The Best Sourdough Brioche (Tangzhong Method)
This ultra-soft sourdough brioche bread is about to become your new favorite! It is made with tangzhong, making the brioche stay fresh for days. It pairs just as well with eggs and bacon as it does with chocolate spread or jam.
The Sourdough Starter
The starter is the most important part of any sourdough recipe. Make sure it is active and well fed before you start making this recipe.
Short answer: no. I always recommend taking your starter out of the fridge 2-3 days in advance. Keep it at room temperature for 2-3 days, and feed it with equal parts flour and water every 12 hours. The starter should double or preferably triple in size during the 12 hours rise.
Everyone who signs up to the Bread By Elise newsletter gets instant access to my free E-Book “How to make a sourdough starter.” A great way to get you started!
The Levain
In this recipe we are using a sweet levain made from white sourdough starter, sugar, flour and milk!
The Tangzhong
Tangzhong is a Japanese baking technique that I often use in my recipes. It involves pre-cooking a portion of the recipes flour and liquid, causing the mixture to thicken and gelatinize. The Tangzhong causes the bread to remain softer with an extended shelf life.
Sourdough Brioche: Main Dough
Brioche dough is a highly enriched dough that consists of lots of eggs and butter. It is more on the liquid side, so it is essential to knead this dough for a long time. Use cold milk and cold eggs to prevent the dough from overheating while kneading. If the dough still overheats, please stop kneading and place the dough in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to let it cool down before you continue kneading until the dough passes the window-pane test.
To the left: Dough is underdeveloped. Tears easily, very sticky, not a cohesive, smooth dough. Needs more kneading.
To the right: The dough is shiny and smooth. It starts to let go of the sides of the bowl and passes the window-pane test. Ready to go!
How to perform the window-pane test
The Window Pane test is one of the best ways to tell if you have kneaded your dough long enough. Hold a corner of your dough with both hands and slowly stretch it out. If you can stretch the dough until it’s thin and nearly translucent (without tearing), it’s ready to go! If the dough tears quickly, it needs to be kneaded longer.
How to shape Sourdough Brioche
I love the traditional way of shaping brioche, but you can definitely be more creative with it if you want to!
- Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into two equal pieces. We want to work with one loaf at a time so place one of the dough pieces on a floured work surface and the other back into the fridge.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into seamless rounds and arrange them in one of your prepared bread tins. Repeat on the other half of the dough.
- Let the brioche breads proof for 7-10 hours at 75-78°F/24-26°C, until doubled in size.
Here are some tools I recommend you have on hand to make this sourdough brioche recipe a success:
- Digital Kitchen Scale is essential for exact measurements.
- Cooking Thermometer to measure the temperature of the tangzhong.
- Stand Mixer fitted with a dough hook to easily knead your dough.
- Brød & Taylor Proofer Box manages the temperature during proof (now in stock!).
- Mixing Bowl to proof the brioche dough in.
- Bench Knife to divide the dough during shaping.
- Two 9-inch Bread Tins to bake the breads in.
The Best Sourdough Brioche (Tangzhong Method)
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Cooking Thermometer
- Stand mixer
- Brød & Taylor Proofer (optional, but recommended for better temperature control)
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Bench knife
- Two 9-in bread tins
Ingredients
Sweet Levain
- 30 g active white sourdough starter 100% hydration
- 40 g all-purpose flour
- 40 g whole milk cold
- 10 g sugar
Tangzhong
- 140 g whole milk
- 35 g all-purpose flour
Main Dough
- 460 g bread flour
- 250 g eggs approximately 5 eggs
- 30 g whole milk cold
- all the tangzhong (175 g)
- all the sweet levain (120 g)
- 60 g sugar
- 12 g salt
- 200 g unsalted butter softened
Other
- 1 egg for egg wash
Instructions
Sweet Levain
- Add all the ingredients to a small mixing bowl and mix until just combined. Cover the bowl and let the levain rise in a warm spot (78-80°F/26-27°C) for four hours, or until it has doubled in size.
Tangzhong
- Add milk and flour to a small pot. Heat up over medium heat while stirring with a whisk. Once the mixture has thickened and reached the temperature of 150°F/65°C, it is ready.
