Sourdough Bread Recipe: Brioche
This is the RICHEST, most decadent sourdough dough! It’s ONE sourdough bread recipe that you can use to make so many sourdough sweet breads:
- sandwich bread
- hawaiian rolls
- hot dog buns
- burger buns
- challah
- chocolate babka
- cinnamon sticky buns
- donuts
- I mean, I could go on and on…
- Prep Time: 8hrs for the sweet stiff sourdough starter to come to peak
- Fermentation Time: 4hr room temp proof + 8hr cold proof + 2-4hr final proofing
- Cook Time: Depends on what you’re making
- Total Time: 24hrs
- Yield: Depends on what you’re making
- Category: Sourdough Bread Baking
- Method: Normal Oven
Ingredients
Scale
Sweet Stiff Sourdough Starter
- 120g sourdough starter
- 120g flour
- 40g water
- 20g sugar
Sourdough Bread Dough
- 100g milk
- 300g sweet stiff sourdough starter
- 70g sugar
- 8g salt
- 3 eggs (165g)
- 400g high protein flour (can be bread flour or AP flour above 11% protein)
- 140g unsalted butter
Instructions
Step 1 – FEED STARTER/MAKE THE LEVAIN
- Take 120g of your sourdough starter and feed it 120g bread flour + 40g water + 20g sugar
- Wait for it to 3x in size –it will be ready when the top stops doming and starts to crater a little
Step 2 – MIXING
- In your stand mixer, mix ingredients (except the butter) just until you get a windowpane
- Then add in the butter. Mix until you get a windowpane (mixer at speed 2 for around 10-16 min)
- Roughly shape the dough into a taut ball and put it in a greased bowl
Step 3 – BULK FERMENTATION/1st RISE
- Bulk proof for 4hrs at 74F (gauge time if your room is cooler or warmer)
- You can skip this step and put the dough directly in the fridge, just extend your cold proof or final proof
Step 4 – COLD PROOFING/2nd RISE
- Degas and cold proof in your fridge overnight (~8-12hrs)
Step 5 – SOURDOUGH SHAPING
- This is where you have many options
- sourdough brioche dough is so versatile, you can make any sourdough sweet bread out of this recipe
- the difference is in the shaping
- and the shaping dictates how long to bake and how high the temp
For example:
- Dinner rolls – divide the dough into equal balls and shape into buns
- Burger buns – divide the dough into larger balls and shape into buns
- Hot dogs – divide the dough into equal parts and roll tightly into logs, pinch the seam
- Challah – divide the dough into 3-5 parts, roll into logs, and then braid the dough
- Donuts – roll the dough into a rectangle, punch out circles with a cookie cutter, final proof and then fry the dough
Step 6 – FINAL PROOFING/3rd RISE
- After shaping, final proof (room temp) the dough on the vessel it will be baked in
- Cover lightly because we don’t want it to dry out
- Final proof this for 4-6hrs at room temp (74F),
Step 7 – SOURDOUGH BAKING
- Time to bake when it’s risen and jiggly, *almost* doubled in size
- Egg-wash and bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for 20-35 min (meaning, check on it every 5-10 min at the 20 min mark)
- Like I said above, baking times will depend on your shaping,
- the bigger the baking vessel, the longer it will take to bake (like a loaf pan)
- the bigger the shaping of the dough, the longer it will take to bake (like challah, sandwich bread, babka, etc.)
- the shorter and wider the baking vessel, the shorter it will take to bake (like a sheet pan)
- the smaller the shaping of the dough, the shorter it will take to bake (small dinner rolls, crescent rolls, etc.)
- you as the baker will have to gauge how long to bake by checking on the oven around the 20 min mark
- depending on what you are making, baking times vary between 20 min to 50 min –it just depends on what you are baking
Hi I am so confused I followed the instructions on the package the starter arrived in and now on day 7 when can I put it in the fridge and take out when ready to feed and use?
Also do we need to add the sugar to the bread, for me the whole idea is to make homemade healthier bread without sugar and fat …
I need to make these ahead of time. Could I freeze these? At what point would I freeze?
Can you use a not a stuff starter for this?
Excited to try this💗
Loved this recipe. Very delicious! Thank you!!
Hi,
I’m making the butteriest dough now. I seem to have a window pain dough, but it’s very sticky, and it would be very difficult to roll out? Does this improve after the 4hr proof?
Thank you!
Thank you
Thank you, will try. Can I use less sugar
So the All-purpose and the butter-iest doesn’t need eggs? I always thought brioche had both eggs and butter.
Couod you explain the starter feeding ratio?
Thank you very much. I wil try it definitely.
Can explain to me about the ratio reading pls. I don’t understand. Thank you
Same! How often/ how many times do we feed it before we can use it? And are we feeding it :
Bread Flour – 120g
Water – 40g
Sugar – 20g
Total – 300g
Or are we supposed to add more starter in at each feeding too?
Thk u so much and Happy New Year!!
But can explain to me about the meaning of rotio reading ☺️
Thankyou
Excited for this journey!! Thanks for all the help. 😊
Amazing! Thank you so much!
Thank you, def will try 🫶🏻
Thank you
Which would you say is the best tasting for cinnamon rolls?
Thank you 🕊
Just curious why the richest brioche does not have the same bulk cold proof as the other 2 recipes.
I’d like to try it for Thanksgiving dinner rolls,
but the bulk cold proof, followed by further room temperature proofing the second day with the other 2 recipes is appealing from a time management point of view. Thank you for your input.
Hi I have never ever used sweet stiff starter will be using for the first time will def share my bake with you 😊
When making the sweet stiff starter do you proof it before mixing the remaining ingredients? If so, how long?
So the method is for which one brioche dough or sweet stiff starter ? Which ingredients do we used for the method recipe on there?
Thank you! Have never made brioche or used a stiff sweet starter