Sourdough Brioche

October 01, 2020

Adapting Brioche Recipes for Sourdough

By Joe Cowan

Director of Operations

Brioche is one of the most wonderful foods there is. Full of butter, eggs, and full fat milk in addition to countless flavor combinations the recipes you find can be adapted to use a sourdough leaven instead of instant powdered yeast. Most recipes are similar to one another. Add the eggs, milk, leaven, and flour together in the beginning and mixing by hand or with a stand mixer. Once incorporated, add the room temperature butter slowly to the dough, mixing completely before adding the next chunk. After everything is incorporated the dough generally needs more mixing in order to fully develop, look for the dough to stretch out enough for it to be almost transparent and allow light to show through. Once the dough is fully developed it should be shaped and covered with some oil, such as coconut oil, and refrigerated overnight. Covering the dough with a thin coat of oil prevents the outside from drying up and forming a crust. The next day the dough is baked to a golden brown loaf.

I use mostly white bread flour or sifted spelt flour as it mixes well with butter, eggs, and milk. My sourdough starter is also adapted for brioche recipes, I mix a more stiff starter with the same flour types that I use in the loaf. There are all sorts of flavor types to try that are seasonal and nothing short of amazing.

Pumpkin Spice Sourdough Brioche

Ingredients

Dough Mix

Bread flour 500g

Stiff sourdough leaven 100g

Maple sugar 50g

Eggs 170g (3 large eggs)

Whole milk 120g

Butter 150g

Filling

Roasted pumpkin 400g

Cinnamon 50g

Maple syrup 100g

Melted Butter 50g

Greek yoghurt 200g

Dark chocolate chips or chunks 200g

Directions

In a stand mixer with a dough hook add the flour, sugar, eggs, and milk. Mix until completely combined. Start adding chunks of butter slowly while the mixer is running or knead by hand until all the butter is combined into the dough.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into two round balls. Lightly coat in coconut oil and plastic wrap or a bag and refrigerate overnight.
The day you are baking, combine all the filling ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a bowl and whisk until completely incorporated. Refrigerate until the dough is rolled out.
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough balls into rectangles. Spread the filling onto the rectangles and even out with a knife. Sprinkle on the chocolate chips and then roll up into a log.
Cut the log in half, seam side down, through the middle. Roll the two halves into a braid and put into a loaf pain. Sprinkle with some cinnamon and maple sugar.
Bake in a well preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.