BRIOCHE BREAD RECIPE

Each brioche loaf is comprised of four easy-to-pull-apart sections. It is perfect for breakfast - just add great jam and butter, or for turning into heavenly sugar crusted french toast.

This is one brioche bread recipe that should NOT be made with a hand mixer, because the mixing will wear out the motor. So, use your stand mixer or pull out your sturdiest wooden spoon. The dough should be made 1 day ahead and then shaped and baked the next.

2 packets active dry yeast
1/3 cup just warm to the touch water
1/3 cup just warm to the touch whole milk
3-3/4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup white sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

GLAZE
1 egg
1 TBS water

Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the flour and salt and use the mixer's dough hook (if you have one). Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can - this will help you, the counter and kitchen floor from being showered in flour.

Turn the mixer on and off in a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour, then remove the towel and increase the speed to medium-low. Mix for until the flour is moistened.

Set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes, or until the dough forms a ball.

Reduce to low and add the butter in tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You will have dough that is very soft, almost like a batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the brioche bread dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap in the bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator. Slap down the dough in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the covered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

The next day, butter and flour two loaf pans. Pull the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3-1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans; 1 to 2 hours.

Center the rack in the oven and PREHEAT to 400 degrees.

Beat the egg with the water for the glaze. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.

Bake until they are well risen and deeply golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks and cool for 15 minutes.

Run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Cool for at least one hour and enjoy the delight of this marvelous brioche bread. This brioche bread recipe is worth it's weight in gold.