- Transfer the tangzhong to a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap that is touching the entire surface of the tangzhong. Cool to room temperature before continuing with the next step.
Main Dough
- Add all the ingredients, except salt and butter, including the sweet levain and tangzhong, to the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix until just combined. Rest/autolyse for 30 minutes.
- Add the salt and knead on medium speed for 5-10 minutes.
- Slowly add in cubed, softened butter, one cube at a time. When you have added all the butter, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and continue mixing at medium-high speed until the dough passes the window-pane test. This typically takes around 15-25 minutes, depending on your mixer.
- Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and proof for three hours at around 75°F/24°C.
- After the three hours proof, you can transfer the dough to the fridge and let it cold-proof for 8-15 hours.
Shape
- Butter two 9-inch bread tins.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into two equal pieces. We want to work with one loaf at a time so place one of the dough pieces on a floured work surface and the other back into the fridge.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into seamless rounds and arrange them in one of your prepared bread tins. Repeat on the other half of the dough.
- Let the brioche breads proof for 7-10 hours at 75-78°F/24-26°C, until doubled in size.
Bake
- Preheat your oven to 360°F/180°C.
- Brush the tops of the breads with egg wash.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Cover with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly.
Notes
Nutrition
If you liked this recipe, you might also like my Sourdough Focaccia With Cherry Tomatoes & Rosemary recipe:
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61 Comments
Stephanie
I made this recipe and the flavor is great! It’s really hot where I live…around (27 C- 30 C) so I decided to only proof the second time around for 3.5 hours instead of 7-10, to not overproof. Also, I skipped the overnight fridge proof and just went ahead and shaped after the first fermentation/proof. The results were still good!
Julina
U’re a godsend!
This recipe is complex to me, I’m just an average homecook. But the picture and description pulls me strongly. I followed all your instructions word for word. Your writings were very clear and succint. I was not too confident how it will turn out as I don’t make breads regularly. But it came out gloriously perfect and superbly amazing and delightfully delicious!!! Thank you!!
Marte
This is the best thing I have ever baked and tasted my entire life!! You are such a talent!! And you’re schoolbuns too- WOW!!
Keep up the good work and please make us a book one day so I can run to the store and buy it!!🌸
Dhai
I loved it It will be my favorite brioche recipe Thank you for your effort We want more delicious recipes using sourdough.
I’m 20😂 and I love sourdough very much, thank you 💕
RASHAA
I loved every single information, it was so simple and easy to follow 👌👌👌
And I enjoyed the whole thing 🙏🙏🙏.
Thanks 😊
Prati
Any replacement of egg?
I’m vegetarian.
Please please suggest
Bread by Elise
There is, unfortunately, no good substitute as the eggs are one of the main ingredients of a brioche.
Amanda
This is such a great recipe! Turned out great even though I messed up a couple times and had to make a few “corrections” as I went lol but the results were still amazing and my whole family loves it!
Lilian Yen
Hi, my dough formed a crust on the top of the bowl when I placed it into the fridge for proofing overnight. I covered the top with a piece of cloth. Not sure what’s the alternative to prevent the layer of crust on the top. Does the crust affect the dough if I fold it and remix it again with my hands?
Bread by Elise
Hi! I recommend covering your dough with plastic wrap as it’s the best at trapping moisture.
Lilian
Perfect! Thank you so much for your prompt reply and advise. My brioche ran out within minutes after being served. It was a crowd pleasing recipe for sure! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Ari
Not sure what I did wrong in this recipe, but my dough turned out like icing and I had to add about double the flour to get the consistency. I noticed a lot of the measurements in this recipe are WAY off. First of all… 5 eggs does NOT equal 125g lol. I would appreciate if these measurements were revisited.
I live in Florida. The only issue I had was the actual dough. Finding a new source for recipes because this is now the 3rd one I’ve had an issue with. Super disappointing after spending so much time on it.
