Brown Butter Brioche
Brown butter brioche is a buttery, rich, sliceable loaf that needs nothing else to enjoy it with but is fantastic for morning treats like French toast.
Brioche is a very rich buttery bread. It can be a little sweet sometimes, and it’s somewhat similar to challah (which doesn’t use butter and is usually kosher). 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, so of course we’re making brown butter brioche! I additionally used used brown sugar in lieu of granulated sugar for extra flavor, it’s just the superior sugar. #isaidwhatisaid
Now, after you make this loaf, 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.
Baking Notes & Tips
The brown butter brioche dough cold ferments for over 12 hours to help create fantastic flavor. Time equals flavor when it comes to bread. When you put dough in a cold environment it severely slows down the yeast, 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.
Because the dough will be coming out of a cold proof, your second proof on the counter may take a bit longer than a traditional (shorter) second proof. Just pay attention to the look of the dough. When it’s puffed up a bit in size, it should be ready to put in the oven. The exact time will depend on how cold your refrigerator is, how warm your house is, etc.
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. You will see the tiny flecks of the toasted milk fats throughout the bread.
- 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, as well as contributing to the color of the bread.
- Brown sugar – Brown sugar will add sweetness and moisture, but the flavors pair perfectly with brown butter, enhancing the caramel notes.
If you bake this brown butter brioche, 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
- 113 g Unsalted butter ½ cup, room temperature
- 220 g Bread flour
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 3 g Instant yeast 1 tsp
- 35 g Dark brown sugar 2 tbsp
- 4 large Eggs
- 60 g Lukewarm water ¼ cup
Instructions
- Brown your butter. Cut the butter into slices and place in a light colored bottom or stainless saucepan on medium heat. Once melted, stir or whisk or stir until butter is browned. Butter is ready when it smells nutty and the milk fats are a golden to rich brown. Remove from heat immediately, as butter can burn quickly. Pour into a bowl to let cool slightly.113 g Unsalted butter
- Mix flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl and whisk.220 g Bread flour | ¾ tsp Salt | 3 g Instant yeast
- 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.35 g Dark brown sugar | 4 large Eggs | 60 g Lukewarm water
- Add liquid ingredients to dry, and mix until fully combined. Cover bowl and let rest for 15 minutes. Dough will be very sticky.
- Using a flexible bowl scraper or damp fingers, 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 30 minutes.
- Repeat the folding process, then let dough rest for an hour.
- Repeat the folding process one last time (Three rounds of stretch and folds). Then cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 18-24 hours.
- When dough is ready, remove dough from bowl onto a floured work surface and divide into four pieces. Using a scale will help insure the pieces are exactly uniform but it is not required.
- Gently press down on each piece of dough and then fold the sides in to create a ball shape. Cover and wait 5-10 minutes.
- Flip a dough ball over and using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten and shape into a small rectangle shape that is no wider than the short side of your loaf pan (about 4 inches). Roll the dough on the short side into a log. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Grease or line an 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pan with parchment, and place the four pieces of dough next to each other filling 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 on the center rack of your oven for about 35 minutes. Top of loaf will be deep golden brown and interior temp will read 190°F when ready.
- Leave loaf in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer out of pan to cooling rack and let cool completely (2-3 hours).
- Store in an airtight container for 2-4 days, but bread is best enjoyed fresh.
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