Brioche dough is very similar to the dough used for braided sweet bread, or challah bread. That means brioche and challah bread are, at best, made from the same type of dough.

Unfortunately, the products offered to us under the name sweet bread are usually totally different from the original recipe. Anyway, let’s say it’s all the same.

Please find the brioche recipe below, but first let me introduce it by defining what brioche is exactly.

What is brioche?

Brioche is a dough of French origin, which exists in different shapes around the globe. In some countries, it is snail-shaped: the dough is rolled and then sliced into pieces. But let me mention that classic French brioche is a rich, golden yeast bread made with milk and eggs. So the word brioche refers more to the dough than to its shape.

Brioche dough recipe

You will need lukewarm milk and softened butter at room temperature; your first step is to prepare them.
Sift the flour into a large bowl, and measure out the sugar.
Let the yeast rise in the lukewarm milk, then add a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of flour to it.

Tip: Prepare your brioche with instant yeast and get the same outcome. There is no need to let instant yeast rise. If you choose instant yeast, you just have to combine all your ingredients, except the butter, with the flour.

1. Add the remaining sugar, one whole egg, and two egg yolks, salt, and risen yeast to the flour.

French brioche 4 — Measure out the ingredients

2. Knead your brioche dough for at least 10 minutes, until it is smooth.

French brioche 5 — Knead your dough for at least 10 minutes

3. And now, let’s see the key step to making your brioche dough heavenly soft: add the softened butter and prepare the dough by hand.

You can add all the butter at once, or in smaller portions. At first, you will get a mishmash, so you may think you did something wrong — but that is not the case. Just keep going, and sooner or later you will get a perfect dough.

French brioche 6 — Add the softened butter and knead the dough by hand

4. Place your dough in a buttered bowl and let it rise in a warm place for an hour.

5. Your brioche dough is ready.

What to make from brioche dough

Your brioche dough is ready. What you want to make from your dough depends on your taste.

You can prepare traditional Hungarian sweet braided bread, you can also shape snail rolls, or you can customize its shape to your own taste.

Shape the dough and spread it with butter after the long rise. Cover the dough and let it rest once again for a shorter while, then spread butter on top again, or sprinkle the tops with large crystal sugar. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C until golden brown. Baking time is 20–30 minutes and varies with the size of your dough.

Tip: the authentic shape of brioche is called brioche à tête. This original type of brioche is baked in a fluted round tin with a ball of dough placed on top to form the “head,” or tête.