This homemade brioche bun recipe is super light & fluffy. Stuff them with pulled pork, slather them with peanut butter & jelly, or snack on ‘em straight!
This brioche bun recipe is easier to make than you think! Instead of buying buns at the store, try your hand at making them homemade. I like to make a couple of batches and have them on hand for a last minute BBQ (hello, meaty sandwiches!).
Note: You can make these buns by hand or use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
What is Brioche Bread?
Made with eggs and butter, this brioche bread recipe has a rich and beautiful yellow color to it. Hailing from France, this bread is similar in flavor to the croissant with much less work. Slightly sweet and buttery, brioche works well with both sweet and savory recipes.
How to Make this Brioche Bun Recipe
Making this brioche bread recipe only requires 6 ingredients and the help of stand mixer (although you can make these buns by hand).
- Build the Dough Foundation: Using the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl and a spoon, combine the warm whole milk, active dry yeast, sugar, and two cups of all-purpose flour. Stir by hand or whisk the ingredients over medium speed, cover the bowl, and allow the mixture to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Add in the Eggs: In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together. Add the eggs and melted unsalted butter to the dough mixture, followed by the remaining flour in small portions.
- Knead the Brioche Dough: Knead the dough by hand on a floured work surface or with your mixer until it becomes elastic (about 10-15 minutes).
- Allow the Dough to Rise: Next, cover the dough and let it rise for about an hour.
- Divide the Dough: Divide the dough into even pieces and flatten them out into round shapes.
- Give the Dough a Final Rise: Place the dough pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover them with a towel, and allow them to rise for 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and water together and brush the tops with the egg wash.
- Bake the Brioche Buns: Lastly, bake the brioche buns in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown. Eat them warm or allow them to cool on a wire rack on the counter. Enjoy!
Hot Tip: Make dividing the dough a million times easier by using a dough scraper (also commonly called a bench scraper) versus a knife or your hands.
Tips for Making this Brioche Bun Recipe
A couple of foolproof tips will help you nail this brioche bun recipe and get the fluffiest rolls possible.
- Make sure the temperature of your milk is right. 110 ℉ is the ideal temperature to help with rising and activating the yeast.
- Use eggs to get that bakery-worthy, shiny top. Brush the tops of your buns with whisked eggs to add a nice glossy top! You can also sprinkle some sesame seeds on top for a nice crunch and pretty presentation.
- Quality flour goes a long way. Great quality flour goes a long way. We like to use Bob’s Red Mill of Oregon. These flours have a higher protein content, yielding baked goods richer in flavor.
- Allow the dough to “proof” itself. “Proofing” is the process of letting the bread dough rise. Specifically, it refers to the specific time that the fermentation process needs to take place. Simply put, don’t take shortcuts. Your yeast needs enough time to expand your bread and create enough carbon dioxide bubbles to make it rise into fluffy goodness. The fermentation process also allows for the yeast to create a natural alcohol that gives the bread its flavor and aroma.
- Make sure the dough is the perfect texture. Soft and sticky dough is totally normal! In fact, it is what makes the buns taste so good.
Ideas for Serving
You can use this brioche bun recipe for homemade hamburger buns for grill night and serve the burgers alongside some crispy air fryer french fries or air fryer potato wedges. If you’re looking for something more fresh, use the brioche burger buns to make deli sandwiches for a picnic. They are also great for serving alongside a piping hot bowl of minestrone soup.
Storing Brioche Buns
We love making a large batch and storing these buns for a rainy day. Double, triple or quadruple the recipe!
- Room Temperature: These buns have a propensity to get a bit stale, so make sure to store them in a plastic storage bag or airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to 3 days when stored properly.
- Freezing: When kept in an airtight container or plastic freezer bag, these buns will stay good for up to two months frozen. To thaw them, simply place them on the counter for a couple of hours until soft.
Hot Tip: Bring your buns back to life by zapping them for a few seconds in the microwave or for a few minutes in the oven.
FAQ
What makes brioche buns different from traditional bread?
Brioche bread has fluffy, airy sweet layers of dough. Traditional bread is made with water, flour, yeast and salt. This results in a lighter, more mild flavor dough. Brioche, on the other hand, is made with eggs, butter and milk.
