The Fresh Loaf

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Lazy Man's Brioche

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Lazy Man's Brioche

In The Bread Baker's Apprentice Peter Reinhart offers up three variations of brioche: Poor Man's Brioche, Middle-Class Brioche, and Rich Man's Brioche, each version getting more full of eggs and butter than the previous.

This weekend I came up with a brioche recipe that I'm extremely happy with. I dubbed it the "Lazy Man's Brioche."

This recipe is based on the brioche recipe from Ciril Hitz's Baking Artisan Bread. I started with Hitz's recipe but then rounded every number and cut every corner I could. The result is perhaps not as authentic as Hitz's recipe but still delicious.

There are two pieces of gear required to keep this recipe lazy: a mixer and a scale. I'm sure you could make the same thing using measuring cups and kneading by hand but that would take work. Using brioche pans or adding little tetes on top of each bun would also be more authentic and attractive, but the goal here was not to be beautiful or complex, just come up with something simple, repeatable, and delicious.

Lazy Man's Brioche


My baking notes

Makes 12 buns
 
Dough
500g bread flour
250g milk
2 eggs
50g sugar
15g instant yeast
5g salt
1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, diced
 
Filling
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
 
Egg Wash
1 egg
a pinch of salt
a teaspoon water
 

Add all of the ingredients to your mixer and mix it until the dough becomes silky. This takes a long time, somewhere in the 10-20 minute range (I think I did around 15). If the dough sticks to the sides or the paddle too much, take breaks and scrape the dough back down into the bowl.

When it is well mixed, shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour. Degas the dough and allow it to rise a second time, for another hour or so.

Cut the dough into 12 pieces (I used the scale and weighed them out at 3 ounces each). Shape the dough into balls. If you want to fill them, do so here by placing the chocolate chips on them before pinching them closed.

(Those are mini-chocolate chips by the way... the entire bun is only two or three inches across.)

Place the dough balls seam side down in brioche pans or muffin tins. Cover loosely with plastic and allow to rise until doubled in size and well above the pan, approximately 45 minutes.

While they are rising, make the egg wash and preheat the oven to 365.

Brush the brioche gently with egg wash before putting the pans near the middle of the preheated oven. I placed mine on the third shelf down out of four.

Bake the brioche for 10 minutes then rotate the pan. Bake them another 10 minutes or until they appear to be done.

If your pans were greased well, you should be able to shake the brioche out of the pan while they are still hot. Be careful if the eggwash spilled onto the pans though, because the cooked egg will "glue" the brioche into the pans. I had to gently break through the eggwash with a knife before I could get a few of my buns out of the pans.

Enjoy!

wally's picture
wally

And with the added surprise of the chocolate chips, something between a dinner roll and dessert.

Larry

PS - I've found that Pam or any baking spray will rid the problem of eggwash sticking if you spray the entire pan beforehand.

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Thanks, Larry!

I used spray oil but even so they stuck a bit.  I was able to get them all out with no tearing, but it took a bit of chiseling to get a few of them out cleanly.  

So far I've had them with coffee in the afternoon and for breakfast.  Thumbs up on both, though maybe I need to make another batch and try them as a dessert!

Franko's picture
Franko

Floyd those look really good and not that far off from the way traditional brioche looks minus the tete, molding etc.

Here's a question for you, do these have any similarity in taste and/or texture to the elusive Murchie's scone formula that we've both been trying to duplicate? They look like they could be in the ballpark from the photo you posted of Murchie's scones a few months back

Franko

Floydm's picture
Floydm

These are more "buttery" and less "creamy" than I recall the Murchie's scones being but, yes, they are of comparable sweetness and richness.

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

They look great and sound easy to make (except I don't have a stand mixer...yet). I might try it with my KA hand mixer.  Anybody have a thought on whether that would work?

Thanks, Floyd.

Glenn

Franko's picture
Franko

Glenn,

I think if you started it with the hand mixer and mixed it till it was fairly cohesive, then finished it by hand, it would work just fine. Your KA hand mixer might be able to do the whole job of developing the dough, but I've never used one so can't say for sure. Give it a shot, since one or the other method will certainly work.

Franko

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

Glenn

teketeke's picture
teketeke

Thank you for posting this recipe, Floyd!

They look very good and easy, too. 

I want to make them with my daughter and her friends for Halloween. I am thinking that the kids can draw some faces on the surface like this.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3092/chocolate-faces

(I saw this on the front page here before.  )

Best wishes,

Akiko

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Yum, i can only imagine the aroma of your house Floyd!

Thanks for posting this!

khalid

jennyloh's picture
jennyloh

Floyd - they look just like those Chinese Char Siew (barbequed pork) Bun that we have in Asia.....so, instead of chocolate, we can put Char Siew in them! I must give it a try - I'm sure my colleagues will love it. Lovely!! thanks for sharing this recipe.

