flaky maple butter brioche
The easiest brioche you’ll ever make, yet still fancy enough to render you a novice Breadmaster. Slightly sweetened and ultra tender from eggs, milk, and layers of maple butter folded within the dough. Almost like a croissant in its preparation. Extra good as a vessel for a batch of my Overnight Cranberry Brulee French Toast Bake.
Brioche was a relatively spontaneous undertaking during a required two week quarantine I underwent last month. As was the trend, really, with anyone self-isolating or staying home during the pandemic, at least with bread in general. I started the batch at 6 am, trying really hard not to make a ruckus so to not awaken J at such a wee hour. Surprisingly, the process proved relatively painless aside from having inadequate cutting boards not quite sized for the task. I made it work, though, because I’m stubborn, and maybe since I have a trace of French in my ancestry.
Two big hints for your brioche:
1. Slap and fold kneading. Brioche dough is very sticky by nature and difficult to knead in the basic breadmaking manner if you, like me, are depending on your own elbow grease to create this loaf. The slap and fold simplifies this by reducing the amount of contact your palms need to make with the dough, so you’ll lose less of your mixture to the stream of sinkwater you’ll inevitably use washing your hands a million times.
2. Chilling. Your brioche needs some time to rest, just like you do after a long day at work. After all of the glorious butter gets smeared between layers of dough, stick the whole thing in the fridge for AT LEAST two hours. Overnight is best. You can’t rush brioche, or it will form a temper and not cooperate with your attempts to apologize.
Really, this bread isn’t as complex as the name brioche might suggest. I recreated the traditional French shape by separating the dough into eight segments, but instead of straight balls I rolled them up to really let the layers shine. This bread raises like a champ if you raise it right by following my tips above. The result? Soft, flaky, sweet brioche.
Did you partake in breadmaking adventures during the pandemic? I’d love to hear your successes and flops! I had MANY of the latter. Leave a comment below with your thoughts on this Flaky Maple Butter Brioche and don’t forget to wave hello on Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, divided
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup milk (oat and whole are good)
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 10 tbsp butter, room temperature, divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-3 1/2 cups bread flour
Instructions
- Heat milk in microwave for about 15 to 20 seconds until warm but not scalding – you should be able to stick your finger in without instinctively yanking it out. Add 1 tbsp maple syrup, yeast, and milk to a large bowl and mix slightly. Let sit about 10 minutes or until yeast blooms and foams. If it does not, try again. Your yeast is dead and the bread thus will not rise.
- Keep in mind that I did all of this with a hand mixer or my hands. If you have a stand mixer, the process is likely a bit different (maybe even easier). These directions are written with someone who does not have a stand mixer in mind! More than likely, the product guide for your machine has some information about breadmaking included.
- To the yeast mixture, beat in salt, then add 3 eggs, one at a time, until mixture foams and gets somewhat fluffy. Beat in flour 1 cup at a time, then butter 1 tablespoon at a time, until you use 3 cups of flour total and 4 tbsp butter. I had to cease using my hand mixer after 2 cups of flour and go the old fashioned, get-messy wooden spoon and hands route.
- Swish dough around with a spoon or your hands for about 5 minutes until all the dry flour is incorporated. The dough WILL be very sticky, but you should be able to knead it without a one inch layer of flour and egg DNA adhering to your flesh. Thus, you may need an extra 1/4-1/2 cup of flour to achieve this texture. Dump dough onto a floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes using the slap technique. In the main body of this post, I linked a great how-to on the slap and fold method of breadmaking.
- Spray a light coat of oil or butter to the inside of a clean bowl and place dough inside, flipping once to coat with oil and prevent dryness. Cover with plastic or a clean towel and set in a warm place to rise, about 1-2 hours, until doubled in size. Brioche takes longer to rise than normal doughs due to the richness of the ingredients. Be patient!
- As dough nears the end of its first rise, prepare your maple butter. Add 6 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp maple syrup to a bowl and whip with hand mixer or a wire whisk until fluffy and combined.
- Once dough has doubled, punch it down and form into a ball. Place onto a clean floured workplace and roll into a rectangle about 12 x 8 inches in size. Smear about 1/3 of the butter across the surface, leaving about 1 inch of space around the border. Fold top third of the dough towards the center, then bottom third over the first fold, like an envelope. Pinch edges to seal. Roll dough into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle again and repeat butter and folding processes. Do this one more time for a total of three butters and folds. If the butter starts to really melt as you work, place your rectangle on a baking sheet and set in the fridge for about 10 minutes to let it harden somewhat.
- Once you've finished buttering the layers and have folded the dough a third time, wrap tightly in plastic and set in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight. A quicker brioche still tastes incredible, but the longer resting time brings out the flavor even more.
- When the dough is thoroughly chilled, remove from plastic and set on a floured work surface. Grease a bread pan. Roll to the length of your bread pan and a width of about 10-12 inches. Roll dough from top to bottom, like a jelly roll, and pinch seam tightly to seal. Cut roll into 8 equal pieces and set in the breadpan, seam-side down. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until about 1 inch above the lip of the pan, about 1.5-2 hours.
- Before you bake the brioche, whisk the final egg lightly and brush on the top of the loaf. This gives a lovely golden crust. Bake loaf for 30-35 minutes until deep brown and hollow when knocked. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack and cool at least an hour. Slice and serve with extra maple butter or your favorite sandwich fillings!