What are the key ingredients in homemade brioche buns?
They key ingredients in any recipe for brioche buns are flour, butter, yeast, milk, and a ton of eggs. In fact, the eggs are what make a brioche a brioche and can be credited for that beautiful yellow hue to the bread.
What are some good toppings for brioche buns?
If you want to spruce up your brioche buns, some good toppings include a dusting of flour or a sprinkle of flakey kosher salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds or flax seeds.
Other Simple Bread Recipes
- Easy Brioche Bread – Classic braided brioche
- No-Knead Easy Bread – Easy overnight bread recipe (video included)
- Easy No-Knead Dinner Rolls Recipe – Simple buns for burgers or sandwiches
- Easy Homemade Flatbread Recipe – Cheese and herb flatbread
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk heated to around 110 °F
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast
- 6 cups all purpose flour depending on the brand of flour, you may need more
- 6 eggs
- 200 grams unsalted butter
- 1/8 tsp salt
For Brushing the Tops
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp water
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer or spoon, combine the warm milk (about 110 °F) with yeast, sugar, and two cups of flour. Whisk the ingredients together. Cover the bowl with a towel and set it aside in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together. Add the eggs, salt and melted butter to the dough mixture. Whisk in the remaining flour in small portions.
- Knead the dough by hand or with your mixer until it becomes elastic (about 10-15 minutes).
- Cover the dough and let it rise for about an hour.
- Divide the dough into 18-24 pieces (depending on the size you prefer). Form a flattened, round shape out of each dough piece.
- Place the dough pieces on a lined baking sheet. Cover them with a towel and allow them to rise for 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with water and brush the tops of the buns with the mixture.
- Bake the brioche buns at 350°F for about 25 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown. Enjoy!
Made these several times now and they turn out perfectly!
I'm happy to hear you enjoy them! Thanks for sharing.
I don’t think this is a bad recipe but it is not what it claims to be. I think the final product is more similar to a standard dinner roll than to brioche.
Thanks for your input Chelsea. I'm curious what would make it more brioche like in your opinion?
This dough was absolutely beautiful. I added extra salt after reading the reviews but it’s a beautiful 5 star dough. I’m about to make my second batch. I’m using AP flour.
Too bad about the review below- sounds as though she had too much liquid or didn’t add the flour in small quantities.
Hey Carren, Sounds like you perfected it! Enjoy! 🙂
I don’t want to be mean but I don’t understand how this recipe can get so many great reviews. As so many other people have said… the measurement is waaaay off.
I used almost 9 cups of flour and the dough was still too sticky. And the amount of salt is also completely inaccurate. I used salted butter, doubled the amount of salt and it was still not enough. Honestly, not worth the risk
Hey Sabrina, Depending on the type of flour used, the amount needed will vary. I highly recommend Bob's Red Mill flour or Canadian flour which is higher in gluten.
Thank you so much for sharing Natalya, I love this brioche recipe! I was wondering if you could use this to make a brioche loaf? If so, at which stage would you put it in your loaf pan to rise and then bake, first rise or second rise (this would be where you form into rounds and let rise for 30 minutes)? I’m not sure how much rise you’ll get in a loaf pan at that point.
Hi Ly, I actually have a "easy brioche bread" recipe. You could try that, or refer to it for baking instructions. Enjoy!
Thanks so much Nat, I’ll give that one a try 🙂
I made these today and I have a couple of notes:
They definitely need salt.
I needed closer to 8 cups of flower.
With those changes, they turned out well!
How muxj salt dis you add? I noticed the same thing. They need salt
Hi Erica- Thank you for the feedback. We will take this into consideration when reviewing/updating the recipe. I'm glad they turned out well for you! 😀
Everything about this recipe was great, except that it desperately needs salt. I made the buns we needed for dinner, and used the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls. I loved everything about it, but unsalted butter and no added salt left the bread a little flat-tasting.
Hi Rebekah, Thanks for the feedback. The cinnamon rolls is a genius idea! Yum!
Forgot to add rating
I’ve done two other brioche bun recipes (the one I use most commonly is king arthur’s) these came out so bland, the worst of the three. I wasted so many ingredients making this because I trusted the five star rating, but when I read the comments, I saw that even the positive comments asked for salt. It would be amazing if you could at least edit the recipe.
