It’s finally happening! My first video has been completed and can be presented to you today! I’m simply overjoyed to be able to show you how to make these little sweet brioche buns. Because, once you know, how to form them, you’ll find it as easy as pie!
Yes, I can assure you, this recipe has been tested thoroughly, meaning: very often. Not only is it a family favorite but I also had to make and remake it until I was satisfied with the footage and the photos.
But … if it had only been the filming and photographing I would have been able to present the film around Easter. The problem was that I highly underestimated my skills concerning cutting and mastering the software for creating an intro and cutting the film. First of all, I created an intro with a software that was not really appropriate for my purpose. Okay. It went straight into the bin. Then I started using the right software, but I didn’t really like the new intro and I finally decided to leave it out. I just used part of the footage for my introduction. Nevertheless, it seems that it took me ages until I got the hang of what I had to do. I must say that finally I am fairly satisfied with the end product, though, and I intend to work on my skills in the future.
I chose these little brioche buns for my first video because I thought that showing you how to form them is so much easier than describing the process in words. And for you, it is much easier to understand.
Now watch the video:
You can also use the recipe to make one loaf of brioche. You could just form 3 strings and make a plaited loaf. Tastes equally delicious!
You can also prepare the dough in the evening and leave it in the fridge overnight. I would allow it to rise in the evening, then put it into the fridge and after taking it out in the morning, form the buns and leave to rise again and take on room temperature (for about 20-30 minutes) before baking.
These buns can also be frozen and defrosted when needed.
Sweet Brioche Buns
for about 8 buns:
500 g (4 + ¼ cups) flour, all purpose
50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
some vanilla essence or 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 sachet (7 g) dried yeast
100 g (1/3 – ½ cup) soft or melted butter
250 ml (1 cup) lukewarm milk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 or 2 tablespoons rum
for the egg wash:
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
Combine the flour, sugar, salt and dried yeast in a large bowl or in the bowl of your food processor. Add the eggs to the milk and use a fork or a whisk to combine well. Add the egg-milk mixture, the vanilla, the butter and the rum to the flour. Knead thoroughly until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and has a smooth and velvety texture. You can knead by hand or with a food processor. Cover with a towel and leave to rise for 1-2 hours. The dough should double in volume.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a thick roll. Cut the roll into 8 equal pieces. Cut each piece into two. Roll each little piece to a long, thin roll of about 35-40 cm (1 ft to 1ft and 4 inches). Use the instructions on the video or on the photos to form little buns. Leave to rise again for 20-30 minutes. For the egg wash, mix the egg yolk and the milk and brush the buns with it.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
A step-by-step guide to forming the sweet brioche buns:
Here is the recipe for printing:
- 500 g (4 + ¼ cups) flour, all purpose
- 50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
- some vanilla essence or 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 sachet (7 g) dried yeast
- 100 g (1/3 – ½ cup) soft or melted butter
- 250 ml (1 cup) lukewarm milk
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 or 2 tablespoons rum
- for the egg wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Combine the flour, sugar, salt and dried yeast in a large bowl or in the bowl of your food processor. Add the eggs to the milk and use a fork or a whisk to combine well. Add the egg-milk mixture, the vanilla, the butter and the rum to the flour. Knead thoroughly until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and has a smooth and velvety texture. You can knead by hand or with a food processor. Cover with a towel and leave to rise for 1-2 hours. The dough should double in volume.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4).
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a thick roll. Cut the roll into 8 equal pieces. Cut each piece into two. Roll each little piece to a long, thin roll of about 35-40 cm (1 ft to 1ft and 4 inches). Use the instructions on the video or on the photos to form little buns. Leave to rise again for 20-30 minutes. For the egg wash, mix the egg yolk and the milk and brush the buns with it.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
I don’t usually comment but these buns are absolutely delicious! I used the bread maker on dough setting just for the kneading and proofing. Then I made little buns with chocolate filling and put them into a big pan to create a big pull-apart bread. Just wanted to also add that I doubled the sugar because we like sweet bread and it was perfect!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be making this regularly for my family 🙂
Hi, thanks for your comment! I love your idea of using a chocolate filling and baking them as a pull-apart bread. This sounds wonderful! I’ll definitely try this, too! And I am so glad that you love my recipe! 😊 Thanks!
