French Brioche

I always wanted to replicate French brioche bread, the one that is available in grocery stores. It has deep yellow color, touch of sweetness, fragrant aroma, and is very soft.

After a series of trial and error, I’m finally excited to share with you the most amazing French brioche recipe. You can easily make it at home and it will be way more delicious, than the one you get from the store.

What makes this French brioche truly special is its incredibly rich yet delicate texture. The crumb is soft, light, and feathery, with beautiful buttery strands that pull apart effortlessly when sliced. The deep golden-yellow color comes from a generous amount of eggs and butter, giving the loaf not only its signature appearance but also its luxurious flavor and aroma. Slightly sweet and wonderfully fragrant, it tastes just as incredible fresh from the oven as it does lightly toasted the next morning.

One of the things I love most about homemade brioche is how versatile it is. It can be enjoyed simply with butter and jam, transformed into decadent French toast, used for sandwiches, or served alongside coffee for breakfast or brunch. The flavor feels elegant and comforting at the same time, making it suitable for both everyday baking and special occasions.

Although brioche dough can seem intimidating because of its high butter content, this recipe is designed to be approachable and rewarding. With patience during mixing and proofing, the dough develops beautifully and becomes silky, elastic, and easy to shape. Watching it rise into a glossy, golden loaf is incredibly satisfying.

The homemade version also has a freshness and richness that store-bought brioche simply cannot match. The aroma alone — warm butter, eggs, and lightly sweet dough baking in the oven — makes the entire process worthwhile. Once you taste this brioche homemade, soft and still slightly warm, it’s difficult to imagine going back to packaged versions again.

Every slice feels bakery-quality, rich, tender, and absolutely impossible to resist.

Ingredients

Dough

• 400g bread flour  
• 125g lukewarm milk 
• 125g lukewarm water
• 3 egg yolks
• 20g carrot juice 
• 55g soft butter 
• 60g sugar 
• 8g salt 
• 3g dry instant yeast 
• 20g butter for the scoring

Directions 

Dough

• 8 am mix water, milk, carrot juice add dry instant  yeast and whisk until dissolved. Add egg yolks, flour, sugar, mix to hydrate all flour,  let the dough autolyse for 30 minutes.

Note: to make carrot juice, use juicer or shred the carrot and squeeze the juice out through the sieve.

• During the autolyse period the flour becomes fully hydrated. This process activates gluten development.

• 8.30 am mix the dough on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated.
• Add salt and mix for a couple more minutes. The dough should form a ball.
• Add soft butter, increase the speed, mix for 10-15 minutes until the dough comes up together. 
• 9 am  cover the dough and let it proof for 2-3  hours at 76-80F/ 24-28C.

• During that time perform 2 stretches and folds.
• The dough should become bigger and puffy.

• 12 pm  sprinkle work surface with flour and dump proofed dough on it.
• Roll the dough into a tight roll, transfer it to a loaf pan for proofing ( I’m using 5×10 inches loaf pan)
• Cover brioche and let it proof for 1-2 hours 78-84F /26-28C, or until it will double in volume. 

• Score brioche and place small pieces of butter inside the cut. This trick will help the loaf to open up more.
• Bake at 350 F for about 30-35 min until golden light brown.

Enjoy!

Grocery-Style French Brioche

2537kcal

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Prep 30 minutes mins

Cook 35 minutes mins

Rise & Rest Time 5 hours hrs

Total 6 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

An extraordinary recipe designed to replicate the coveted, luxury grocery-style French brioche at home. Featuring a magnificent, deep golden hue, an intensely fragrant aroma, and a hint of gentle sweetness, this loaf boasts a cotton-soft, pull-apart crumb. A built-in autolyse period establishes a resilient gluten structure, while a hidden splash of fresh carrot juice naturally delivers its iconic bakery color.

Cuisine French

Ingredients

The Main Enriched Dough

• ▢ 400 g Bread Flour
• ▢ 125 g Lukewarm milk
• ▢ 125 g Lukewarm water
• ▢ 3 Large egg yolks
• ▢ 20 g Fresh carrot juice
• ▢ 60 g Granulated sugar
• ▢ 8 g Fine sea salt
• ▢ 3 g Dry Instant Yeast
• ▢ 55 g Unsalted butter softened to room temperature

The Oven Finish

• ▢ 20 g Cold unsalted butter sliced thin for the expansion score
• ▢ 1 Egg yolk mixed with milk mixed with 2 tbsp milk for the soft golden wash

