This sourdough brioche recipe is the softest, most delicious bread. An enriched dough made with butter, eggs, and milk – and naturally leavened with sourdough starter; this will become an absolute favorite around the table.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to create this recipe. Everything about this sourdough brioche is delicious. It is so light, fluffy, and buttery.
This would be perfect to grace your Easter, brunch, or breakfast table. You can turn it into many yummy creations (see below for ideas).
When most people think of sourdough bread, they think of your traditional crusty loaf that is a little bit denser. I’ve even heard people claim that you cannot make a fluffy loaf of sourdough bread.
Well, I’m here to prove that wrong with this enriched bread.
It is light, fluffy, buttery, and everything good in the world baked into a marvelous loaf. Make that two loaves. Because two loaves are always better than one loaf, especially when you are taking the time to make such a wonderful creation as this.
Why you will love this recipe:
Seriously so light and fluffy. Have I mentioned that yet?
Healthier than traditional brioche, since the grains are fermented, making the nutrients in the grain more bioavailable.
Easier to digest. If you have a hard time digesting unfermented grains, this long-fermented recipe will have less gluten and will be easier to digest than regular bread.
Delicious. You cannot beat the taste of this enriched sourdough bread.
Tips For Making Sourdough Brioche
- This dough is a wet dough. Even if you are tempted to add more flour, don’t. Too much flour will give you a tougher bread rather than something light and fluffy.
- If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose. It will not be quite as soft as using the mix of the two flours, but it will still be yummy. The bread flour also helps it rise more.
- You may be able to make this dairy free by using a milk alternative and vegan butter. I have not personally tried it.
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Ingredients:
Sourdough starter – Active and bubbly. You really want to have a very active starter for this recipe so it has a really nice rise.
Bread flour – Bread flour gives this dough a much lighter and fluffier texture compared to using all-purpose.
Unbleached all-purpose flour – Freshly milled or store-bought.
Sugar – Preferably organic cane sugar.
Eggs
Salt – I always choose sea salt.
Milk – Preferably whole, but 2% should also work just fine.
Butter – Room temperature. Unsalted. It is important to be able to control the amount of salt added to any recipe.
Tools you may need:
Bench scraper (optional, but handy)
Measuring cups and spoons
FAQ
What makes a brioche different from most breads?
Brioche is an enriched bread, meaning it contains butter, eggs, and milk, making it richer. On the other hand, a “standard” bread usually just contains flour, water, yeast (commercial or sourdough starter), and salt.
Is brioche better for you than bread? Can brioche be healthy?
I’m sure lots of people have differing opinions on this. Since it contains milk, eggs, and butter, it has more fat in it. While many people are “scared” of fat, this recipe uses wholesome and healthy fats that are naturally occurring.
Brioche does contain sugar, which isn’t the healthiest, but it’s a pretty small amount; it’s also lower in fiber than, say, whole wheat sourdough bread.
Can you autolyse brioche?
While you technically can, there really isn’t a point to autolyse brioche because of the amount of kneading that happens in the beginning. It is counterintuitive and will reduce any benefit the autolyse would have accomplished.
What is the difference between bread flour and all-purpose flour?
The biggest difference between the two is that bread flour has a higher amount of protein than all-purpose flour, which helps it develop more gluten strands. It also gives it a chewier texture. That increased gluten can help the bread rise more.
Can you make this with einkorn flour?
I have not tried this. Baking with einkorn requires the liquid amounts to be adjusted, and you may have to reduce the amount of water.
How much is two sticks of butter?
Two sticks of butter equals 1 cup.
How To Make Sourdough Brioche
Feed starter at night before bed. This way when you wake up in the morning, it will be nice and bubbly.
Kneading Sourdough Brioche
In the morning, combine all ingredients in a mixer and knead until smooth and glossy. The dough will be very wet, but after 10-15 minutes in the stand mixer (or by hand), it will come together. Don’t add more flour even though it is tempting.
Cover with plastic wrap, a damp towel, or tight lid and place in a warm spot for 6-8 hours (or until doubled).
After the 6-8 hours, refrigerate for a few hours (or overnight) so that dough is nice and stiff for shaping.
Shaping Brioche
Divide into two equal portions. I really like to use my bench scraper to do this.
Divide each half into eight, so that you have a total of 16 equal-sized pieces.
Roll into balls.
