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.
For a half recipe, see the notes below.
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
Half Recipe Quantities:
- 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
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169 Comments on “Easy Brioche Loaf Recipe (No-Knead)”
That is my exact philosophy and that is why I follow you and why I am definitely going to try this brioche!
Thanks Alex!
So nice to hear this, Cindy! Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂 Hope you love it.
Oh! First to comment :P. This is right on time. I followed a very popular recipe for a 7 grain seedy sandwich bread and while delicious, it is a solid heavy brick and not at all soft and light like the article said. I’m sure it’s user error but your recipes have yet to fail me. I have to redeem myself – will make this right now. How should I store this to eat throughout the week?
Ha. Second to comment.
5 stars! Ate 5 (thin) slices just now, 2 as pb&j. 1 with pb + honey. Last one with apricot jam, yummm. Thanks for saving my Sunday Baking Day!
Oh yay! So nice to hear this, Tina 🙂 🙂 🙂 I have been living on this toasted with butter and jam. Such a treat! Sometimes also just toasted with salted butter + more flaky salt bc I a salt fiend. Thanks for reporting back!
😂😂😂😂
Oh bummer! Likely not user error 🙂
I am a fan of storing bread in ziplock bags and storing at room temperature. If you don’t want to use a ziplock you can use an airtight container like a Tupperware. I feel airtight bags or vessels keep the crumb the freshest the longest. The crust, no matter how you store it, suffers on day two and beyond, and this is why I always recommend heating day-old bread. I always toast day old bread when I am making my morning toast. And at dinner, I always reheat hunks of bread at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes. It revives beautifully!
TOASTED WITH BUTTER AND JAM 💯💯💯
Also toasted + butter + pb + apricot jam + smushed banana pieces, open sammie style. YUM
I have fancy flaked sea salt coming with my farm fresh delivery, gonna hop on that train too.
Oh this all sounds soooooo good. I love a good open sandie 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for all of this, Tina!!
Tina, I think your enthusiasm in each of these comments is pretty much exactly the way I reacted the first time I ever made some of the recipes from Bread Toast Crumbs. The smell from the freshly baked bread made our resistance weak… and even though you should wait to slice bread until it’s cool, we ignored that instinct and basically swan dove in! (Though I didn’t count, I also ate probably half a loaf. You are in good company. My children then ate the rest of it.) Thanks for bringing a smile to my face.
Ali, thank you for your words on how to reheat bread on days 2 and 3 (in the event it lasts that long).
So nice to hear all of this, Laura 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much. And I know: it is impossible to wait for bread to cool before (swan) diving in 😂😂😂😂😂 Thanks so much for writing.
YEEESSSSS. The gifts you keep dishing out! My heart went a flutter when you split open the loaf and showed that crumb! Quick question: if I only wanted to make one loaf, would I just cut the entire recipe in half? Including the yeast?
I did one loaf! I split (mostly) everything right in half. I’m using a scale so was easy to do. Anything that wasn’t a whole number, I rounded up, ie. 13.5, rounded up to 14. And lastly for the yeast, I did 5 grams because I felt like 4 was too teeny.
Thank you Tina!! 💕💕💕💕💕
Hi Tina, I have few questions to one loaf recipe. Did you add only one egg? Was 5g yeast enough or should I add 6-7? Thank you.
Oh yay, so nice to hear this 🙂 🙂 🙂 I think Tina’s advice is spot on. If you have a scale, it will be very easy, and I like Tina’s idea of rounding up, too. Good luck!
In our house we can’t use white sugar, we do use Agave Nectar for all our sweeteners. would ;this work for this bread ? I ask as I haven’t ever tried it on bread recipes.
Hi Shirley! I have never baked with agave nectar, but if you have had success using it in other recipes, then go for it! I imagine it would work great. My only concern is that it would make the dough even wetter, so I would use 425 grams of water. Good luck!