Bread by Elise
Hi Ari! I am sorry to hear that your dough didn’t turn out as expected. As we all know, what type of flour you use, temperatures and environment significantly affect the outcome of the dough. I would consider sourdough brioche especially difficult to master, and it might take a couple of tries to get it right (as with all intricate bread recipes.) Make sure you use flour with high protein levels that can handle the amount of hydration/eggs in a brioche. I like Manitoba flour from the brand Caputo. It’s available on Amazon. It doesn’t say anywhere in this recipe that five eggs equal 125 grams, so I’m not sure where you got that from. For this recipe, you’ll need 250 grams of eggs, which equals about five medium-sized eggs. Although, I do want you to measure them because the weight of an egg can vary a lot. Let me know if you would like to go over the process with me over email. I would love to know what flour you used especially, and maybe we can find the cause of why your dough turned out as it did. Either way, I genuinely hope you find a recipe that works for you, and happy baking!
Sandra Workman
This recipe is really amazing and the results were excellent considering that I’m a nouveau baker and that this was my first time baking Brioche. Next time I would like to add orange paste and some dry fruits, in other words, make it like a Panettone. Would you recommend this dough for addings? If you do, how should I tweak the original recipe?
Thank you and thank you for sharing your art!
Bread by Elise
Thank you, Sandra! Sure – I would mix in the add-ins at the very end of kneading.
Lilian
Hi, I’m just wondering if using a metal bowl for proofing will affect the dough rising? I only have metal bowls in my house…. and I’m planning to bake this recipe.
Bread by Elise
Hi! A metal bowl should not affect your dough.
Sandra oppenheimer
Obrigada por compartilhar seu trabalho 👏😘😘😘
Asma
Can I use 8 inch tin (450 g) loave pullman ?
Sumika
Best brioche I’ve ever tasted!!! Worth the effort of waiting for the butter to get incorporated and then to the window pane stage. The dough will seem more like batter but it will get stronger with each stroke and become a slime consistency dough.
Love love love. If you have time to answer: if I want to do this in one day or bake this so that it’s ready for dinner time… do I skip the fridge? Or can I have it in the fridge for like couple of hours?? Will it do the trick??
Jon Ladron de Guevara
It does say 250gr though… and that is accurate
Jon Ladron de Guevara
hi! I’m just gonna rate this recipe wirh 5 stars because i’m in love with all your recipes! My loaves are proofing right now and I’d like to ask which setting do I have to use on the oven? Thank you very much for all the work!!
Cheers!
Jon
Bread by Elise
Thanks so much! I use the top and bottom heat setting 😊
Suzanne
I’m going out on a limb and thinking (like me) you tried to convert grams to OZ and didn’t know that volume oz is not the same as liquid OZ. Mine too came out like pancake batter, and I worked on it alllll day 🙁
My mom (and no one else) had never told me OZ does not equal OZ. It was a very hard lesson I learned today 🙁
Reona Erickson
Hi there what is the difference between a white sourdough starter and your sourdough starter recipe? I currently have a starter going but do I just keep using white flour instead or the 5 g of rye flour? Thank you!
Bread by Elise
Hi! So a white sourdough starter is a starter that has been fed with only white flour. A couple of feedings with white flour should be enough; it does not matter if there is a small percentage of rye in your starter. Happy baking!
Cha
Could I do this recipe if I have a whole wheat starter?
Bread by Elise
Yes, but I recommend doing a couple feedings with only white flour first.
Mia
I’ve made this twice now, and the loaves came out beautifully both times! I really love this recipe; it’s certainly well worth the time and effort. I used my own sourdough starter, which is fed with half AP and half pumpernickel. Thank you for the delicious bread!
Jim D
This is not only the best bread I’ve made it may be the best thing I’ve made in the kitchen! The brioche is so delicate and buttery and delicious I can’t believe it. A fried egg on a piece of this bread elevates a humble breakfast.
I thought the recipe was easy to follow and worked very well. I was having to proof in the oven with the light on due to a chilly kitchen and my final rise was in the 3 hours range not 7 to 10. ( I have a very active starter and it is a bit of an over achiever!)
Thank you so much for this recipe. I am going to modify it to a cinnamon bread this weekend. I can’t wait!
Jessica Villacrez
Elise, i dont know how but you make me feel like the best baker i know!!
