Easy Brioche Loaf Recipe (No-Knead)
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The dough for this easy, no-knead brioche loaf comes together in 5 minutes and requires nothing more than a bowl, whisk, and spatula. Start to finish, it can be made in 4 hours but requires only 25 minutes of active time 🍞🍞🍞
Brioche is a soft-textured, slightly sweet, rich-tasting bread often made with sugar, milk, and heaps of eggs and butter. I recently came across a recipe calling for 6 eggs and 20 tablespoons of butter. The recipe yielded one loaf. One loaf! Two and a half sticks of butter for one loaf!
Even if that brioche is the brioche to end all brioches, I will never make it. I can’t get myself to load dough up with so many enrichments knowing that a lean dough — one made with flour, water, and salt alone — can produce something completely delicious and satisfying.
Moreover, I know that a modest amount of enrichments goes a long way. With challah, for example, the inclusion of two eggs and a little bit of oil and honey yields a light and airy loaf, golden-hued, soft-textured, and rich tasting.
Would using even more eggs, oil, and honey make that challah that much better?
I don’t know — I’ve never tried! But my hunch is no. For me, the law of diminishing returns applies with bread: at a certain point, more eggs, oil, butter, sugar, and milk won’t make a loaf of bread materially better.
The first brioche bread recipe I made came from the original Tartine cookbook. I recently re-read the introduction to that recipe, which notes that “different types of brioche dough are made depending on how they will be used, with the formulas varying primarily in the percentage of butter.” Tartine intentionally makes a less-rich brioche because they use it for bread pudding and bostock, and they “need the crumb structure to hold up” to the rich ingredients they use in these recipes.
And this is perhaps the most compelling reason in my mind to make a “light” brioche: if you view brioche mostly as a vehicle for making exceptional bread pudding, French toast, and the like, it might be wise to save all of those eggs and all of that butter for a recipe in which they’ll really shine.
About this Brioche
Until very recently, I noted in my favorite bread pudding recipe that the brioche recipe I used required 2 days of work. I warned: “Be sure to plan ahead!”
Years after posting that recipe, I have learned that very good brioche can be made simply and quickly. The recipe below comes from my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs, though I’ve made some changes:
- I’ve added weights for all of the ingredients because I’ve learned precision is important not only for dry ingredients but also wet.
- I offer a range of water quantities because I think depending on where you are, the amount of water you should use will vary.
- Instead of simply splitting the dough in half with forks and plopping it into the two buttered loaf pans, I now turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, weigh each portion — I like the loaves to be as similarly sized as possible — and shape each into a batard. (Note: If you prefer the “peasant bread method” of never having to deal with a floured work surface or with shaping, you can use that method here.)
But the spirit of the recipe is still the same. This brioche is:
- Light. (For reasons outlined above.)
- No-knead. (There’s just no need 😂😂😂.)
- Fast. (Start to finish it’s ready in about 4 hours, with about 25 minutes of active work. If you wish to do an overnight, fridge rise with the dough, however, you can do that, too.)
- Easy. (Many brioche recipes call for a stand mixer and softened butter, which you work into the dough piece by piece. This one calls for melted butter.)
- Delicious. (This brioche bread is nicely seasoned — subtly sweet, perfectly salted — and is an excellent candidate for bread pudding and French toast, overnight or otherwise.)
How to Make Brioche: A Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s the play by play: Gather your ingredients.
Stir together the dry ingredients. Whisk together the wet.
Combine the two until until you have a sticky dough ball:
Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, roughly two hours.
Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface:
Divide into two equal portions.
Shape into batards.
Transfer to buttered loaf pans and let rise until the dough crowns the rim of the pans. I love these pans for this recipe and others (namely this banana bread.)
Transfer to a 375ºF oven for roughly 45 minutes.
Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
This brioche is delicious toasted with butter and jam, but it’s especially good in this brioche bread pudding recipe.
And it freezes beautifully, too. See notes in the recipe below.
Easy Brioche Loaf Recipe (No-Knead)
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Adapted from my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs.