Add eight balls to a parchment-lined loaf pan. Repeat for the other eight in another loaf pan.
Cover and allow to rise until doubled, another 6-8 hours (or overnight).
Next day:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Create an egg wash by beating an egg with water. Brush over the loaf. This gives it that beautiful color.
Bake 25 minutes until the brioche starts to turn golden.
Baking For Dinner
Feed starter before bed.
Mix up dough in the morning, per instructions above.
Allow it to do the first rise: 6-8 hours until doubled – covered with plastic wrap, tight lid, or damp towel.
Place the dough into the fridge until the next morning.
In the morning, divide and shape. Place into parchment-lined loaf pans.
Cover and allow to rise throughout the day, and bake for dinner.
Uses For Sourdough Brioche
You really can use brioche for just about anything you would use regular bread for:
- Sandwiches
- French toast
- Hamburgers
- Bread pudding
- French toast casserole
- Grilled cheese
- Eggs in a basket
- Strata – you can find my favorite sourdough strata here.
Find More Of My Favorite Sourdough Recipes:
- Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
- Einkorn Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Banana Bread
- 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone with your delicious creation.
Sourdough Brioche
Ingredients
- 1 cup active sourdough starter, active and bubbly 227 g
- 3 cups bread flour, 420 g
- 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour, 70 g
- 1/4 cup sugar, 48 g
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 8 g
- 1/2 cup milk, 122 g
- 2 sticks butter, room temp 226 g
Eggwash
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Feed starter at night before bed. This way when you wake up in the morning, it will be nice and bubbly.
- In the morning, combine all ingredients in a mixer and knead until smooth and glossy. The dough will be very wet, but after 10-15 minutes in the stand mixer (or by hand), it will come together. Don’t add more flour even though it is tempting.
- Cover with plastic wrap, a damp towel, or tight lid and place in a warm spot for 6-8 hours (or until doubled).
- Refrigerate for a few hours (or overnight) so that dough is nice and stiff for shaping.
- Divide into two equal portions. I really like to use my bench scraper to do this.
- Divide each half into eight, so that you have a total of 16 equal-sized pieces.
- Roll into balls.
- Add eight balls to a parchment-lined loaf pan. Repeat for the other eight in another loaf pan.
- Cover and allow to rise until doubled, another 6-8 hours (or overnight).
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Create an egg wash by beating an egg with water. Brush over the loaf. This gives it that beautiful color.
- Bake 25 minutes until the brioche starts to turn golden.
Notes
- This dough is a wet dough. Even if you are tempted to add more flour, don’t. Too much flour will give you a tougher bread rather than something light and fluffy.
- If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose. It will not be quite as soft as using the mix of the two flours, but it will still be yummy. The bread flour also helps it rise more.
- You may be able to make this dairy free by using a milk alternative and vegan butter. I have not personally tried it.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe is an absolute “NO!”
The amount of shortening (butter) made it impossible to work with, or even effectively stretch without breaking the dough. Shaping it, even after chilling, was just a nonstarter.
After pouring the dough into a loaf pan and giving it its recommended second bench ferment I baked it off, and the bread itself is tasty and fluffy and soft inside. However, brioche dough shouldn’t be this hard to work with and I don’t recommend this recipe.
I’m sorry you struggled with this recipe!
This recipe is a bit more involved than others but it is totally doable even for a novice like me! It really makes the best French toast. The softly sour of the dough mixed with the sweetness of the fruit, syrup, and cinnamon are perfection!
Can I use this to make brioche buns? How would I adjust the ball size and time in oven?
Yes, you can. I would follow the hamburger bun recipe for size and time in the oven!
Can this be shaped into buns? If so, any adjustments?
You can shape them into buns without any adjustments.
Im excited to try this as buns also- same cooking time and everything? Just spread out more on a cookie sheet maybe?
Yes, that will work!
I have been wanting to try a brioche sourdough bread for a little while. I love all of your recipes that I have made so thought I would give this one a try. My starter was nice and bubbly. My ingredients were at room temperature. I put everything into my stand mixer (I have an older version that has 2 dough hooks). I mixed for over an hour and the dough never came together as smooth and glossy. I tried putting it in the fridge for an hour and kneading it by hand. It still didn’t come together. Right now it is covered sitting in a warm place and we will see if it rises.
Sometimes dough can benefit from rest. It helps the gluten structure to develop and become more elastic/dough like. It could also be the power of your motor in your stand mixer! Rest should help.
