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
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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 flour depending on the brand of flour, you may need more
- 6 eggs
- 200 grams unsalted butter
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 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 and they turned out beautiful and delicious- this is definitely a do again recipe.
Hi Donna- thank you for commenting. I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed these brioche buns! Did you eat them as is or use for a sandwich?
So easy and delicious!
Hi Arlene- glad you loved this recipe. Do you plan to eat them as is or use them for something else? Enjoy!
I used a good flour - King Arthur which I have always had fantastic results for all my bread baking . I used about 6-7 cups, but I am experienced enough to know that temperature, humidity make a difference . The misleading part is the “25 minutes”. . You have to add the ride times to yeast doughs to be accurate as to how long a recipe takes - in this case close to 2 hours. Getting ready to bake now - dough looks beautiful and should be delicious otherwise .
Hi Karen- you are absolutely right, humidity and temperature ARE huge factors in yeast based recipes! With the way our recipe cards are set up, there is no way to account for rising time aside from the actual hands on prep and baking time the way it currently is. I do appreciate your feedback though and we will look into exploring this option in the future. Thanks for commenting and enjoy your brioche buns!
Amazing recipe! For those complaining that the dough is too wet that is how it is supposed to be as pictured in the video above. This is the first brioche recipe that has actually worked for me
Hi Terra- thank you for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed these brioche buns!
Hi, so anxious to try these buns. My only question is about the butter ,
How many cups ? I don’t have any grams measurement.
Thank you
Rita
Hi Rita- one stick of butter is usually 113 grams. So you're going to need slightly less than 2 sticks of better OR 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp of butter. I highly recommend getting a kitchen scale- it comes in handy when doing any sort of baking! Hope this helps!
The flour ratio is WAY off. I added an extra cup and it was still way too sticky. I ended up throwing the entire thing out. What a disappointment.
Hey Layla, I'm sorry it didn't turn out as expected, I know that can be frustrating. Two things that can make a big difference is 1)the type of flour used and 2)how you measure the flour. I like using Bob's Red Mill or canadian flour, but depending what you use you may need more. I hope this helps for next time if you decide to attempt again!
I have to say, I make a LOT of bread. I've literally never had a flour measurement be so off for the moisture content. I think I stopped counting at 11 cups of flour. 🤷♀️. I haven't baked the rolls yet, I'm sure they'll turn out because I know the consistency of enriched dough pretty well, but wow.
Hi Priscilla, I'm sorry to hear the ratios seem to be way off in your case. What kind of flour are you using? I'm glad to hear that you know what to look for in the dough- texture wise. I hope they turn out amazing for you!
This recipe is incredibly deceiving! Prep time is actually about 1 hr 45 mins-2 hrs. I started making these thinking it was a quick recipe bc prep time said 20 minutes. Author forgot incredibly important steps in there that include 30 mins for initial yeast mixture, dough to rise, then 30 mins for rolls to rise. Do more like 2 hr and 15 mins prep time. 😡
Hi there - I'm sorry you feel this way. We don't count rising as part of the prep time, as it requires no labor on the cook's end. We will make a note within the recipe to account for rise time. Thanks for your feedback and Happy New Year.
These looks and smell great! I recommend adding salt to help the flavor profile match up with how good everything else is. I sprinkled some on the buns and that helped with the omission. I read in a review that it was used in the video but as just a reader I missed that.
Hi O - So glad you loved them! We actually don't add salt in the video either, but sometimes we add sesame seeds on top. Glad you tweaked them to fit your specific palate.
I made them for the first time today, and let me say they look great and taste amazing. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Hello Diana, I am so glad you loved the recipe, thank you for your feedback!
Total time 25mins, but you didn’t include the 2 hour rest time that these requires. I don’t bake bread so excuse me not knowing that it will require all that resting. But after starting this recipe and realizing I had to rest for all that time I had to throw my dough out because I ended up mot having sufficient time to finish
Rachell, I am so sorry about the confusion. I would recommend reading the entire recipe before starting the process. We also have a video for this recipe, I hope you find it helpful. Thank you for sharing your feedback!
Or, you know, put the correct prep time 🤷
These turned out great! But salt is missing from the list of ingredients (you used salt in the video). Mine came out a little too sweet. Anyways, best brioche bun out of the 4 recipes I have tried so far. Will add salt next time! Thanks!
Hey Abe, you can add a pinch of salt to the mix. It's there to bring out the flavors. You can always lower the amount fo sugar if its too sweet for your liking. Thanks for your feedback!
Is the metric measure for the sugar correct? The published weight of one cup of granulated sugar is 200 grams. Should the weight of 1/2 cup for this recipe be 100 grams?
Hey Sadie, you are correct. It should be 100 grams. The conversion calculator can be tricky at times. Thanks for pointing that out. Enjoy
I feel like this recipe is full proof as long as you have an understanding of what dough should look and feel like. I say that because I used nine egg yolks just trying to get rid of them! I have them from my egg white omelettes every morning . I then cut a little bit of the butter recipe to offset the moisture content . Lately I’ve started to mix and match whole wheat flour and white flour and every time I’ve made this no matter how I tweak it it always turns out fabulous.
