A brioche dough is an enriched dough which you can use for all types of wonderful things. It is basically a yeasted dough enriched with eggs and butter. It sounds amazing already! You can use it to make bread and buns for example.
You will need a stand-mixer with a dough hook. Alternatively, you can, by all means, make this by hand - it will just take a little longer but think about the arm exercise gains ;-)
Brioche dough ingredients and method are relatively similar for different uses, although the balance of flour, butter and milk, and use of savoury versus sweet flavourings may change slightly. The below recipe is for a sweet brioche which I use for making Cinnamon Buns.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 Tsp Active Yeast
200g Whole Milk, at room temperature
4 Tbsp Dark Muscovado Sugar
565g Plain Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Medium Eggs, Whisked
115g Unsalted Butter, softened
Here is how I make my brioche dough:
In a small bowl, combine the yeast, the lukewarm milk and half of the sugar. Mix well with a whisk and leave for 10-15 minutes.
In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon and rest of the sugar. Mix briefly until combined.
Mix the vanilla with the eggs, and add to the flour mixture along with the yeasty milk mixture.
Mix everything on low for 2-3 minutes until the dough starts to come together. Give it time to come together - it may look a little dry but be patient. However, if it continues to look really dry you can add more milk but do so 1 tsp at a time.
Increase the mixer speed to medium for c.10 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth.
Reduce the mixer to a low speed and slowly start to add the butter - one piece at a time. Wait until one piece has been incorporated until you start to add the next. It should take a few minutes to add all of the butter.
Once done, increase the speed slightly and leave to mix for another 5 minutes until the dough is very soft and smooth.
Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and shape into a ball. Place it into a lightly greased bowl and wrap tightly with clingfilm.
Place the dough in a warm area 60 to 90 minutes until it doubles in size; alternatively leave in the fridge overnight.
When you want to use it the next day, let it come to room temperature before rolling out.
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