In using Agave, you would use 1/2-2/3 cup of agave to every cup of sugar. decreasing the liquids by 1/4 or 1/3 cup most of the time I decrease by oz.’s so I generally decrease by 1 oz. per cup of liquid. I also decrease the temperature by 25 degrees and increase the cook time by about 10 – 15 minutes. Always check to make sure that it is cooked completely.
OK, great! Then yes, do that!
Saw this recipe the other day, and although I already have a favorite brioche recipe, I decided to try this one. My old recipe is so heavy on the butter! I used half the dough for a loaf and the other half for a pan of sticky buns. My husband is from Pennsylvania and is a sticky bun afficianado. He pronounced the sticky buns I made with this recipe “really good”, which, coming from him, is a real compliment. My loaf pans are 9 by 5 so I scaled all the ingredients up (easy to do if you use the gram weights). I don’t think that was strictly necessary. There was plenty of dough, maybe even a bit too much. I think the given measurements would probably be just fine in two 9 by 5 loaf pans. To make the sticky buns, I used your cinnamon roll filling recipe, and halved the measurements. Next time, and there will be a next time, I’ll use the full recipe for the filling. My husband likes a LOT of filling, and I could spread some in the bottom of the pan to make the ultra-sticky bottom he likes. I tried a bite of his bun and it was heaven! Light, tender, flavorful, just slightly sweet – everything I want in a brioche-type bread, and far less rich than my old recipe. I think I’ve found a new favorite.
Oh Yay! Earlene, it’s so nice to hear all of this, and great to hear your PA husband gave them the thumbs up. Thanks for sharing the details of how to make your sticky buns, which sound soooo good. I love ultra-sticky buns as well! Thanks for writing!
so easy. so delicious. i love that it makes two loaves – one to eat and one to gift.
rave reviews from everyone in the household. thanks, ali.
So great to hear this, Jude! Thanks so much for writing. Love gifting bread, too. People are so grateful 🙂
and thank YOU for responding to my comments.
it’s especially delightful to gift bread to non-bakers.
We loved this bread! Love your book!
So nice to hear this, Sandi!
So good! I’ve made this twice now, the first time I burnt the top, but the interior flavor was still good and soft. The second time, I realized my error which was that I cut the recipe in half to only make one loaf (for two people) and didn’t adjust the timing of the bake! I found that about 30 minutes was the sweet spot for one loaf. Great bread to mix things up and ideal for french toast 🙂
So nice to hear this, Brian! Love seeing your creations on IG, too. So good. Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Wow, wow, wow!
This recipe was easy to follow and the final product is gorgeous and delicious. The hardest part was waiting 30 minutes to slice it 😋.
I love that it makes two loaves as I plan on freezing one. Looking forward to making some French toast this weekend!!
So nice to hear this, Cristy!! Thanks so much for writing and sharing, and yay for having a loaf in the freezer 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi. Just in process of making this (for one loaf brioche & overnight cinnamon rolls) and have weighed everything.
Am having issues. The dough is incredibly dry, so much I added 1/2 cup warm milk to it to get the flour even slightly moist.
Not at all the sticky dough mentioned in the recipe.
Is this a common problem.
So interesting! And so sorry for the delay here. What type of flour are you using? And do you live in a very dry environment? I’m happy to hear you are using a scale and happy to hear you corrected with more milk … good move! Let me know how it turned out.
Hi. Thanks for the reply (no apology necessary; appreciate any feedback).
I was using Canadian all-purpose flour.
Left the flour to prove overnight – just to see – and it is decidedly overpriced and a bit unpleasant as a result, albeit edible.
Never got sticky as mentioned, even with additional milk.
Are you sure the weights are correct? Tested my scale to be sure it is not the issue; seems not.
Have made several of your breads to great success so am perplexed by these issues. As a novice bread baker am not really able to adjust knowledgeably.
Second (third?) question: do you have a recipe for a white bread with a very soft, pale crust? Trying to make some for a child with textural issues.
Your peasant bread might work but find the crush too robust.
Many thanks whenever (if!) you are able to reply.
And auto correct strikes again. Sigh.
