’s a great way to tell when the bread is done. It will be a beautiful golden brown on top and sound hollow when you tap it, so if you don’t have a dependable thermometer, that’s the secondary way to test for doneness. If you do have a thermometer, the internal temperature should be 200F. Baking is often a lot of guesswork, so I love to have a way to be a bit more sure of when something is done! I baked my rolls and braided loaf separately, and the rolls took about 12 minutes. The loaf took about 20.

The bread looked and smelled nothing short of heavenly. The 20 minutes you *should* wait (I’m not going to tell you how to live your life) between pulling these out of the oven are the most excruciating 20 minutes you’ll probably ever wait in your life, but the payoff… pillowy, buttery brioche. You’re going to be so impressed with yourself! The dinner I made these to accompany was amazing, but the rolls absolutely stole the show. And I couldn’t stop eating them! My husband and I polished off the batch. The loaf lasted a bit longer, but I didn’t wind up with enough leftover to make into french toast, because it tasted too good with my homemade blueberry jam. Guess I’m just going to have to make some more!!

Bouchon Bakery Brioche

May 28, 2019

Servings: 12 rolls or two small loaves

Cook: 22 min

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By: Nina

Ingredients

122 g unsalted butter (4.3 oz, a little more than a stick)
46 g whole milk (2.5 T)
136g eggs (about 3 Large Eggs)
270g all-purpose flour (scant 2 cups)
6 g instant/rapid-rise yeast (2 tsp)
7 g salt (1 tsp)
32 g sugar (2.25 Tbsp)

Directions

Step 1 Prepare ingredients by cutting cold butter into small chunks. Crack eggs into a mixing bowl, whisk, and then strain. Combine with milk and allow all of them to come to room temperature
Step 2 Fit your stand mixer with the dough hook. Add all the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and stir to combine. Add egg/milk mixture. Turn the mixer on low (level 2 on a Kitchen Aid) and allow dough to come together. Once this happens, set a timer for 30 minutes and walk away
Step 3 After 30 minutes, the dough should be sticking to the hook and sides of the bowl. With the mixer still running on low, add a few chunks of butter at a time, waiting until it has mostly mixed in before adding a few more until all the butter is added. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides before resetting to low (level 2) for another 10 minutes. The butter should now be fully incorporated and the dough will be elastic and shiny
Step 4 Scrape the dough onto a clean surface, very lightly dusted with flour if needed. Gently pat the dough into a rectangular shape that’s big enough that you can fold it in on itself in thirds. Make an envelope fold by folding the right side into the center, then folding the left side over the top of the first fold (see above photos if unclear!) Pat down again without turning dough, then repeat the envelope fold from bottom to middle, then top to middle. Place dough seam-side down in a bowl sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover with plastic wrap with a couple of holes poked into it and leave it in a warm spot to rise for an hour
Step 5 After an hour, repeat the patting and folding from the previous step. Return the dough to the bowl, cover again with the plastic, and put it into the fridge overnight
Step 6 The next day, the dough should have doubled in size but will be very stiff. Allow the dough to come back to room temperature
Step 7 Prepare whatever tins you are using with non-stick spray. You can also add parchment. Turn the dough onto your clean work surface and pat down dough to release air bubbles. Prepare to shape your dough depending on how you want to use it. I halved the dough and portioned one half into six large dinner rolls. I portioned the other half into three equal portions and rolled it out between my fingers to make long strands a braided loaf. To make buns, roll each portion in between your hand and your work surface until it makes a smooth ball. Use as little flour as possible for this step
Step 8 Place dough in prepared loaf pans or space dough balls out on a baking sheet. Brush with an egg wash (reserve rest of egg wash for the next step) and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set aside for the final rise: 2 1/2 hours or until the dough doubles in size
Step 9 After dough has risen, brush with egg wash again and bake at 350F. Bake time is dependent on the form of the brioche. Dinner rolls on a sheet can take 12-13 minutes, and a loaf can take 20-22. The buns should be a rich brown on the top and have an internal temperature of 200F
Step 10 Transfer the loaves immediately to a wire rack to cool. Cool for at least 20 (absolutely excruciating) minutes