Equipment

• ▢
  Stand Mixer essential for high-hydration enrichment
• ▢
  5×10 Inch Loaf Pan
• ▢
  Kitchen Scale
• ▢
  Sharp Bread Lame or razor blade
• ▢
  Parchment Paper
• ▢
  Juicer or Fine Mesh Sieve (for extracting carrot juice)

Method

Prevent Sleep ModePrevent Sleep Mode

Autolyse and Gluten Initialization

1. In your stand mixer bowl, whisk together the lukewarm water, lukewarm milk, and fresh carrot juice. Sprinkle the 3g of dry instant yeast across the surface and whisk thoroughly until fully dissolved.
2. Add the 3 egg yolks, 400g of bread flour, and 60g of sugar to the bowl. Mix with a spatula or your mixer hook just until the flour is completely hydrated and no dry pockets remain.
3. Cover the bowl and let the mixture rest undisturbed for exactly 30 minutes. This autolyse stage ensures the flour particles swell with liquid, activating natural gluten pathways before heavy mixing begins.

Emulsification and Bulk Rise

1. Set your stand mixer on low speed (or speed 3 on a KitchenAid machine) and mix the rested dough for 3 to 4 minutes until it forms a cohesive, uniform mass.
2. Add the 8g of fine sea salt and continue mixing for 2 minutes. The dough will tighten and begin gathering into a solid ball around the dough hook.
3. With the machine still running, gradually add the 55g of softened butter in small chunks. Once all the butter is added, increase the mixer speed to medium-high. Knead continuously for 10 to 15 minutes. The dough will look very wet at first, but be patient; it will completely pull away from the bottom and sides of the bowl to form a glossy, supple ball.
4. Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment at a warm ambient temperature of 76–80°F (24–28°C) for 2 to 3 hours. During this period, perform two separate rounds of stretch-and-folds within the first 90 minutes to boost structural gas retention. The finished dough should look noticeably inflated and puffy.

Shaping, Scoring, and Staged Baking

1. Lightly dust your countertop with flour and gently tip out the puffy brioche dough. Press it into a rough rectangle, then roll it up tightly from the bottom into a dense log.
2. Transfer the log seam-side down into a 5×10 inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Cover loosely and let it proof for 1 to 2 hours at 78–84°F (26–28°C) until it doubles in volume and crowns beautifully over the rim of the pan.
3. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Whisk together the remaining egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of milk, and gently brush the mixture over the top of the loaf using a pastry brush.
4. Using a very sharp bread lame or razor blade, score a single clean line down the absolute center of the loaf. Immediately place the 20g of cold, thinly sliced butter directly inside the cut.
5. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 35 minutes until the exterior turns an even, deep golden brown. Remove from the oven, let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then lift it out onto a wire rack to cool down completely before slicing.

Nutrition

Calories2537kcalCarbohydrates361gProtein66gFat91gSaturated Fat49gPolyunsaturated Fat8gMonounsaturated Fat26gTrans Fat2gCholesterol954mgSodium3221mgPotassium773mgFiber11gSugar68gVitamin A6948IUVitamin C2mgCalcium337mgIron6mg

Notes

• How to Prepare Fresh Carrot Juice: To extract the required 20g of juice, you can run a medium carrot through a centrifugal juicer. If you don’t own a juicer, simply shred the carrot finely using a hand box grater, place the shreds into a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth, and press down firmly over a small cup using the back of a spoon to extract the rich liquid. 
   
• Why Carrot Juice is Crucial: Commercial grocery brioche loaves utilize artificial yellow dyes to create that rich, appealing interior appearance. The addition of 20g of fresh carrot juice acts as an entirely natural food coloring agent, lending that signature rich yellow tone and a subtle hint of background sweetness without adding any vegetable aroma or altering the structure of the crumb.
• Managing Sticky High-Hydration Dough: Several readers noted in the comments that this dough can feel exceptionally sticky and loose during the initial mixing stage, leading some to add extra flour. Avoid adding flour early on! Enriched brioche dough requires extensive kneading to absorb fats. Trust your stand mixer; after 12 to 15 continuous minutes of medium-high kneading, the gluten network will fully lock in the liquids and pull away from the bowl cleanly.
• The Scoring Butter Trick: Placing thin strips of cold butter directly inside the sliced expansion line right before baking is a classic pastry technique. As the oven heat hits the loaf, the butter melts slowly down into the cut, keeping the expanding edges moist. This delays crust formation along the score, allowing the brioche to open up dramatically for a lighter, fluffier loaf. 
   

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