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, I did not have enough of unsalted butter for recipe. I ended up putting a quarter cup of salted,will that affect the performance of the brioche?
That should be fine!
Lisa, I baked two loaves of the brioche today and my family is in love. I took forever to get it to form a ball initially but I persevered and am so glad I did. Thank you for the encouraging YouTube video. It was very helpful.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Lisa!
Is the last rise, after you’ve place the doughballs into the loaf pans, at room temperature?
Thanks!
Yes, it’s at room temperature!
Can I cut this recipe in half to make just one loaf? Sounds delicious!
Is it possible to over proof these during the last proof? Mine are rising quickly and it’s near bedtime. I don’t know if I should put them in the fridge for the rest of the night or leave them on the counter. I plan to make them into French toast sticks and freeze for my son to eat later. ❤️
Yes. If they overproof, they will become very dense. Proofing is entirely dependent upon how active your starter is and how warm your house is. Placing them in the fridge is completely fine!
This was absolutely wonderful! I braided the dough into a wreath shape and sprinkled sesame seeds on the outside before baking. We ate half with just butter and the other half I made into a French toast casserole which was just so delicious. I plan on gifting these to neighbors this year. Thanks Lisa!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe. It would make a wonderful gift!
What means 2 sticks butter room temp ? What is that mesurement? Thank you !!
One stick of butter is typically 1/2 cup.
This turned out wonderful! A couple things to note!
I only have 1 loaf pan and don’t need 2 loaves so I did half the recipe. Maybe that’s why I ran into an issue. Also I weighed my flour rather than measuring out in scoops. That could be the issue as well.
So I mixed it all together and it was so so wet. But I let it mix in my kitchen aid for 10 mins. Still soup. Gave it 5 more mins and no change. Gave it 2-3 more mins and gave in and assumed maybe because I weighed the flour instead of scooping it probably wasn’t the same amount as the author did in the recipe so I added a little at a time until it finally came together. It was probably between another .5-1 more cups.
I let it proof 6-7 hours then I chilled for 2, did the dough balls and put into my loaf pan, then back to the fridge another 3-4 hours until I was ready to leave on the counter to rise overnight. Took it out and covered it and let proof for 10 hours.
Next morning I put it in the oven at 425 F, and once my timer got down to 8 mins I noticed it was already a light golden brown so I dropped my temp to 400F to prevent burning the top. My bread is on the 3rd rack from the bottom (7 racks total) so not close to the element. Just pulled it out and it’s a dark golden brown.
Also the recipe didn’t mention whether to leave it in the pan for several minutes once it’s out or if I need to immediately pull it out or what the processes once it’s done and before you cut it. So I’m going to let it sit in the pan for several minutes before I pull it out to cool on a wire rack.
Can’t wait to cut into it!
Sounds like you are on the right track!
Keep meaning to try these out too. I have some time off this week, I should give it a try this week.
So you think you can freeze these and bake later ? If so at what point do you think it would work to freeze? Thanks!
You can freeze it as a dough! I just wrote a new article on the blog about this. https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/freezing-sourdough-bread-dough-a-complete-guide
Would you be able to put the individual rolls into muffin tins, or on a baking sheet, spread apart to an individual roll? Trying something new and fun for Thanksgiving this year!
Oh I would think so! The bake time would just need to be reduced.