Hi Jake, Thanks for the feedback! I am looking into updating this recipe.
Ok. I have some constructive criticism here. Not in any attempt to insult the author. Yes , to some commenters, I have written recipes and have cooked professionally for over 25 years.
While they came out ok, there are a few discrepancies with the recipe.
1st and foremost, the amount of flour needed is way off. Even with a higher protein flour to produce more gluten, it shouldn't need 1.5 - 2 cups more than the recipe calls for to get that sticky buttery dough you're striving for.
( maybe they used small eggs which lessened the liquid, or used bread flour).
Then it needs salt. While baking usually calls for unsalted butter, this person must have used salted butter because it is truly lacking flavor. I would add at least 1.5- 2 tsp. salt.
This recipe made 26 hamburger sized buns after shaping them the size of a 1/2 tennis ball. If you're looking for sliders, make sure you roll them a little smaller than a golf ball.
The need for extra flour caused them to be a little dry.
So, if you choose to make this recipe please make these adjustments.
Hi Ant, Thanks for your insight and suggestions! We appreciate it.
Do I have to add sugar?
Hi AJ, The sugar provides food for the yeast to feed off of so I highly recommend it in this recipe. You could try honey instead. I hope this helps.
Hello, I would like to know if this dough can be frozen? Maybe before the final rise?
Hi Laura, I personally have not tried freezing the dough. I'm sure it can be done, I just prefer to freeze the buns after they've been cooked.
bro I had to keep adding flour and not kidding added an extra bag and it was still sticky. Then I ended up with SO MUCH DOUGH, I made three fullsized loaves as well as 18 buns. and also it needs salt
Hi Nazli, Sounds like you ended up with bread for days. 🙂 What flour brand did you use?
I made a 1/2 batch of these, and they came out very good. Thank you.
Some feedback
- Definitely needed salt.
- would be better if the ingredients were all in weights or consistent, like the butter is in grams, but other items are in cups.
Hi Jim, Thank you for your feedback. It's much appreciated!
Recipe was very vague I wasn’t sure about what consistency to get the dough. It didn’t say if it was supposed to be sticky or not.
Hi Maddy, Under the tips section, we mention that the dough should be "soft and sticky." I hope this helps!
Recipe is good. I am not a fan of how these recipes are written though. I find myself scrolling way up and down, asking myself was it ap flour? Oh there it is in one place but not where the list of ingredients is, for example. Used 6 eggs in mix then says "mix eggs" again for the top brush and I thought maybe 6 wasn't right but it didn't say how many before in the steps. Then tou find the top mix is somewhere else. It's stressful to have to second guess and scroll all over.
I agree about the recipe being unclear and wondered about the eggs.
I had a lot of trouble getting this to have the right consistency and texture. I spent A LOT of time adjusting it!! In the end I still didn’t get it quite right. The dough is challenging to work with and I want to learn but not with this recipe. I would prefer a recipe given in grams.
I am so grateful for the comments and added extra flour and salt. I ended up with 37 mid-sized rolls (not quite hamburger-sized). They do taste pretty good according to my family.
Hi Alison, thank you for your feedback. It helps us with improving the recipes. We found with flour that every brand requires different amount because they all carry slightly different amount of protein. We always recommend using Bobs RedMill because its the one we test with and it's incredibly delicious. Also, I am not sure if you have watched the video in this post, I think you would find it helpful. And... on the last note. I am happy they still came out great. 🙂
Hi David, On top of the blog post, you can press on the "jump to recipe," and it will take you to it without needing to scroll. I appreciate you taking the time to give your feedback!
I haven't made this yet. but i do have a question about the yeast. I have instant yeast. are the measurements the same? and to all the negative nancys, why dont you come up with a recipe on your own? make sure to include everything since you can nit pick someone else's work. That being said i cant wait to try this recipe.
Hi JaNae, I appreciate the support! 🙂 In regards to the instant yeast, use the same measurements. The buns will probably rise faster than when using active dry yeast though.
These turned out INCREDIBLE! I did have to use a lot more flour to get the dough to come together and added a bit of salt as per other reviews, but other than that, I followed recipe to a T and they turned out perfect! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sara, Thanks for sharing your feedback! Enjoy!
