Bubble-Top Brioches

By lbgtdep

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup warm water (110°F to 115°F)
• 1/4 cup warm whole milk (110°F to 115°F)
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast (measured from two 1/4-ounce envelopes)
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Preparation

Step 1

Combine 1/4 cup warm water and warm milk in bowl of heavy-duty mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Sprinkle yeast over and stir to moisten evenly. Let stand until yeast dissolves, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
Add flour and salt to yeast mixture. Blend at medium-low speed until shaggy lumps form, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in sugar. Increase mixer speed to medium; beat until dough is smooth, about 3 minutes.
Reduce speed to low. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until blended after each addition, about 4 minutes (dough will be soft and silky). Increase speed to medium-high and beat until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and climbs paddle, 8 to 9 minutes.
Lightly butter large bowl. Scrape dough into bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.
Gently deflate dough by lifting around edges, then letting dough fall back into bowl, turning bowl and repeating as needed. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and chill, deflating dough in same way every 30 minutes until dough stops rising, about 2 hours. Chill overnight. (At this point, use the dough to make 12 brioches, or 6 brioches and 1 tart, or 2 tarts.)
Butter 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces; cut each piece into thirds. Roll each small piece between palms into ball. Place 3 balls in each prepared cup (dough will fill cup). Place muffin pan in warm draft-free area; lay sheet of waxed paper over. Let dough rise until light and almost doubled (dough will rise 1/2 inch to 1 inch above top rim of muffin cups), 50 to 60 minutes.
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Place muffin pan on rimmed baking sheet. Gently brush egg glaze over risen dough, being careful that glaze does not drip between dough and pan (which can prevent full expansion in oven). Bake brioches until golden brown, covering with foil if browning too quickly, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Cool 10 minutes. Remove brioches from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

One Reviewer Said

I have no idea what "shaggy" means in terms of dough but prior to adding eggs, my dough had a nice "crumb" but did not come together until I added the eggs. Speaking of eggs, it is very important that they are at room temperature; too cold and the yeast won't thrive. If you've forgotten to take the eggs out of the fridge - just put them in a pot of warm water for 5 minutes or so before use. After refrigeration, dough will be more like cookie dough than bread dough. Roll into long tube, cut in half. Cut each half into 1/3rds for a total of 6 pieces; cut each of the six pieces in half for a total of 12 pieces. Prepare according to recipe. I pulled mine out at exactly 20 minutes but will check at 15 minutes next time as they were *slightly* more brown-golden than golden-brown. Also, not as salty as I would like. I'd use 3 tsp of salt next time or use salted butter. The sugar seemed excessive initially but you can't taste it in the bread; I imagine it was just feeding the yeast. All-in-all, a great recipe - very flakey (though a tad dry), really easy, will definitely use again with slight modifications.