*overproved
*crust
It is so easy and so delicious. I let mine rise overnight in the fridge. Thank you so much for the recipe. Next, I’m going to try the recipes for brioche buns and oatmeal bread.
Wonderful to hear this 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hello Ali
Everyone loved this, such an easy and wonderful recipe, thanks. Also loved the newish sourdough ciabatta recipe; I had been looking to make ciabatta, but all the recipes I could find seemed too daunting. When you posted yours, I knew I could give it a try; you always seem to find a very doable method for everything. And they did turn out really really well. Which leads me to my question: could this brioche bun recipe be converted to sourdough? If yes, how would you go about it?
Many thanks and all the best,
emine
So nice to hear all of this, Emine 🙂 🙂 🙂 Truly means a lot.
Funny you ask about this brioche recipe being converted to sourdough bc I am in the process this very instant of doing just that! I just mixed up a batch of dough, and it is on the wet side, so I’ll need to reduce the water next time around, but I am hoping to post the recipe very soon. If you want more details now, I can add them here, but I’d hate to give you something that doesn’t work out. I’ll be sure to report back when the recipe is ready!
yayyy, will be looking forward to when you post the new recipe; no need to give details now.
buuut, maybe while you’re at it, would you also consider doing a sourdough version of the wonderful oatmeal sandwich bread? I have tried doing it myself with varying and sometimes acceptable results, but didn’t really get it to be as awesome as the original yeast version.
OK! I’ll get on that 🙂 🙂 🙂
I am super interested in the sourdough recipe if it ever came to pass!
I LOVE this recipe and have made this bread a few times. One problem that came up consistently is the loaf bursting on the side while baking, and that leads to bread falls apart while cutting. (I followed instructions exactly with measuring everything, and cooling time) Not pretty to look at but still delicious. I was wondering if this was caused by over-proofing the dough? I would love to try again and would appreciate any advice. Thank you!
Hi Melissa! Great to hear this! It definitely could be due to over-proofing. One other thought: cut back the liquid slightly. Is the dough very very wet when you mix it? And are you using a scale to measure?
Made two loaves today with some adjustments. I used 3 eggs, 1 stick of Kerrygold unsalted butter and a little less than 5 cups of bread flour. The loaves came out perfect!
Great to hear, Faye! Thanks for writing and sharing your notes 🙂 🙂 🙂
Question: can you use margarine or dairy free butter and soy milk to make it dairy free?
Yes, absolutely!
So good and easy to make, thank you!! Enjoyed fresh yesterday with butter and sea salt, then made french toast this morning, and am looking forward to a snack with brioche and Nutella. 😉 Thanks, Ali!
Awwww yay 🙂 🙂 🙂 So nice to hear this, Heather! My kids are obsessed with Nutella right now. Thanks for writing!! xoxo
Hi Ali, I have and love your cookbook and website! The light brioche is a staple in our house. I saw several recipes for brioche wrapped hot dogs online. Do you think your brioche dough would work ?We have some “littles” in our house that love pigs in a blanket.
So nice to hear this, Sherry! Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂 I love this idea… my kids would go crazy for it, too. I think you could use this dough, but I would hold back some of the water so that it’s slightly stiffer — I think if you try to use the recipe as written, it will be difficult to wrap around the little hot dogs. If you are using a scale, hold back 50-75 grams of the water… you can always add back some of it if the dough is too stiff. Good luck!
Ali, made the wrapped hot dogs today with the light dough. Eggwashed and used everything bagel seasonings for some, left others plain. Bun length hot dogs worked
fine. Big hit. Thx
That’s so fun, Sherry! Thanks so much for writing back and sharing your notes. Can’t wait to try this.
Thank you for this easy and delicious recipe! The videos are a game changer, my technique is better for them and the end result always looks like yours. Just sampled a few slices of one of the loaves, perfection. We’ll have a loaf tonight with our coq au vin and another tomorrow for french toast.