This recipe is very similar to the one in my book, but I’ve added weights for all of the ingredients, and instead of simply dividing the dough and plopping it into bread pans, I now like to turn it out onto a floured work surface, divide it into two even portions (by weight), and shape it before transferring it to the buttered loaf pans.
To create a warm spot for your bread to rise, turn your oven on for one minute, then shut it off. That brief blast of heat will create a cozy place for your bread to rise.
As always: for best results, use a digital scale to weigh the ingredients.
Water: This is a very wet dough. If you live in a humid area or you have trouble working with sticky doughs, I would start with 1.75 cups (425 g). Reference the photos above and the video for how sticky/wet the dough should appear.
If using active dry yeast: Sprinkle the yeast over the whisked together wet ingredients (which should be lukewarm to the touch) and let stand for 15 minutes or until it gets foamy; then proceed with the recipe.
To freeze: Let the dough cool completely, then tuck into an airtight bag or vessel and freeze for up to 3 months (or a bit longer).
Ingredients
- 6 cups (768 g) all-purpose or bread flour
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) kosher salt
- 2.5 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, see notes above if using active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup (77 g) sugar
- 1.75 –2 cups (425-450 g) lukewarm water, see notes above
- 2 eggs (100 g)
- 1/2 cup (125 g) milk
- 6 tablespoons (80 g) butter, melted
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, salt, yeast, and sugar.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, water, and melted butter.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir with a spatula till you have a sticky dough ball.
- Cover bowl and let rise in a warm area (see notes above) for 2 to 3 hours or until doubled. Alternatively, stick bowl in the fridge immediately and let it rise overnight or for 12 to 18 hours.
- Grease two 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pans with butter. Heat your oven to 375ºF.
- There are two ways to proceed after the first rise: 1. You can simply deflate the dough using forks to release the dough from the sides of the bowl and to divide it into two equal portions; then use oiled hands to transfer the dough to your prepared pans. (Dough is very wet and sticky—this is normal.) 2. Or you can cover a work surface with flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured work surface and shape it into a rough ball, using as much flour as necessary—the dough is very wet and sticky. Use a bench scraper to divide the dough into two equal portions. (Depending on how much water you are using, each portion will weigh between 790-805 grams.) Shape each portion into an oblong loaf or batard (see video guidance here) and transfer to prepared loaf pans.
- Let rise until dough begins to crown the rim of your pan. This may take 45 minutes to an hour (or more or less depending on how warm your kitchen is).
- Transfer pans to oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until evenly golden or until an instant-read thermometer registers 205ºF or higher. Turn loaves out onto cooling racks and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- 3 cups (384 g) all-purpose or bread flour
- 1.5 teaspoons (7 g) kosher salt
- 1.5 teaspoons (5 g) instant yeast
- 3 tablespoons (38 g) sugar
- 0.75 –1 cups (170-227 g) lukewarm water, see notes above
- 1 egg (50 g)
- 1/4 cup (62 g) milk
- 3 tablespoons (40 g) butter, melted
- Prep Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: French
Keywords: easy, no-knead, brioche, light, bread
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116 Comments on “Easy Brioche Loaf Recipe (No-Knead)”
Great recipe and love that it uses less butter and eggs than traditional brioche. I am a novice bread baker, but this came out great!
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Great to hear this, Jill! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
This is my new go-to bread recipe! It’s unbelievably easy and the yummiest bread I make while being very versatile. Thank you for such a great recipe!
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Great to hear this, Jen! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Can this recipe be braided?
I think the dough unfortunately is too wet to be braided.
My dough has tons of little lumps in it. I have tried a few different ways to mix it but there are always lumps. Will this effect the final product? I’m gifting the loaves so I can’t cut into them to check if they are ok
They should smooth out as the dough rises. Sorry just seeing this! How did it turn out?
Tried this recipe twice; Loved it for French toast whether it was savory or sweet. My only issue relates to the dough being wetter than the video you posted, I think I added no less than /2 cup of flour so that I can shape the batter. I think I should reduce the water to between 350 to 400g as I used 425gm previously. I want to perfect it as the taste is delicious
★★★★
Great to hear, Hessah! Yes, definitely start with less water next time around to make your life easier. Start with 350 g… you can always add more if the dough feels too stiff.
