What makes a sourdough brioche bun special? It’s the sweet, sweet flavour of brioche mixed with the beloved tanginess of sourdough.
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Ha! I learned to make brioche.
If you are unsure of why I find my newly acquired skill so incredibly fascinating, it’s because I have a love affair with brioche bread. For the longest time, I assumed that brioche was overly complicated and could only be achieved by the highest of kitchen wizards.
Like many of my assumptions, this was incorrect. Brioche is probably one of the easiest bread recipes that I’ve made. In my opinion, it’s much less fussy than a typical sourdough loaf and much less hands on than some of my other sourdough recipes.
What is Different About a Brioche Bun?
What makes brioche different from a regular bun is the addition of eggs, whole milk and honey. This gives the brioche dough a much sweeter flavour and a beautiful golden colour. These also add to the texture of the bread. You will notice that brioche is incredibly light and fluffy.
This style of dough makes for a much richer flavour added to your hamburgers or sandwiches.
What You Need to Make Brioche Buns
- Active Sourdough Starter
- All-Purpose Flour
- Milk
- Eggs
- Honey
- Salt
- Butter
How to Make Sourdough Brioche Buns
Feed your sourdough starter the day before to ensure that your yeast will be active, bubbly and ready for baking.
In the morning, add the starter, flour, honey, salt and eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer and begin mixing on a low speed using a dough hook attachment.
Warm the milk in a microwave safe container. Slowly add the milk to the bowl of the mixer. Cut the butter into smaller cubes and add in the butter one piece at a time until the butter has been fully incorporated into the dough.
Continue to knead the dough on a low speed for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. The dough will remain sticky and will not come together in a ball.
See below to learn how to do a window pane test to check if your dough has been kneaded well enough!
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover it with a dish towel and allow to rise on your counter throughout the day.
Before heading to bed, transfer the bowl with the dough into the fridge and chill overnight.
In the morning, remove the dough from the bowl onto a well floured surface. The dough will be cold and easier to manipulate now due to the cold butter in the dough.
Use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and then use your hands to shape the pieces into balls. Cover the baking sheet with a dish towel and allow the dough to rise for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Make an egg wash by mixing together one egg and one tablespoon of water. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash. You may also add sesame seeds to the tops of the buns at this stage.
Place the buns into oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the tops of the buns are golden brown.
Allow the buns to cool fully before slicing in half to serve.
Sourdough Brioche Buns
What makes a sourdough brioche bun special? It's the sweet, sweet flavour of brioche mixed with the beloved tanginess of sourdough.
Ingredients
- 1 cup active, bubble sourdough starter
- 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 room temperature eggs
- 1/2 cup warm whole milk
- 8 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
Add the flour, honey, salt and 3 of theeggs into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Begin mixing using a dough hook attatchement on a low speed.
Warm the milk in a microwave safe container or in a small saucepan. When the milk is warm to touch, but not hot, slowly add it to the mixer.
Cut up the butter into smaller pieces and add them piece by piece into the mixer, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next.
Knead the dough in the mixer for 7 to 10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with a dish towel or lid and set aside for 6 to 8 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Move the dough the to fridge once it has risen and chill overnight.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a well-floured surface.
Divide the dough into 8 equal parts.
Use clean hands to shape each piece into a ball.
Place the balls onto a lined baking sheet.
Cover the baking sheet and allow the dough to rise for an additional 2 to 3 hours at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Mix the remaining egg and a tablespoon of water to create an egg wash.
Brush the tops of each bun with the egg wash.
Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake the buns for 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
Remove the buns from the oven and allow to cool fully before slicing and serving.
How to do a Window Pane Test
One of the trickiest things of bread making is how to know if your dough has been kneaded well enough. For this, we have the window pane test!
When you are ready to transfer the dough to a greased bowl, do a window pane test by grabbing two edges of the dough, holding them up and then gently stretch them into a square.
If the dough stretches thin enough to pass light through, your dough is ready to move on to the rising stage.
Other Long-Fermented Sourdough Recipes
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Charlene
15/09/2022 at 9:47 pmThese look so beautiful and delicious! And yes, I was thinking hamburgers too. Oh, I have got to make these one day!
Brad MacAonghais
16/09/2022 at 4:16 pmA recipe so nice, I pinned it twice
B.
28/04/2023 at 1:17 amI’ve never posted a review before, but this recipe was too good to not have that many already! I got so many rave reviews from my family. They were soft, flavorful, and fluffy. I loved that the bottom half turns out so firm, especially compared to store-bought buns. I always feel if I add more than just a burger, like condiments it just falls apart. They stayed up til the end!