Buttery Brioche Loaf Recipe
Health be damned, this homemade brioche loaf features sugar, butter, and eggs to create a richhly soft bread ready for toasting or soaking up butter, jelly/jams, sandwich meat, etc. Not rich enough for you? Double the butter and eggs and replace half the water with milk and embrace the fats and cholesterol.
Recipe summary
- 500g flour
- 275g water
- 20g sugar
- 20g olive oil
- 12g salt
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp yeast
Building Your Dough
Start by dissolving the sugar in warm water, then sprinkle in your yeast and let it bloom until foamy. Beat in the eggs and salt, then add half the flour, mixing until you’ve got a thick, smooth batter. Fold in the olive oil and butter until fully incorporated. Add the remaining flour and bring it together into a shaggy dough ball. Give it a 20-minute rest (autolyze) to relax the gluten, then knead until smooth and elastic. Tuck it into a large bowl, cover, and let it double in size over 2 hours.
Shaping Your Loaf
Deflate your dough and shape into boule. Flatten it a bit so it is an oval shape and roll it up tightly, pinching the seams, and place into your loaf pan. With the back of your hands, push down on the dough to fill the loaf pan. Cover and let rise for another hour until it crowns beautifully above the pan.
Baking Your Loaf
Slide your covered pan into a preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes to trap the steam. Remove the cover and bake for another 30 minutes until the top is golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Cooling and Eating
Turn out your loaf onto a cooling rack and resist the urge to slice immediately! Let it cool for at least 2 hours—wrapping it in a clean kitchen towel helps prevent a wrinkly crust. When cool, slice and eat.