I have made this recipe now 3 times and every time is more magnificent than the last.
i love how thorough and detailed your explanations are. I look forward to trying all of them and show off my skills =)
keep doing what you’re doing.
you’re doing amazing, sweetie. <3
Melissa
I just made this for the second time this month! We love it so much and I think I’m going to bring this to Thanksgiving dinner in place of dinner rolls. Yum.
Alberto
Hi, this recipe looks incredible but I don’t have a stand mixer at the moment. Do you have a recommended method for kneading by hand to achieve similar results? Or will a food processor with dough blade be better?
Bread by Elise
Hi! The stand mixer is crucial when making brioche; I wouldn’t recommend kneading it by hand or in a food processor.
Frédérique BLAIMONT
Je cherchais une recette de brioche avec Tangzhong et levain, je suis tombée sur la vôtre et j’ai décidé de l’essayer. Je suis ravie. Tout est parfait. Demain matin on va se régaler. Merci !
EAA
Hi Elyse. Finding your blog and IG is what inspired me to get my sourdough starter up and running 🙂 this is the first recipe I’m using it in. Just popping in with a question – can this dough be frozen for any length of time and if so, at what stage? I don’t have the bandwidth for 2 loaves of brioche in my household and I’d like to save half the dough for later. Thank you!
Bread by Elise
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend freezing this dough. But you can freeze the brioche in slices once it’s baked. Happy baking!
Marcy Grote
Hi Elise,
I’m about to make this recipe. Looks amazing! I’m wondering how this recipe works if I sub in a little whole wheat for nutrition?
Bread by Elise
I haven’t tried it with this dough! Maybe check out my Seeded sourdough sandwich bread instead?
dawn
I was nervous but it came out great!!!! Wonder the best way to store this? On the counter? Foil? Xox thanks for another great recipe!
Anita
I cannot believe how absolutely perfect my king cake came out using this brioche as a base! Fantastic!!! The king cake recipe adds cinnamon, vanilla and lemon zest to the dough and, of course, sugar on top.
Marcy Grote
worked great. Flavor is great too. I’d like to sub a little whole wheat.
Suzanne
I cannot rate this recipe as it’s my own fault for ruining it. I decided to convert grams to OZ thinking I could just using US standard measuring tools, but NO.
I had NO idea that liquid ounces are not equal to density weight ounces. One 16 ounce measuring cup of flour is about 8oz on a scale . . . so I ened up with ALL my ingredients messed up 🙁
The butter didn’t cut in, and the batter was like pancake batter. And it wouldn;t rise one lick overnight.
I did some resaearch next morning and figured out my problem.
To “save it”, I mixed one packet of yeast into 1/4cuo of warm water, then added to my brioche batter while mixer ran (because my dough didn’t rise at ALL in 12 hours). I began adding hadfuls of flour while it mixed until it wound up around the beater and wasn’t on the edges of the bowl.
Batter/dough was VERY wet, but it DID rise in 3 hours, and punching it down covered my hand in batter. I was able to handle it with a spatula and plop onto a cookie sheet, then could carefully shape it by hand.
Covered in powder sugar and baked at 400 for about 35 minutes. It rose beautifully, and texture looks decent.
Flavour was pretty terrible though and crumb a bit “dry”. But, at least I “saved” it 😉
moral of the story, don’t convert your measurements!
Ellen Garvey
Honestly, I had low expectations after kneading in my Bear Dough mixer for over half an hour and still not achieving the expected consistency. It was so soft and sticky that I thought I must have done something wrong. BUT, I continued anyway. So glad I did. This recipe checked all the boxes I was looking for: use of tangzhung, use of my sourdough starter, and I wanted to make a rich brioche for French toast. I was so glad when the dough rose in fridge and was finally touchable. I made a braided loaf with marzipan tucked into the braids and a plain loaf for French toast. They are delicious. If I can figure out how to attach pics I’ll do so. Thank you.
