A Weekend Project: Brioche Buns From Scratch

I started making my own brioche buns because a bag of decent buns at the nice bakery near me costs four euros for four, and I go through about a dozen a month. At some point I did the math and realized I could make better ones for about 90 cents worth of flour and eggs, if I was willing to spend a Saturday afternoon on it.

You need time. Not work — time. Most of this recipe is the dough sitting in the fridge doing nothing. If you try to rush it, you’ll end up with a dense, greasy bun that tastes fine but doesn’t have the right texture. The long cold proof is the whole point.

Here’s what I do. This makes eight buns.

The night before, mix 500g of strong white bread flour (the T65 I get at the Turkish shop works fine, but anything around 12% protein is good), 50g of caster sugar, 10g of fine salt, and 10g of instant yeast in a stand mixer bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk four eggs with 150g of cold whole milk. Pour the wet into the dry, run the mixer on low for two minutes to hydrate, then medium for another eight. You want a shaggy, sticky dough.

Then add 200g of cold unsalted butter, cubed, about 30g at a time. Wait for each addition to disappear before adding the next. This takes ten or fifteen minutes of mixing. The dough will look broken and weird in the middle of this process. Keep going. It pulls back together.

Shape into a ball, cover with cling film, stick it in the fridge overnight. Minimum eight hours, twelve is better, sixteen is still fine.

The next day, take the dough out. It should be cold and stiff. Divide into eight pieces of about 110g each (I weigh, because that’s how I am). Shape each into a tight ball — pull the edges underneath, rotate, pull again, until the top is smooth and taut. This is the part that takes practice. Your first batch will look slightly sad. Your fifth batch will look great.

Line two baking trays with parchment. Put four buns on each, well spaced. Cover loosely with a cloth and let them proof at room temperature for two to three hours, until they’ve roughly doubled and feel pillowy when you poke them lightly.

Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius, fan. Beat one egg with a splash of milk and a pinch of salt. Brush each bun with the egg wash — twice, ten minutes apart during the proof, to build up a proper glaze. Optionally top with sesame seeds.

Bake 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway. The tops should be a deep mahogany, not pale. If they’re pale, give them another two minutes. Pale brioche is sad brioche.

Let them cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before you cut one open, otherwise the crumb will be gummy. I know, I know, they smell incredible. Wait anyway.

Freeze what you don’t eat in the first two days. They come back to life under a hot griddle, buttered side down, in about a minute.

I make these on a Saturday and eat burgers on Sunday. There are worse ways to spend a weekend.