All the best, Simone
39 yo Man that was the First time to bake anything from scratch , you made so easy. Thanks for the amazing recipe and the video too, didn’t use the rum but I sprinkled some sugar on top , its still in the oven but the dough smelled awesome..Thanks again
Hi there, thanks for you comment! Yes I agree, this recipe also works well without rum. And sprinkling some sugar on top is a wonderful idea!
All the best, Simone
My daughter likes a slice of brioche for breakfast, and no matter which recipe I tried or how much butter and eggs were in it, it came out a bit too light, almost crumby and not very sweet tasting.
I made this recipe into a loaf and a few rolls, and this is it! This is the recipe that will replace my daughter’s favorite store bought brioche. She says that where it differs from the store bought stuff, this tastes even better. A total winner no matter what shape I make it into! I’ll be making it at least once a week. Thanks!
Hi Sara, what a lovely comment you posted here! Thanks a lot! I’m so glad your daughter likes her “new” brioche. And yes, I make them very often too. It’s also one of my favorite recipes! 😉
All the best, Simone
Ahhh! This is the brioche recipe I’ve been looking for. Soft, buttery, literally pull-apart goodness that’s perfectly sweet. I’ve recently tried 2 other recipes that involved really long rise & refrigerate times, and they weren’t moist and were kind of croissant-crumbly. Your dough recipe really rises very well- (I actually used half self-rising flour & half AP for an extra puff). The braided roll shape is so fancy and rustic- blue ribbon for this one!
Hi Steve,
I’m so thrilled they turned out the way you wanted them to be! 😊
All the best,
Simone
hi Simone! Can I use active dry yeast for this recipe?
Hi Jesse,
well, I used instant yeast. Hope you can get it.
All the best, Simone
Hi,
This looks like a soft, fluffy brioche. I am looking forward to making it! Is the yeast active dry or instant?
Thanks
Hi Steve,
I used instant yeast. I hope your brioche buns will turn out all right! I’ll keep my fingers crossed! 😉
All the best,
Simone
Thanks!
Hello Simone,
These little buns are amazing, never thought I can pull off making brioche!!! My whole family loved them, even my neighbor:).
I will definitely make this for thanksgiving and Christmas!
Thank you for the awesome recipe!!
Dear Aliya,
Thanks a lot for your lovely words. I’m really glad that you like this recipe. Send my best regards to your family and your neighbor! 😉
All the best, Simone
Hi Simone
I am going to try the recipe, but just wanted to know if you have to add the rum? Is there something non-alcoholic that can be used as a substitute?
Hi Mandy, the rum is optional. You can leave it out and the buns will still taste delicious! 😉
All the best, Simone
Is it possible to make the dough in the evening and bake the buns in the morning?
Hi Zsuzsa,
yes, you can do this. But leave the dough in the fridge! The next morning, take it out one hour prior to baking so it can get room temperature.
All the best, Simone
Thank you for this delicious recipe! The video is so simple that even I managed to follow the instructions (as someone who never bakes). Xxx
Thank you for your lovely comment. I’m very pleased that you like the recipe and found the instructions easy to follow!
All the best, Simone
Could I used vanilla extract instead of vanilla sugar? I don’t have any in the pantry.
Hi Jasmin,
yes, no problem at all! 😉
All the best, Simone
Hi Simone,
Your brioche recipe is fantastic…
But I made some alteration, I replaced sugar with 1/4 can of condensed milk ( i ran out of sugar and i am just replace it by 30gr sugar from condensed milk)
My brioche turns out beautifully and very delicous.
