Hey Hey Everyone!
Please tell me you’ve had brioche! The first time I tried brioche, a really close friend of mine became obsessed with it, and made loaf after loaf. He shared a few slices with me, and I was instantly in love with the buttery, flakey bread – basically my 3 favorite words. I actually remember waking up super early, toasting a slice and spreading on some homemade jam with a cup of coffee before anyone else woke up. I just needed a real quiet moment alone to truly enjoy the best toast I’d ever had. Also, I didn’t want to share.
So, brioche is a divine French bread that also feels like a decadent pastry. It is enriched (generously) with butter and eggs and has a super tender crumb and beautiful golden crust. I’m sharing the original Brioche recipe with you, but also a little twist that I made by swirling in some cinnamon and sugar, and coating the top with sweetened flaked almonds.
A few notes:
- Brioche dough has to rest in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight, so plan ahead!
- You will need an electric stand mixer for this recipe. All of the mixing and kneading happens in the bowl of the mixer!
- Add in the butter slowly, and make sure that each piece of butter disappears into the dough before adding another. This is a marathon, not a sprint!
- Towards the end, I usually add a tablespoon or two of flour while the mixer is still running to bring the dough together and ‘clean up’ the sides of the bowl.
- **This recipe makes TWO loaves, and I usually like to make one plain and one Cinnamon Almond version.
My friend very generously shared this recipe with me, and he had adapted it slightly from the flawless Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery in Boston. I know it seems more labor intensive, but most of the time you’re just waiting for the dough to rise, and trust me, the finished Cinnamon-y loaf is SO worth the wait. Also, your house will smell like a bakery, and you will truly feel like a pastry demi-god!
Make this, post a pic, tag me #lionsbread, and wait for all of your friends to ooooh and aaaahhh and beg for a slice!
Want more recipes like this? Try out my Lion’s Bread Original™ Challah , Everyday Artisan Bread , and Nutella Babka
xoxo – L
Cinnamon Almond Brioche
Buttery tender brioche bread swirled with a touch of cinnamon and sugar and topped with toasted almonds
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 c unbleached ap flour
- 2 1/4 c bread flour
- 3 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 c sugar DIVIDED (1/3 and 2/3)
- 1 T kosher salt
- 1/2 c cold water
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 3/4 sticks, (310 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature cut into 10 pieces
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 c sliced almonds
Instructions
Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, 1/3 c sugar, salt, water, and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined. Stop the mixer, as needed, to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.
With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, 1 piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all the butter to be thoroughly mixed into the dough. If necessary, stop the mixer occasionally and break up the dough with your hands to help mix in the butter.
Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny, another 15 minutes. It will take some time to come together. It will look shaggy and questionable at the start and then eventually it will turn smooth and silky. Turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it; it should stretch a bit and have a little give. If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together. If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in 1 piece.
Put the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof (first rise) in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. At this point you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Mix the 2/3 c sugar and ground cinnamon together in a small bowl. Line the bottoms of two 9x5 inch loaf pans with parchment paper, then spray the parchment and the sides of the pan with nonstick spray. Remove the dough from the fridge, and divide the cold dough in half, and roll out each into a 9-inch square. Generously sprinkle half of the the cinnamon sugar mixture all over the dough. Slowly and tightly, roll up the dough into a log. Place the log, seam side down, into one of the prepared loaf pans. Repeat the same with the second half of dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 3-4 hours or until the loaves have nearly doubled in size and reached the rim of the loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and brush the top of each loaf with the remaining beaten egg, using a small pastry brush. Sprinkle the thinly sliced almonds on top, then sprinkle with a bit more sugar. Bake for 40 minutes or until the tops and sides are very golden brown. Allow the bread to cool in the pans for about 20 minutes, then remove the loaves from the pans and let them finish cooling completely on cooling racks.
Store in an airtight bag or container for up to 4 days. Please do yourself a favor and toast a slice of this - pure heaven.
Recipe Notes
I sometimes like to make one Cinnamon Almond loaf, and one plain loaf. To make the plain loaf, roll out the dough into a 9-inch square, the fold the top 1/3 down to the center (like a letter), then fold the bottom 1/3 up, creating a thin rectangle. Place into the prepared pan, seam side down. Follow the same rise and baking times as above.