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.
Hi Lisa! Love your recipes. First time making this. The video says to add 3.5C of bread flour but the recipe on the blog says 3C. Which one is it? Thanks!
Sorry about that. It’s 3 cups! The recipe cards will be right, because I can change and edit them as recipes evolve.
if
you dont have bread flour what is the ratio of flour that can be used?
I would just make it a 1:1 change out.
Can I use rye flour for this recipe,
When you say “cups of flour”, do you know what the weight of that flour is because I can measure out one cup and get 10 different results. I usually do my flour by weight and I normally go by the standard of 4.5 ounces of flour to a cup.
I normally do not weigh my recipes when I make them, but have in the past. This post may be helpful: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/baking-conversion-chart
Has anyone tried freezing the cooked bread? I was thinking of making it ahead of Thanksgiving.
Bread freezes wonderfully, and would expect this bread to freeze just as well.
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe. Can you refrigerate the ready-to-bake dough for a few days like you do with your everyday sourdough loaf recipe? How about freezing after final rise before baking ( to save the second loaf for another time?)
I don’t see why not! It works with other doughs. It may work for freezing as well, I’ve never done it. I usually freeze my breads baked.
What’s the best substitute for butter? Olive oil or coconut oil or something else?
My dough was super sticky and looked nothing like the picture after it was baked.
Any ideas why that might be?
I used olive oil instead of butter and coconut milk instead of milk
Honestly I’m not sure. The olive oil will not work because the butter is still soft and not melted. I don’t think coconut would work either. May be better than olive oil though. My only other thought is possibly vegan butter (I’m guessing you’re dairy free?), never tried it, but it has the most similar consistency to real butter.
You can substitute but remember it is the butter that gives brioche its richness and flavor. Personally, if I were going to leave out the butter I’d make a different kind of bread. That said, yes you can substitute olive oil for butter at a ratio of 3/4 the amount of olive oil to butter. So for example if your recipe calls for 8 Tablespoons of butter, you would only use 6 tablespoons of olive oil. That is probably why your dough is incredibly sticky. Yes you can substitute coconut milk for regular milk.
My sourdough brioche dough was super airy and bubbly before I put into the fridge during first rise and the second wise as well — I braided one and it lost all of its shape. The “balls” on the one in the loaf pan lost all shape as well. Just into bubbly blob. Any reason for this? I did “proof” in a warm kitchen during the hot part of the day in Humid Hawaii and wondering if it was just too much heat? It doubled in 2 hours vs the 6-8 hours recommended. Your dough looks less “airy”— help?!
I always go by look. Not someone else’s timetable. The reason is that the warmth of where the dough is raising will make a difference. My house generally runs cool so it takes just a bit longer. Sounds like your dough over raised and then deflated.
At which step would you add in something like raisins?
I would add it in the original mixing, toward the end of the kneading time.
Hi Lisa!
I want to make this into hamburger buns. Should I just shape the dough into individual balls and bake them that way?
Also how would you recommend freezing the dough? There’s only two of us, so I don’t want to bake everything at once. Would it be best to freeze the dough once it’s about ready to go into the oven? Or bake half-way then freeze?
Thank you so much for your videos, I can’t wait to grow my skills for when we start our family soon 🙂
I would freeze the dough unbaked. Shape, lay out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and flash freeze and then store in airtight bags. To bake, I take them out of the freezer the night before and put on a cookie sheet covered well with plastic wrap and let them thaw in the fridge overnight. Then I take out in the morning and let raise.
this looks amazing but i am concerned about leaving this out for 6-8 hours with eggs and milk. can i put it in the refrigerator?
Yes you can, but it won’t have the same fermentation benefits.