Thank you for your feedback, Sara! I'm glad you love the results 🙂
Awesome!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Susan!
Great video Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you for your feedback!!
Thank you for this easy, foolproof recipe! Tried it today and it was a success. Had trouble last time I tried brioche rolls but this one was great!!
I'm so glad you loved this recipe, Kathleen, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback!!
Just finished your recipe and they turned out awesome! A had to add another cup of flour but it didn’t affect the buns at all. I made them about 60 grams each so I ended up with 35 in total. I will be having them for pulled pork sandwiches, can’t wait! 😋
Thank you for your detailed feedback, Robert! I'm so glad it turned out well, thank you for taking the time to comment!
What kind of milk do you use for this recipe? And for sugar does it matter if it’s granulated or powdered?
Hey Elle, it would need to be whole milk and granulated sugar.
I was eating some brioche bread from the grocery and was thinking "why can't I make this?" I used to be an avid baker but as the family got smaller, I just got away from it. Anyway, I looked for a recipe - yours caught my eye and then I saw BUNS! It's a treat to have brioche buns for burgers but they are a bit pricey. Not anymore! I WILL be making these and was thrilled to see they can be frozen, then baked. I can't wait to try and then share the recipe with my sons who have turned into bakers themselves!
I'm so glad you have found a recipe, let me know how it goes when you try it, I would love to hear your feedback!
Instructions seemed very vague. Speed for the mixer when kneading wasn’t mentioned, time needed for kneading wasn’t noted on whether it was by hand or with the mixer. The type of flour needed wasn’t specified, I assumed you meant all purpose flour? But, it could’ve been bread or wheat flour...I make all of my recipes by weight not cups so I converted 6 cups to 720 grams. Not sure why you had all of the ingredients by cup/teaspoon/tablespoon but the butter was in grams? I use King Arthur flour, which is a high protein flour, so I figured, based off your instructions I shouldn’t need to add much extra flour if any at all, but I ended up having to add so much additional flour to get the dough to the right consistency, dough was extremely sticky/wet. And my rolls came out very bland and not sweet at all. Very unhappy with how these turned out, won’t be using this recipe again.
In my experience King Arthur flour is lighter and softer and sometimes needs more than the recipe calls for. I think all you need to do is add a teaspoon and a half of salt and the blandness will be solved!
She tells you in the hints that you might need more flour.I used bread flour and it turned out fine. You just have to know what to look for in elasticity after kneading and judge for yourself. No recipe will tell you everything—sometimes you just have to go from experience.
You know , if you have any sense or experience at all, you can figure it out. Mine turned out beautifully and I’m thankful that people take the time to post recipes Negative Nancy.
Hey Ali, thank you for your feedback!
We have a video for this recipe, I believe it would be helpful to answer some of your questions.
Also, our tips section has tips about flour. Also, more suggestions.
With our recipe card, you can convert measurements. Hope you found this useful.
Thank you again for taking your time to share your feedback. I am sorry the recipe didn’t turn out as you expected. This recipe is so loved around here. Wish you had a better experience.
Looks awesome!
Can’t wait to try it
What kind o f flour do you use?
Hey Orlando, we have tips listed for the flour in the recipe. Let me know if that helps. Thanks
Just put the egg wash on my rolled out brioche buns waiting for the oven to preheat can’t wait to try them it was a very easy recipe
Keep me updated on how it goes!
Should I use 6 eggs for the dough or just 5 eggs and use 1 for the egg wash? Thanks, can't wait to try this.
Hey Joyce, you would use 6 eggs in the dough and there is an additional egg listed for egg wash. Enjoy
My dough really rose and when I went to form them the dough was stringy and hard to manage..how can I fix this.?
You can oil your hands or flour the surface. Just be patient, it will come together.
Can these be frozen in the formed dough step and then rise and baked later? Just wondering if anyone has tried this..
Hey Naomi, yes you can individually freeze them and bake them later.
At what speed should I knead the dough at in my stand mixer? Thank you
Hey Michelle, on a lower speed, depending on a setting but I use kitchen aid at 2-3 speed.
Made this multiple times. OG recipe is amazing and my food critic and my bottomless pit child both LOVED it.
Other occasions I have topped with cheese, sesame seeds, brushed with garlic butter and. replaced 1/4 of the milk with heavy cream because I had it left and said what’s the worst that can happen. And was .... Still amazing.
Haha, so glad to hear the kids were happy with it too! Great options on toppings! Thank you for taking the time to comment, Amanda 🙂
This is now my 'go to' recipe. I always have to adjust the flour qty depending on what brand of flour I use. It normally makes about 20 buns, so plenty of batches to freeze for another day. 10/10 for easiness to make and 10/10 for flavour and consistently great results. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this feedback. It made my day!
These came out amazing! Daddy, Mr 4 and Miss 2 loved them! I made a third of this recipe and got 8 decent sized rolls. Will be making these every time I do pulled pork. Thank you so much 😊
Pulled pork is a classic, especially on brioche buns. I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe and that it worked out well for you.