Since my batter turns out to be too liquid, I did add 1/4 cup more flour…next time i will reduce the liquid…
Thanks a lot
Hi Jessica,
I’m so pleased to hear that you like this recipe. And what a wonderful idea to replace the sugar with condensed milk! I’d never have thought of that if I had run out of sugar. Very clever! I’d probably have used some honey instead. 😉
All the best, Simone
Hello! The recipe seems great. I enjoy really sweet bread, would I be able to substitute the milk for sweetened condensed milk? Would you recommend using bread flour instead of all-purpose?
Hi Carmen, to be honest, I’ve never tried sweetened condensed milk. If you try, don’t use 1 full cup of condensed milk. That would definitely be too much. I would probably use ¼ – ½ cup and mix it with some lukewarm water to get 1 full cup.
As for the bread flour, I don’t think I would use it for the brioche buns as I assume they would turn out heavier and denser. I always all purpose flour and they have always turned out really well. But please give me a small note if you experiment with condensed milk and bread flour!
All the best, Simone
Hi ,
Just wondering if one can use some filling in them ,i.e poppyseed or wallnut or cream cheese ? That would be something like “kolace”
Many thanks
Iva
Hi Iva,
using some kind of filling is quite difficult if you form the buns like I did in the video. But of course, this yeast dough can be used in many different ways, e.g. you can make rolls with some kind of filling, like blueberries, cream cheese, etc. Go to the blueberry cinnamon rolls recipe to get some inspiration.
All the best, Simone
hey simone i wanted to give these as a present and i just wanted to know how long the texture can be maintained and how they can be kept and for how long? so sorry for the many questions, thanks so much in advance!
Hi, first of all, I’m really pleased that you found my recipe and want to give the buns as a present to someone. 😊 Thanks.
Well, the buns are at their best when they are freshly baked, so they are best when eaten on the day of baking. You can keep them in an airtight box for 2-3 days, though. What you can also do is, bake them in advance, freeze them and defrost them at room temperature for about 3-4 hours. Hope I could help you. Contact me again, if you have further questions! 😊
All the best, Simone
Hello! I was wondering if you have tried the recipe in a bread maker! Looks great!!
Thank you!
Hi Angela, I am sorry, I haven’t tried the recipe in a bread maker yet. But I assume that making the dough should work equally well in a bread maker. I would remove the dough right before forming the buns (after rising, that is).
There’s one thing, though. Check, what the largest quantity of ingredients is that your bread maker can process, as you don’t want to fill in too much and then the sticky dough starts to overflow! That’s exactly how I ruined my old one! 😉
All the best and do let me know how everything turned out!
Simone
Baked my first batch of Sweet Brioche Buns this morning. They turned out great. I can’t post a photo on here. But I will make them again. This recipe is a keeper!
Hi Angela, so glad you like my recipe! 🙂 I love these buns as well and make them ever so often! 😉
All the best, Simone
I used the weights in the recipe, but my dough turned out too wet (like cake batter) and I had to add more flour until it formed a dough ball.
I am sorry to hear this, Aaron. I use this recipe at least once a week to bake some brioche buns and it always works fine with me. Just try to use less milk the next time you try this recipe as some types of flour require less milk. I’m sure, it’ll turn out all right! 😉
All the best, Simone
I do not have any rum in my pantry. Is it possible to leave it out? Or can I substitute it with something else?
Hi Janet, yes, leaving out the rum is totally okay. The rum just adds a little twist to the flavor, but the buns taste equally delicious without. Hope you’ll love the buns as much as I do!
All the best, Simone
These look perfect! I would love them for my breakfast, thanks for sharing
Dear Lucy! Thank you so much for your lovely comment! Yes, they are wonderful for breakfast! But you can freeze them after baking and just defrost them for breakfast! Works really well! 🙂
All the best, Simone