Best Easy Brioche Recipes

EASY BRIOCHE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Tear bread into 1-inch pieces and place in an 8-inch square baking dish. Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with pecans and raisins.
• Whisk milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together in a medium bowl until combined and pour over bread mixture in the baking dish. Press gently on the bread until saturated. Let sit for a few minutes.
• Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until top is puffed but set, about 40 minutes. Pudding will settle back down as it cools.

EASY BRIOCHE

Steps:

• Mix everything together in your mixer until you get a nice really smooth dough. This can take a while. In my case it took about 15 minutes, scraping down the dough every few minutes from the dough hook in the mixer.
• After it's mixed, place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat (so it won't dry out) then let it rise in a draft-free place until doubled. This might take as much as 2 hours since the large amount of butter will slow the rise. WAIT!
• After rising, de-gas the dough, cut it into about 12 equal pieces, press them fairly flat then add some chocolate chips.
• Roll the dough into a round shape and place on parchment paper to rise, covered for about 45 minutes. If you want, you can instead place the filled dough balls in a lightly greased muffin tin to maintain the round shape. They do come out much prettier that way! Let the dough rise in the tin until they overflow the tops a little to make the traditional 'mushroom' top.
• Pre-heat the oven to 365 F (185 C). Just before placing in the oven, brush gently with a wash of egg white and water. Sprinkle with sesame seed if you want. I think it make them tastier but it's just a matter of taste. Bake for 10 minutes, turn them 180 degrees for even baking, them bake another 10 minutes.

EASY EASTER BRIOCHE

Steps:

• Tip the flour into a food processor fitted with a plastic kneading blade and add the butter. Process until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the caster sugar, a good pinch of salt and the yeast.
• Add the eggs and mix to a soft dough, then knead in the machine for 2 mins. Butter a brioche mould or 2 pt loaf tin. Sprinkle a layer of flour onto a work surface and tip the dough onto it. With floured hands, knead very briefly to form a ball, then drop the dough into the tin, smooth side up. Cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hrs in a warm place.
• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Brush the top of the brioche with egg yolk, then sprinkle over crushed sugar and bake for 20-25 mins, until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Tip out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
• No food processor? Simply rub the butter into the flour by hand, stir in the sugar, salt and yeast, then add the eggs and mix to a soft dough. Cover and chill for 20 mins (this makes it easier to handle), then knead on a floured surface for 5 mins. Drop into the tin and carry on as recipe.

QUICK AND EASY WHOLE WHEAT BRIOCHE

Steps:

• Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food storage container.
• Combine the liquid ingredients and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor or a heavy duty stand mixer with paddle.
• The dough will be loose, but will firm up when chilled. Don't try to use it without chilling for at least 2 hours. You may notice lumps in the dough but they will be gone in the finished product.
• Cover (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.
• Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before using. The dough can be stored and used over the next 5 days, or store the dough in the freezer for up to two weeks in an airtight container. Freeze it in 2 lb portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual rest/rise times.
• On baking day, grease a non-stick brioche mold or an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough (you can make a one-pounder as well). Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place the ball into the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for about 1 hour 45 minutes. (dough should no longer feel cold and will have a bit of spring to it).
• Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack in the middle of the oven where your baking stone should sit. If not using a baking stone, a 5-minute preheat should be enough.
• Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf's top with egg wash.
• Bake the loaf near the center of the oven for about 40-45 minutes. For smaller or larger loaves you will need to adjust the resting and baking times-a one-pounder should need only about 35 to 40 minutes in the oven.
• Remove the brioche from the pan and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing. If it refuses to come out of the pan, allow to rest in hot pan for 10 minutes and it should unstick to the sides and slide out.