Flaky Brioche Recipe

This Flaky Brioche Recipe is buttery, soft and laminated perfectly to produce tons of flaky layers. If you love flaky, butter pastries you will love this recipe! It’s light, fluffy and easy to make with my step-by-steps to get the perfect lamination. 

Want to try your hand at another deliciously flaky pastry recipe? My Kouign-Amann recipe gives the perfect step-by-steps to make these delicate rolls delicious every time!

Why This Recipe Works

• Plenty of photos to walk you through the process. You will love this recipe because it is really easy to follow along with helpful photos to show how to do things and what your dough and lamination should look like along the way. This is really incremental in making this an easy process!
• Easy to follow step-by-step process. Bread lamination can be a bit intimidating, but I’ve illustrated the steps in detail and will walk you through the process. It will be simple and easy to follow along! Let’s get to it! 
• Tons of delicious, flaky layers. This brioche bread recipe is super delicious and has tons of delicious, buttery, flaky layers. This is thanks to the lamination process! It’s a huge game changer and gives us that beautiful look and delicious texture. 
• Yummy, butter flavor. This flaky bread recipe is super delicious and has a delicate texture and flavor. You will love it! 

Ingredient Notes

• Warm Milk: This will help activate the yeast.
• Yeast: Active or instant yeast is fine. 
• Granulated Sugar: Since this flake bread is a sweet, the sugar is what provides that sweetness. 
• Eggs: The dough is silky smooth thanks to the butter and eggs in the mixture — it’s what makes it that iconic pastry bread!
• Unsalted Butter: You need 6 tablespoons of the butter to be room temperature and 1 cup of unsalted butter to be slightly chilled. 
• Egg: Use an extra egg for the egg wash! This is how we get that shiny, golden crust on the loaf. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

Make the dough

1. Activate the yeast. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the active dry yeast and warm milk. Let this sit for 10 minutes or until foamy.
2. Add flour, salt, and sugar. Once the mixture is foamy, add the flour, salt and sugar and combine using the dough hook. The dough will be really crumbly, not resembling a dough at this stage. 
3. Add the eggs. Next, add the eggs to the mixture and mix until the dough is smooth (about 6 minutes).

4. Add the room temperature butter. Once the eggs are mixed in and the dough is smooth, add the room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Continue mixing for 3 minutes or until the dough is smooth and shiny. If your dough is still really sticky at this stage, you can add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time and mix on low until your dough is the right stickiness. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but the very tip of the dough should still stick to the bottom of the bowl. The dough will be smooth but not overly sticky. So you may need to add more flour depending on your dough’s consistency.
5. Knead into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Prepare the butter for the lamination process

1. Prepare the butter. While the dough is chilling, let’s prepare the butter for the lamination process. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the slightly chilled butter until it’s broken up but smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
2. Shape the butter. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a work surface. Scoop the butter onto the parchment and shape the butter into a 5×8-inch rectangle. Fold up the sides of the parchment to cover the butter. Refrigerate until the butter is chilled, about 20 minutes. 

Brioche bread lamination process

1. Shape the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to a 7×18-inch rectangle. Place the chilled butter on the bottom half of the dough leaving a 1-inch border on 3 of the 4 sides. 

2. Fold the dough. Fold the dough over to cover the butter, then pinch the edges to seal. Tuck the overhanging dough edges under to form a neat looking tucked package. 

3. Roll then fold the dough down. Roll the dough into a 7×18-inch rectangle. Fold the top third of the dough down towards the center.

4. Fold the dough up. Then fold the bottom third on top, Like a business letter. This completes 1 turn.

5. Rotate and roll. Rotate the dough package 90°. Roll the dough into a 7×18-inch rectangle.

6. Fold the dough down. Fold the top third of the dough down towards the center. 

7. Fold the dough up. Then fold the bottom third on top, like a business letter.

8. Wrap and chill. Wrap the dough envelope in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20-25 minutes or freeze for 12-15 minutes.
9. Roll and fold again. Remove the dough from the fridge or freezer. Roll the dough into a 7×18-inch rectangle. Fold the top third of the dough down towards the center, then fold the bottom third on top, like a business letter.
10. Rotate and fold again. Rotate the dough package 90°. Roll the dough into a 7×18-inch rectangle. Fold the top third of the dough down towards the center, then fold the bottom third on top, like a business letter. Wrap the dough envelope in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Baking brioche bread

1. Prepare the pans. When ready to bake, brush two standard 9×5-inch loaf pans with butter.
2. Prepare for baking. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and roll out the dough into a 12×18-inch rectangle. Roll the dough (like a cinnamon roll) into a log, trying to keep it tight as you go.
3. Cut and place in pans. This brioche recipe makes 2 loaves. Cut the dough log in half so that you have two 9-inch logs in length. Place the dough logs seam side down in the prepared pans. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until about double in size.

4. Preheat the oven and prepare the egg wash. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl and brush the egg over the tops of the bread loaves right before placing them in the oven.
5. Bake the loaves. Bake for 35-37 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the loaves cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to continue cooling. Serve the flaky brioche warm or cold.

Recipe Tips

You can use active or instant yeast in this recipe. They are interchangeable. If you use instant yeast, you don’t have to wait the 10 minutes, but I still do. Maybe I wait out of habit? Either way, choose the yeast you want and use it 🙂

When adding the eggs in, the dough will appear quite dry and crumbly, but don’t worry because with time it really comes together and evens out.

Follow along with the step-by-step instructions and the photos above to see what the lamination process looks like. I really wanted to show you what the process looks like with the photos so you could get the process down. Making homemade brioche bread doesn’t have to be hard! It’s really fun and exciting to see how beautiful it looks when it comes out of the oven!

Nutritional information is based on 1 serving; you’ll notice there are 2 loaves in the “servings” area. If you want to know the nutritional info per slice, you’ll have to do some math. 

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

Store the loaves in an airtight container or Ziplock bag (to stay soft) at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days. 

To freeze the baked loaves, let them cool completely then wrap the loaves in plastic wrap and store in a Ziplock bag. The loaves should keep in the freezer for 1-2 months. Remove from the freezer and let thaw overnight in the fridge.

I haven’t frozen brioche dough before (I tend to just bake it right away so I can enjoyed it sooner!) But, according to my research, you can freeze it by wrapping it in plastic wrap after the first rise and storing it in an airtight container or Ziplock bag (try to remove as much air as possible from the bag or container). It should keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Remove from the freezer and let thaw in the fridge overnight, then remove from the fridge, unwrap and let rise as the instructions direct, then bake. 

FAQs

Related Recipes

• Cinnamon Rolls
• Homemade Soft Pretzels
• Easy Recipe for Naan Bread
• The Best Monkey Bread Recipe

This recipe was originally published on Dec. 19, 2019. It was republished on Feb. 22, 2022, to include additional information and photos.