Overnight Brioche Bread Recipe

Why you'll love this brioche bread

• Overnight Proof: By letting the dough rise slowly in a cold environment, it not only develops more depth of flavor, but also gives you more flexibility with the timing of baking the loaf. Cold brioche dough is also much easier to work with! I recommend making the dough the night before, proofing overnight, and baking the loaf within 24 hours.
• Pillowy Texture & Buttery Flavor: As an enriched bread, this brioche loaf has a pillowy soft texture with a beautiful even, tender crumb. Its buttery, slightly sweet, and balanced yeasty taste makes it the perfect vessel for just about any application - sweet or savory!
• Endless Versatility: This recipe can be made into so much more than a loaf! Use it to make cinnamon rolls, french toast, donuts, brioche buns, stuffing... the possibilities are endless.

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: Use unbleached all-purpose flour for the best flavor and proper gluten development.
• Salt: Add kosher or fine sea salt to the flour to enhance the flavors in the bread. Mix it into the flour rather than the salt to the milk, yeast mixture, or it may kill the yeast.
• Milk: Use whole milk for best flavor, and bring it to about 110 degrees F to help the yeast activate. Be careful not to make it too hot, or it can kill the yeast.
• Sugar: A small amount of granulated sugar is mixed in with the milk and yeast to help activate the yeast, as well as give the brioche a richer color on top as it bakes.
• Yeast: Feel free to use instant or active dry yeast.
• Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature quickly by placing them in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes.
• Vanilla: Add a touch of pure vanilla extract for a slightly sweeter bread. For a more savory bread, you can omit it.
• Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for optimum flavor and overall result. I recommend Kerrygold.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this overnight brioche bread recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Activate the yeast; Mix in eggs & vanilla. In a glass measuring cup, heat the milk to 110 degrees F and stir in the sugar and yeast. If using active dry yeast, allow to sit for 15 minutes for the yeast to activate. If using instant yeast, simply move on to the next step. Mix the eggs and vanilla into the milk yeast mixture.

STEP 2: Add wet ingredients to dry. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, mix the flour and salt together. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and mix on low-medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until it forms a ball around the hook. 

STEP 3: Mix in the butter. Add in a few pieces of butter at a time, allowing them to fully incorporate before adding more. Once all of the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and mix for 8-12 minutes. The dough will eventually pull away from the sides of the bowl and have a silky smooth texture with minimal stickiness.

STEP 4: Perform windowpane test. To check if the dough is ready, tear off a small piece and carefully spread it out to see if you can see the light through it without it tearing. If it tears, mix for another minute or two and check again. 

STEP 5: Proof overnight. Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to proof overnight in the fridge. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. 

STEP 6: Divide the dough. On a lightly floured surface, divide the proofed dough into eight equal pieces, weighing about 65g each (you'll have a little extra). On a non-floured surface, flatten each piece, then bring the edges over and press into the middle.

STEP 7: Shape the dough. Turn the dough over and roll into a smooth ball. You can bake the extra dough in a small loaf pan, if desired. 

STEP 8: Proof & bake. Arrange the dough balls into four rows of two in a non-greased pullman or loaf pan. Brush with an egg wash, then cover and proof at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size. To test if the dough is properly proofed, press it with a finger. If the indentation springs back slowly it's ready to be baked. If it springs back quickly it needs more time; if it doesn't spring back at all, then it's over-proofed, and should be baked as soon as possible.

Brush the dough with the egg wash again, then bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes or until evenly golden brown, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F, and bake for another 30 minutes until deeply golden. Tent with aluminum foil towards the end, if needed.

Allow the brioche loaf to cool completely in the pan.

Expert Baking Tips

• Proof the dough overnight: I recommend allowing your brioche dough to rise slowly overnight in the fridge. Cold dough is so much nicer to work with! But you can also let it proof at room temperature for one hour and make the brioche bread immediately. 
• Bake the dough within 24 hours: To find that sweet spot between properly proofed with a developed flavor and over-fermented, I recommend giving the dough at least 5 hours to rise in the fridge, but no more than 24 hours.
• Brush the dough with an egg wash: To give the brioche loaf a deep golden, shiny crust, brush the dough with an egg wash made from one egg mixed with two tablespoons of heavy cream or milk.
• Bake the loaf in a pullman pan: For a very tall loaf with sharp corners, bake the brioche in a pullman pan! This pan is similar to a 9x5 loaf pan but slightly longer, and has straight sides, rather than sloped sides. It creates that classic store-bought sliced bread look, which is of course necessary for an epic sandwich or stuffed french toast.

Storage Tips

This brioche loaf is best the day it is baked, however it can be stored at room temperature or in the freezer.

Room Temperature: Store the loaf in an airtight container for 1-2 days. This is a great option if you plan to make french toast or stuffing.

Freezer: Cut the loaf into individual slices and store in a freezer ziplock bag for up to 3 months.

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x