EvaB's picture
EvaB

first the buns look great, maybe if you added cream instead of milk they would be more like the Murchie scones.

number 2: I have tried refreshing the p[age three times now, but the same pictures don't load these start at the one with the chocolate chips, I get about 1/3 rd of it, then the one directly under about the same or even less and then the one under that, then it goes back to full sized normal pictures, I then tried the printer friendly option and the same three pictures are the same way!

I have satellite internet, high speed, and don't have this problem with other sites, so am wondering why with yours, and only on some occasions.

I have gone back to a post and had the same problem several weeks later, and also had the pictures all show up. Its not my browser, and its not my internet, and its not my settings, so have come to the conclusion it must be a gateway someplace that is not working right, as we have had that happen before!

teketeke's picture
teketeke

Hello, Floyd

I couldn't wait to make them until Halloween day.

I made your lazy brioche with my kids and their neighbor's. It was really fun to make such a easy and tasty bread.  They loved to knead and shape the dough, of course, they enjoyed to decolate their bread at the end. 

Thank you, Floyd

Akiko

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Those are super cute.  Well done!

CompleteAmateur's picture
CompleteAmateur

Had to post and say how much I enjoyed making this Brioche recipe....  and how much my family enjoyed devouring the entire batch hot from the oven

1st Attempt

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I've made this several times.already. It is just a beautiful dough to work with.I adapted it to a pumplin brioche and will post it separately.

Thanks!

kristakoets's picture
kristakoets

Hi there,

Love this formula!! Tweaked it with 50% whole wheat flour, added 50g black cocoa, extra egg yolk and 2T more butter...filled it with homemade raspberry jam...yum-o! Thanks again :-)

chefscook's picture
chefscook

Please i don't understand grams translate in tsps tablespoons and cups Thank you Chefscook

clazar123's picture
clazar123

500g bread flour (approx 3 1/2cup)
250g cool milk (approx 1 1/4cup)
2 eggs
50g sugar (approx 1/4cup)
15g instant yeast (2 tsp)(note 1 packet is 2 1/4 tsp)
5g salt (1 tsp)
1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, diced (cold)

Try these-they're pretty close.

The dough is soft and very supple but not sticky. Keep ingredients on the cool side or the butter melts and the dough becomes oily feeling. You don't want that.

Olive Ashworth's picture
Olive Ashworth

Hello. 15 g of instant yeast is more than 4 teaspoons, not 2. Just wondering if I missed something in the directions.

Thanks.

chefscook's picture
chefscook

Thank you for the translation
Chefscook

tabasco's picture
tabasco

Wonderful brioche recipe, Floyd!

I just baked a batch using your Lazy Man's Brioche rccipe and that recipe is truly a winner!  I've tried several others including Reinharts, Siverton's, Julia's, etc. and for ease of use and great results yours has to take the cake (so to speak)!   

It's a great basis for many other recipes and tortes and rolls, etc., and I can't wait to experiment a bit more. 

J.

SCChris's picture
SCChris

Floyd, how have you adjusted the recipe to work with your Ankarsrum?  Or have you?

I think that I remember that you too have an Ankarsrum.

Thanks

 

Chris

 

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Yes, I have an Ankarsrum now. 

I made these about a month ago and don't recall making any significant changes. I may have mixed a bit less than 15 minutes, but I still went until it was really silky and could pass the windowpane test.

Good luck!

JDYangachi's picture
JDYangachi

I made a half batch of these last week and they turned out great.  I was at my mom's place (without my KA) and mixed/kneaded by hand, which was really just using a rubber spatula and turning and folding the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth.  The only other change I made was that I scaled and shaped 3 oz. balls after just 1 rise.  Since my muffin tins are a bit small, I ended up with some funny mushroom-shaped rolls (haha).  I think next time I'll just ditch the muffin tins and make hamburger rolls.  I also might add a touch more sugar.  Anyway, these were quite good and I found that they refresh very nicely in a steamer for about 5 minutes.

 

SusanSings426's picture
SusanSings426

We love sweet brioche buns for our hamburgers and these look perfect because they are not quite as soft as the ones that require  20 tbsp of butter!  Sweet/savory = yum!  Thanks, Floyd

FrugalBaker's picture
FrugalBaker

Hi Floyd, those brioche are looking so decadent and am looking forward to make some tomorrow. May I know if you were using some cold or room temperature butter please? They looked like if you just pulled them out from the fridge prior to mixing in the picture that you posted. I believe the cold butter could yield a 'fluffy' result, same as one would to do it for the puff pastry or pie dough? Appreciate the clarification on the temperature of the butter. Also,did you use the paddle attachment or the dough hook for mixing? Many thanks in advance. 