Made this bread and it was wonderful. If I wanted to add raisins, at what point would I add them?
★★★★★
Great to hear! Toss them with the flour; then follow the recipe as directed.
This has been my go to brioche bread recipe and it has not failed me yet! I like to substitute 1/3 of the flour for whole wheat and I like to add cinnamon raisins halfway during the rise. A couple stretch and folds to mix it in is all the extra work needed to incorporate the raisins and it gives the bread just a little extra structure. Great raisin bread and even better for french toast!
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That all sounds amazing, Kevin! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Definitely going to try this. Cinnamon-raisin french toast sounds lovely 🙂
Been making this bread weekly for a year. Love it. Could I use whole wheat flour for part of the recipe. If so what measurments would you use?
Many thanks
★★★★★
Great to hear Sherry! I would start by using 1 cup whole wheat flour (128 g) and 5 cups all-purpose or bread flour (640 g). Then, depending on how you like it, use more or less the next time around. My sense is that 2 cups whole wheat flour is maybe the max I would use without too much of the texture being sacrificed. Keep me posted if you experiment! Good luck 🙂
I want to try this for French Toast for Father’s Day this Sunday. Would you recommend baking it a day before as I have heard day old bread is better for french toast? Thank you!
Hi Carrie! Definitely! You can even bake it tomorrow (Friday). Slightly stale bread makes excellent French toast.
This brioche is beautiful, delicious, and so easy! After mixing the dough I chose to let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, it was very easy to handle, and while it took longer to crown the loaf pans, the resulting bread was fabulous. This, along with your overnight focaccia, will be on steady rotation in my kitchen. Thanks for making me feel like an accomplished bread baker!
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So wonderful to read all of this, Nenette! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes — so helpful for others wanting to use the fridge for rising. Happy baking!
I’ve made this multiple times now because it is easy to follow and has the perfect taste and texture, I make it with dairy free butter and dairy free milk, it’s the only bread recipe I’ll be making, 10/10
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Great to hear, Nazifa! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. So helpful for others wanting to make it dairy free.
Greetings, I love this recipe and all of yours. I have the cookbook. I was wondering if I could divide the dough into balls and place them in a round baking pan and make pull apart rolls? Would I use the same temperature and bake for how long? It seems they would be a bit like biscuits. It’s the holidays again and my neighbors are eagerly waiting their bread supply from me. I thought I could change it up a bit this year.
Hi Johanna! Yes, see this post and the recipe at the end of the post: https://alexandracooks.com/2020/12/23/christmas-menu-2020-cinnamon-buns-ham-mustard-sauce-glogg-more/#bread
!SOS! Question mid rise- I realize this may not get an answer in time….
Started recipe for overnight rise, followed your directions exactly. I am familiar with sticky doughs but this one never formed anything close to a ‘ball’. Kept adding flour until that consistency was achieved. Probably around at least 1.5 cups – Used full amount of water, we live in a very arid climate.
Fingers crossed this will still work. This is intended for the stuffing recipe for turkey.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi Loretta! I would just push on. It should be fine. The dough will definitely thicken as it rises and as the flour continues to absorb the water.
Can I make this recipe with 4×8 bread pan?
You can, but just be sure to not fill it higher than 3/4 full or it won’t bake properly. You can bake off extra dough in smaller vessels.
I’m trying to make this bread today and I’m having an exceptionally hard time making the batards. Did you wet you hands with water or oil, or dust the with flour? I’ve made your focaccia a plethora of times it is the one dish everyone requests at family parties, and I actually have 2 focaccia doughs in the fridge as I type in preparation for making Sicilian pizza this weekend. In short love your recipes and I am looking forward to trying more in the very near future!
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Hi Sean! Sorry to hear about the trouble… I used flour to dust my hands and work surface. How did they turn out? It’s so nice to read about the focacccia and yay for the Sicilian pizza in your future. Hope it all turns out well. Thanks for writing!