Wonderful to hear this, Stephanie! Love that you are serving it with coq au vin — comfort food! Thanks for writing 🙂
Ali, do you think there is a way to merge this recipe with your yeasted ciabatta- by introducing a poolish and a 12-24 cold proof?? I’ve done both recipes with success, I’m a little obsessed with having a sour “tang” to a brioche recipe. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you have them!
Hi Laura! I think you could definitely try. I would do the same sponge as used in the ciabatta: 50 grams each flour and water + 2 grams yeast. Let it sit; then proceed with the recipe using the remaining flour and water (substracting 50 grams from each).
Let me know if you give it a go!
It’s on hour 10 in the fridge as we speak (type)! Glad to hear we had the same ideas. I’ll post back with my results! Thank you. 🙂
PS-you were cognizant enough to reply at 4:25am?! Your dedication to answering questions is noteworthy.
OK, great to hear! Hope it turned out well. And thank you 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Just made this recipe! Love the taste and texture and the ease of making. Will make it often!
Great to hear, Judith! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Alexandra
Love all you recipes. Question I have is can I use egg replacer instead of egggs?
Thanks
Karthik
Hi! And yes. You could also simply omit the eggs.
I’m starting to work my way through your bread recipes… I’ve baked a few peasant breads, and today this brioche, and it’s so good! Both my kids said it was better than the one I usually buy at the bakery (which is really good), and I totally agree. + the house smells amazing now :).
Next on the list is the bagel recipe, we haven’t had any since we moved out of the USA 5 years ago.
So nice to hear this, Caroline 🙂 🙂 🙂 This is my children’s favorite. Toasted with butter … hard to beat. Thanks for writing! Hope you love the bagels 🙂
Can eggs be replaced with aquafaba and the sugar with honey or maple syrup?
Yes and yes!
I have a question…could this be done with gluten free flour? Like the King Arthur one for one?
I think it could actually! I have never tried, but the eggs and butter will give it some structure, so I think this is a good candidate for adapting to gf. Good luck!
Wonderful bread with a beautiful, silky smooth dough. Veganized by omitting the egg and using soy milk and vegan butter. Lovely, delicious bread
Great to hear, Richard! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. So glad veganizing worked.
Is it 7 or 8 grams of yeast? The recipe says 8 and the video says 7.
Either is fine! Go with 8!
Made this & it was delicious indeed. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Can I add extra butter say 20-30g extra to make it taste more buttery or will that ruin the dough structure?
Great to hear, Rose! Yes, I think that would be just fine. You may need to cut back some of the water. I don’t think it would hurt to hold back an equal amount of water.
Great recipe! Watched the video, followed the recipe to the letter, and it turned out great! My husband loved the brioche so much he took the second loaf to a business associate! Truly awesome and makes a great BLT!! Waiting to slice into the bread was excrutiating but well worth the wait! Starting late morning and having a completed and delicious loaf ready for dinner…how can you not love it?! This is now my go to loaf recipe! Thanks, Alexandra!
I do have a question: if I used white whole wheat flour do you think I would need to make any adjustments to the water, butter, etc? Thanks for your time.
Hi Traci! You shouldn’t have to make any changes. Often with whole wheat flours, you need to add more liquid, but this is such a high hydration dough, you should be fine leaving it alone.
So great to hear this, Traci!! I love this bread for all sorts of sandwiches — the subtle sweetness is so good with savory toppings. So glad your husband approved, too. Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Love this recipe. I noticed that in the Notes for a single loaf, the grams amount for sugar is incorrect. It should be 38g, not 28g.
Thank you, Richard! Just updated the notes. So glad you like the bread.
Hi Ali, You mention in the notes that the dough can be frozen? At which point can it be put in the freezer? Immediately after mixing? Thanks.
Hi Leslie! Yes you can do it then. I recommend letting the dough rise once, deflating it, then freezing it then. Be sure it’s in an airtight container.
Another amazing recipe. The bread was fantastic and the whole house smells so good. Thank you!!
Wonderful to hear this, Louisa 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.