I let it rest for the rest of the day (~9 hrs) and it did rise to double in size. Then put it in the fridge overnight (~12 hrs in fridge). The next morning it was very sticky to work with, but I was able shape it into a loaf (didn’t do the balls – just shaped it into a loaf and added tension by rolling it towards me on the counter – didn’t add any flour although I was tempted to). It took me about 10 minutes to shape it into a somewhat smooth loaf shape. I took the other half of the dough and decided to make rolls (thinking the smaller amount would be easier to shape). I shaped 6 big rolls. I let everything rise on my countertop for 7 hrs. Added egg wash and baked the loaf per your instructions/ baked the rolls for 24 minutes at 350 F. End result – 1 perfect brioche loaf and 6 perfect brioche rolls! So even though it was a lot of work, I think it was worth it in the end. Thanks!
I was grateful I had seen your comments b/c I had a very similar experience. I did exactly what you did and somehow they seem to have turned out beautifully haha. Haven’t had the taste test yet but I don’t doubt they will be delicious. I’m curious if you ever determined what the trouble was? I used the dough hook on my kitchen aid first for 30 minutes and then off and on for another 30 minutes. I wondered if I should have used a higher speed, as I’m so used to just using the lowest speed. My dough was so wet, borderline pourable. I persevered thanks to reading your experience. Thanks!
I wanted to try this recipe because I love French toast! My sourdough starter was partially active one day so I figured I would try this recipe. Unfortunately it did not work out for me. I followed the directions: I let it rise for 6 hours then put it in the fridge. I then let it rise for 8 hours at room temp. It did not rise at all so I decided to give it another 6 hours directly under my vent so it was the warmest it could be. It still didn’t rise so I let it sit in my oven with the oven light on overnight, about another 10 hours but it never rose. I ended up just having to throw out the bread. I am super disappointed that I wasn’t able to make this because I was really looking forward to it but after 24 hours of letting it rise, it still didn’t rise at all.
It sounds like it may have been due to your starter not being fully active! I’m sorry you had troubles with this recipe.
I’ve not tried this recipe, yet, but every time I attempt to refrigerate my sourdough, whether the autolyse, or just so I can make better use of the rising time, it refuses to rise afterwards. I’ve tried a dozen or more times, with several recipes, that otherwise work well. My only conclusion is that my fridge, which is set a little colder than the ‘normal’ setting, kills the yeast. It’s was very frustrating, but now I only use recipes that can be finished in one day, and they work fine
Thank you for such a great recipe. Unfortunately mine didn’t turn out. I used freshly ground flour and kneaded it in my kitchen aid for over 25 minutes. Just when I thought it was making a dough ball it would separate yet again. So I just finished the rest of the recipe and let it sit out for 8 hours then in the fridge overnight. When I pulled it out in the morning it was more like the consistency of sugar cookie dough. When I was separating into balls it wasn’t stretchy like bread dough, it broke like cookie dough. I let rise and it did rise a little bit. Baked it and it is a soft bread, but I still need to figure out this using fresh ground flour thing. Nothing I have made with it is working out like my all purpose flour recipes 🙁 I will not give up though!! I will make this with store bought flour and see how it goes.
It is probably because of the freshly milled flour. It has a different water absorption rate and each recipe usually needs adjusted a bit.
This bread is delicious! I kneaded by hand which took longer than I expected. It was the wettest dough I’ve ever worked with before. The tip to mix then wait a bit before kneading helped a lot. It came together in about 40 minutes of working with it. The first time I made this recipe, I did not let it rise enough during step 9 (the second rise after shaping). I had it in the fridge previously, which you said takes a lot longer to rise after being refrigerated. The second time I made this recipe, I let rise the same day as shaping. Both times the recipe tasted great, but the second time with the correct second rise the texture was soft as expected. I highly recommend this recipe. The bread tasted great as is and as French toast. I will be making this again. Thanks.
I’ve been baking several of your recipes the past 2 days getting ready for Easter. The brioche turned out beautiful. My next recipe in a few days will be the Einchorn boul. Having a blast in my Senior years baking!
This recipe was everything that I was hoping for. It wasn’t dense and heavy, but light and fluffy. My hubby and I both loved this bread and it will be a staple in our home. Thank you so much for the step by step , easy to follow instructions.