Richard
Wow. This recipe leaves me speechless – it is easily the lightest, fluffiest, and most delicately rich bread that I’ve ever made! It took a little less time to bake in my oven than your recommended time, but possibly because I baked one of the loaves in a round cake pan instead of a loaf pan. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Veronica
Am about to embark on this project! I took out my 100g starter fr ref and you said stay in RT 2 days feeding at least 3 times every 12 hours. So do I feed 100g water 100g flr, then after 12 hours discard 200g and feed remaning 100g starter with 100g flour, 100g water, etc.? Thanks
Bread by Elise
Hi Veronica! Yes, that is exactly what you want to do in terms of the feeding schedule. But unless you plan to bake a lot, there is no reason to keep such a large starter. I usually feed mine like this: 10 g starter, 20 g water, 20 g flour every 12 hours. That way, I end up with very little discard and avoid wasting large amounts of flour.
Barbara
Incredibly delicious! I know you have a cinnamon bun recipe, but wondered about using this dough recipe for cinnamon buns. What do you think?
Ana
LOVE this receipe. I have one quiestion though. My brioche seems to loose at least a quarter of it’s volume and height after I take it out from the oven to the cooling rack. Is there anything I could do to avoid this? Thank you!
Kai
Absolutely amazing, perfect recipe and consistent results!!! I don’t keep up a sourdough starter (I’m too forgetful lol) BUT I make this with a poolish and it still comes out so perfect, slightly tangy and not overly sweet like some brioche, I’ve been making it as a loaf but I’m thinking of making some buns this weekend for easier breakfast sandwiches! You have the best recipes on here, thanks so much!
Petrina Steacy
Mine turned out perfect. I was a little worried because there was another person who gave a negative review that is also from Florida and it’s summer here so I was worried about the heat for the proof but it turned out amazing. And on the first try. My proof times were on the shorter end due to the heat here but otherwise it went exactly according to the instructions. You are amazing. Thank u!
Bread by Elise
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Petrina!
Angelina
Wow, incredible recipe!
I halved the recipe to make this only in one loaf pan, and it turned out amazing! My husband couldn’t stop smelling the freshly baked aroma of the bread and then indulging, only to request that I save this recipe in a special place!
For next time, because we like to eat this bread sweet and not so much with savory foods, I think I will increase the sugar by half (which isn’t that much anyway), and possibly add raisins, even though this recipe is already perfect as is!
Patrick
Hi, I’m french, living in Reunion Island in Indian Ocean.
I can’t believe what I have in front of me in my owen.
Visually, the best brioche I ever had. I impatient to taste it.
Here, in tropical country, it’s not so easy to bake and patiss!
I used my 3 years old rye sourdough to do it.
Thousand of thanks.
Hannah
I have used this recipe over and over again because it is just SO good, this is my go to recipe for brioche French toast. I’ve also used to to make cinnamon rolls and cinnamon swirl bread!
Carolyn Duclos
I’ve made this a couple of times and it is fantastic in texture and flavor.
I recently have been experimenting with Kougelhopf. Looking for the right dough to replicate one I tasted and will try this one.
Your talent is amazing!
Valdemar Bæk
I did this recipe on a boat, without a standmixer and only all purpose flour and it was so delicius.
The proofing times where alot different because of the temperatur but damm it was good
Sonja Goeden
Loved this recipe, thanks you so much for the fantastic description!
Used it as the base for my Sourdough Brioche Feuilletee with a few modifications and it worked perfectly.
Dani
This came out delicious and was the most tender bread I’ve ever made, thank you!
I don’t have a stand mixer so I kneaded and slap-and-folded until it reached windowpane. Didn’t take as long as I expected.
Nita Luthria
I have made this brioche a couple of times now and it’s just amazing. Despite living in warm Mumbai, it turns out perfectly. Luckily, I was recently gifted a stand mixer and that makes all the difference. The first time I made it without and the dough was really hard to handle. Now it passes the windowpane test. Incredibly pillowy and delicious.
Julia
Best brioche I’ve ever had & ever baked, hands down. I even used AP flour in lieu of bread flour. I made the entire dough on the afternoon/evening of day 1, and let it ferment for 24 hours in fridge after the initial 3 hour proof. On evening of day 2, I shaped the dough in pan and let it rise overnight. Baked in morning of day 3 and it was perfect!