Rich and Buttery No-Knead Sourdough Brioche ~ Back To Our Roots (2024)

Y’all know how much I love me some bread! 🙂

And I really love Brioche!

It’s one of what I call my “fancy” breads.

Because this bread is so rich and buttery, I like to save it for special occasions.

Brioche is a bread that originated in France. It’s actually more pastry than regular bread.

It contains eggs, butter, sugar, and milk or cream. The traditional shape is a round loaf baked in a fluted pan with a smaller ball on the top.

Brioche is often sweetened up even more with fruit or chocolate, although this recipe is pretty plain by comparison to some that I have seen.

And of course I added sourdough. And then fiddled with it until I made it a no-knead bread recipe.

But it tastes just as wonderful as the non-sourdough, kneaded type. I promise!

I love to braid the loaves for a festive appearance and sometimes sprinkle them with poppy or sesame seeds.

If you want them to lookeven awesomer, which I usually do, you can make 3 double braided loaves.

And if you happen to have any left over the next day, this Brioche makes some pretty incredible French toast, if I do say so myself.

Gotta love it! Got your apron on? Let’s go!

Don’t have a sourdough starter? No problem, you can learn how to start one here.

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No-Knead Sourdough Brioche

• 1 1/2 cups active sourdough starter
• 1 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
• 8 pastured eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup raw, unfiltered honey
• 1 1/2 cups melted butter
• 61/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 Tbsp instant yeast (optional)
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp of water for egg wash right before baking

This recipe makes 3 large loaves.

To make our no-knead Brioche dough, we’re going to use the “bucket dough” method.

To start, thoroughly mix all your dry ingredients, including the instant yeast if you’re using it, in a large (5-6 quart)container.

I like to use a “dough bucket” like this one. It has measurements on the side so I can easily see when it has doubled in volume. And it comes with a lid.

Now you need to add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well without kneading. I start out mixing with my Danish dough whisk.

But I usually end up using my hands to get the last bit mixed in well. If there are some small lumps of flour that is OK. They will not be in the finished product.

First Rise

Once everything is mixed up well, cover the bucket loosely and let the dough rise on the counter or table (or where ever you have room) until it has risen and then begun to deflate.

When I use the bucket, I leave one corner slightly up so that some of the gases from the yeast can escape. Otherwise, it could pop the top off the bucket! Which is a little startling…

If you are using only your sourdough starter as leaven, this first rise can take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours depending on the strength of your starter and the temperature of your kitchen.

If you are using the optional instant yeast, it will rise much quicker and only needs to rise for 2 hours before going into the fridge.

After the dough has risen and deflated, cover tightly and put it in the fridge for at least 8 hours. I usually let it chill out overnight.

The dough will stay good for about a week as long as it’s tightly covered.

Shaping

When you are ready to shape the dough, dust the surface of the doughwith flour and remove however much you are going to use from the container. You don’t have to bake all of it at once.

If you just want one loaf, remove about 1/3 of the dough. I baked it all at one time, so that’s what you will see in the pictures.

This dough will be sticky, so make sure you have flour on your hands, too.

Now, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces if you are making single loaves, or 4 pieces if you are making double loaves.

Take one of those pieces and divide it into 3 pieces.

Roll each of those last 3 pieces into ropes on a lightly floured counter. They should be about 18ish inches long.

Butter your cookie sheet and lay the 3 ropes side by side down the center.

Starting in the middle, braid the ropes to one end and pinch the ends together.

Turn your cookie sheet around, flip the braid over onto it’s back and continue braiding down the other way til you reach the end. Pinch those ends together as well.

Now tuck those pinched together pieces neatly under on both ends.

Make a second and thirdbraid the same way.

If you are making double braids, take the 4th piece and divide that into 3 pieces.Then divide each of those pieces into 3 more pieces.

Make the braids as before and gently place one small braid on top of each large braid, using an egg wash to stick them together.

For the egg wash, beat 1 egg with 1 Tbsp of water.

2nd Rise

After you have all 3 braided loaves ready to go, cover them loosely with a damp cloth and allow them to double in size.

If you are using a baking stone, you will need to preheat your oven for 20 minutes before putting the bread in the oven.

Right before you pop them in the oven to bake, brush the tops and sides of the loaves with an egg wash.

Now, sprinkle with poppy seeds or sesame seeds if you wish. I personally like the poppy seeds. 🙂

Bake those beautiful braids in a 350°F oven for 25 to 35 minutes. The time will depend on the size of your loaves.

You will know they are done when the crust is a beautiful golden brown and the center of the braid offers a little resistance to pressure when you poke it.

If they’re not quite there after 35 minutes, let them go a little longer. But keep an eye on them so they don’t get too dark.

After you take them out of the oven, put them on a cooling rack and try not to cut into them until they’ve cooled. So very hard to do!

Blessings!

This is just a little bit of buttery heaven and perfect for any gathering! What special bread has a place on yourcelebration table?

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