They are a bit tasteless even with some salt. But they still taste lovely and soo fluffy! I will say make more buns than Minimum, I halved the recipe and made 9 buns and they came out huge, which was a disappointment.
Hi Danyelle, Thanks for sharing your feedback! The buns can be shaped into any size you prefer, next time try making 12 or more for smaller buns. I hope this helps.:)
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It was super easy to follow. They came out so soft and fluffy! I might add a little more sugar or honey next time since I like bread on the sweeter side.
Hi Joy, That'll be perfect for making sweeter buns. Enjoy!
Hi there. I made these today and they came out wonderfully. Sol light and fluffy with a wonderful flavour. I used salted butter so no issues there. I did have to use more flour than called for as it's been so rainy here. I got 25 buns and they are just great. My family is going to love them. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Hi Doris, Thanks for sharing! I'm so happy your family loves them. Enjoy! 🙂
Next time I’ll add some salt for flavor. I need buns which are higher. Any suggestions?
Hi Sharon, Not sure what buns would be higher, but we do have a great recipe for no-knead dinner rolls.
It is helpful to bring the milk up to about 185 and then let it cool to 110 before use. This bump in heat will denature an enzyme in the milk that interferes with the formation of gluten.
Hey dear, I am not sure because with air conditioning running inside our homes, they temperature doesn't really get changed. I haven't had to experiment different techniques. Let me know how it comes out for you.
I agree with everyone, the buns turned out great but definitely needed salt. I had already kneaded the dough when it dawned on me that there was no salt called for in the recipe. Would be perfect to eat on its own if it had salt.
Hi Kii, thank you for giving us your feedback on the salt. We will take that into consideration when reviewing the recipe! Hope you enjoyed the brioche buns otherwise. 🙂
It did taste good but I really think it’s missing salt. Texture is great but it kind of tastes like nothing 🙁
Hi Leah, Happy to hear the texture was great. Feel free to add some salt next time you make them. Enjoy!
It needs salt, but besides that it was wonderful!! So easy and perfectly simple!!
Thank you Trish for the suggestion. Glad to hear the buns were easy to make and that they turned out wonderfully.
We followed the recipe exactly and my end product was not as light and airy as I was aiming for. We also found they crusted more too. We're wondering if a higher hydration dough as well as baking them at a lower temp for a bit longer & double panning might get me those results? We did really, really enjoyed them but we're trying to knock off a commercial product we really like.
Hi Dave, I think a lot of it can depend of quality of flour. What brand did you use? Thank you!
Nice to hear from you and the rolls are awesome & didn't mean to come across as at all negative! So, we used Robin Hood AP which is likely a decent brand but not the most premium. We've become kinda nerds with baking breads & pizza doughs and usually find it takes a few attempts to land on the recipe for what we're targeting. Will try again and follow up!
Hi Dave, We typically use Bobs Redmill, it gives the best result. If you try it, let me know if it makes a huge difference. I am curious now. 🙂
I need to make one giant cheeseburger bun that will be approximately 10 pounds in dough. Can you please tell me the quantities of my different ingredients for this size of bun? Thank you.
Hi Jay, that sounds so fun! Unfortunately, I have never tried that size, so I dont think I can be any help. I dont even know how that size would back. Please share how it goes, I so badly want to see it.
These turned out great but I would add salt next time. I’m sure it won’t be missed when using for hamburgers or sandwich fillings, meat etc.
Hi Bonnie, I am so glad that the recipe was a success. Thank you for sharing your feedback with me. Enjoy!
It states “whisk the eggs with melted butter”, but since it didn’t specify how many eggs I assumed it was all six. But then it states to whisk the eggs with water to brush on buns later in the recipe and now I’m wondering if I whisked too many eggs in the batter 😩 can you please advise? I am waiting on the dough to rise before I separate the buns so it’s definitely too late, but I’m hoping i didn’t ruin the dough by adding too many eggs. How many grams do you think the buns should be for a decent size bun?
Hi Cynthia, You did everything correctly! In the recipe, I state that for the egg wash you need 1 egg and 3 tbsp of water. That would put you at 7 eggs for the entire recipe. I hope this answers your question. Thank you for reaching out!!