Floydm's picture
Floydm

I think I used the dough hook and cold butter the time that is photographed here. I believe I've used room temperature butter in batches since then and not found a discernible difference.

Good luck!

FrugalBaker's picture
FrugalBaker

thanks for sharing....

FrugalBaker's picture
FrugalBaker

Hi Floyd, the brioche is out from the oven. The recipe is great but I guess I'll have to fine tune it a little to suit my liking. I guess I'd love them to be sweeter. Having said that, the buns came out fluffy but not very buttery. All in all, thank you again for sharing such simple yet good recipe.

katyajini's picture
katyajini

I see so many recommendations all over freshloaf for this dough Floyd!  I have to try it!  Just a question....when mixing with the dough hook at what speed are you mixing? 2? 4? 6?   Thank you,

Floydm's picture
Floydm

I think I used to use a fairly high speed. Now I'd use a lower speed, like 2 or 4.

Good luck!

dablues's picture
dablues

Instead of making buns, I would like to make a loaf instead.  What size pan would be needed and what about the baking times for a loaf instead of buns

kenlklaser's picture
kenlklaser

The flour weight in Floydm's formula is 500 grams.  1 lb is approximately 454 g (453.59.... g), and that should be about right for a 1 lb loaf pan, perhaps with 500 g of flour weight there will be a small amount of excess dough.  If you wish to slightly scale the formula up or down for a larger or smaller pan, baker's percents make that essentially trivial, although if you've never seen them before they may seem strange due to unfamiliarity.  With baker's percents, you can choose your own flour weight, and you use a calculator or spreadsheet to figure the weights of all the other ingredients.  To determine when a loaf is done baking, you can use a digital stick thermometer, most breads are done baking when the internal temperature reaches 208 °F.

Truth Serum's picture
Truth Serum

I am wondering if Could this be converted into a no knead recipe by letting it rest overnight in the refrigerator.

The technique comes from a Cooks Illustrated Recipe

Mix flour salt and yeast together.

Mix eggs milk and sugar together. Melt and let butter cool abit , then whisk in butter to egg mixture.

Then combine with flour mixture. Mix up thoroughly . Let stand 10 minutes

Stetch Fold and turn in Bowl at 30 minute intervals 4 times. Cover tightly put in fridge for 16 to 48 hours.

Floydm's picture
Floydm

It is certainly worth a try.

Truth Serum's picture
Truth Serum

Eventually, I will give it a try, although currently I have other dough projects  that I must deal with before I put one more dough in our refridgerator.

MontBaybaker's picture
MontBaybaker

Thanks for another great recipe Floyd!  A lovely dough, but not too rich.  The long mixing didn't phase the Ankarsrum (now 1 year old) - used the paddle, not the dough hook.  Made 115% of the recipe and got 15 large sweet rolls in an 11 x 17", with overnight fridge rise after shaping.  A decadent addition to brunch, celebrating my daughter visiting from Boulder and my nearby son able to join us.  Halfway through the 2nd BF I chilled the dough for 30-40 min. to firm it slightly for rolling out and filling.  Used my cinnamon bun schmear but added a little Nutella, then sprinkled lightly with mini choc. chips to gild the lily and keep to Floyd's idea.  Can't wait to make your rolls as written next time, and then play with other flavors.         

inventordrew's picture
inventordrew

Thank you for a beautiful recipe!

My wife has been asking me to make brioche for her so I decided to give this one a try!

It was a gooey mess to mix (fraisage) and knead by hand as I have no mixer :( but got there in the end phew!

It tastes so good I'm hoping I can use the promise of more as leverage to buy a mixer! :D

Mine turned out a little dense as I think when mixing by hand I should have dissolved the yeast in milk first.

clazar123's picture
clazar123

Your loaf looks delicious. You are right that it is difficult to knead to windowpane by hand but it is well worth getting it as close as possible.

Tasty looking loaf!

Arno's picture
Arno

Fantastic recipe.

Thank you Floy.
I adapted the recipe to my Ank and reduce a little bit the cooking time. 

I love your forum. 

Arno

 

plevee's picture
plevee

After having a total failure with Stella Park's recipe for the dough at 10 o'clock at night - absolutely NO gluten development after over 20 minutes kneading - I flung together this recipe, stuck it in the fridge overnight and made the best cinnamon rolls ever. Thank you, Floyd.

Patsy

pieman's picture
pieman

Thank you Floyd! I'm a very happy pieman. I kneaded/slapped for about 13 minutes to get it well mixed. When I split the 12 pieces I made balls and rested them 10 minutes under buttered cling wrap, then tied them in single kaiser roll knots and sprinkled with black sesame. I thought the 1 whole egg for the wash might be excessive, but I tried to use it all up and it gave the most gorgeous shine to the buns. They all puffed up real big, too. This is my go-to dinner roll now. Cheers!