Brioche is already a very rich buttery bread. Its somewhat similar to challah. Some cinnamon rolls and burger buns are made out of brioche. It makes great French toast. At this point, it’s already pretty great. But what could make it better? Oh, I think you know based on the title of this blog post. Brown butter. It’s like liquid gold.. just you know, brown. Voila, brown butter brioche!
I didn’t just use browned butter, I also used brown sugar in lieu of granulated sugar. Friends, I’m swapping to brown sugar if I can (which is almost always). It’s just the superior sugar. #isaidwhatisaid
This dough cold ferments for over 12 hours so you know the flavor is fantastic. Time equals flavor when it comes to bread. When you put dough in a cold environment it severely slows down the process, which allows the dough to rise for much longer without running out of steam and needing to be baked. These overnight proofed breads tend to have deeper more complex flavors. You can usually do it with a lot of doughs: pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, focaccia, pretty much any yeast or sourdough based dough.
Now, after you make this, you’ll see upon first bite that it’s glorious just as is. You can taste the slight sweetness and the brown buttery goodness. I love that you can see the flecks of brown butter throughout the slices. However, my favorite way to enjoy this so far is toasted with butter, cinnamon and.. you guessed it. More brown sugar. My mom used to let us have waffles with butter and brown sugar as a kid, I think that’s where my love of granulated sugar’s darker sibling came from.
Brown Butter Brioche Key Ingredients
- Brown Butter – Brown butter feels luxurious and tastes divine. It’s going to add a nutty caramel toasty flavor to the bread that regular butter just can’t.
- Eggs – Eggs are crucial to brioche. Brioche requires a lot, but all the fat adds to and helps create that beautiful soft, tender, flavorful crumb.
- Brown sugar – Brown sugar will add sweetness and moisture, but the flavors pair perfectly with brown butter.
If you bake this, be sure and let me know in the comments the best way you enjoyed it! Or if you’re looking for more brown butter bakes I’d try:
Ingredients
- 205 g Bread flour
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Instant yeast
- 35 g Dark brown sugar
- 4 large Eggs
- ¼ cup Lukewarm water
- ½ cup Unsalted butter
Instructions
- Cut the butter into tablespoon slices and place in a saucepan on medium heat. Once melted, stir or whisk until butter is browned. Pour into a bowl to let cool slightly.
- Mix flour and salt together in large bowl and add yeast to bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together 3 eggs, sugar and water until sugar has incorporated into mixture. Add in browned butter to the egg mixture and mix until combined. Add liquid ingredients to dry, and mix until fully combined. Cover bowl and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Using a bowl scraper, lift edge of dough, folding it over into the center of the dough. Turn bowl a quarter turn and repeat 7 times, until you have folded over dough twice on each side. Cover bowl again, and let rest for 30minutes. Repeat the folding process, let dough rest for an hour, and then repeat once more. Cover the dough and chill for 18-24 hours.
- When dough is ready, remove dough from bowl onto a floured work surface and divide into four pieces. Gently press your fingertips into the dough ,shaping it into about a 4-5” round, then fold the dough into itself gathering all the folds and creating a ball shape. Flip the dough over so the seam is facedown and cup your hand over the dough, and using circular hand motions create some tension in the ball shape. Set aside and repeat with remaining dough pieces. Wait 5 minutes.
- Flip the dough balls over, and repeat the process, starting with pressing each into a 4-5” round.
- Grease an 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pan, and place one of the dough balls against the short end, elongating its shape so it fills out towards the corners/edge of pan. Place the next piece of dough next to it, and repeat to fill the pan. Cover the pan and let rise in a warm spot for 90-120 minutes. The dough will be just reaching the top edge of the load pan (doubling in size) when ready.
- After about 80 minutes, preheat your oven to 350°F. Beat the remaining egg with a pinch of salt.
- Once dough is ready, lightly brush the top with egg wash, and bake for about 35 minutes. Top of loaf will be deep golden brown and interior temp will read 190°F. Leave loaf in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer out of pan to cooling rack and let cool completely (2-3 hours).
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