Beef Free Bread Machine Brioche
Rich, pillowy, and impossibly buttery, this brioche is the kind of bread that makes a whole kitchen smell like a French bakery. The bread machine does the heavy lifting on the notoriously tricky enriched dough, handling the long butter incorporation process that would otherwise demand serious arm strength and patience at a stand mixer. Softened butter is added gradually during the knead cycle, transforming a shaggy, rough mass into a silky, supple dough that pulls cleanly from the pan — exactly the texture brioche needs to develop its signature feathery crumb. The entire ingredient list is built around eggs, butter, flour, milk, and sugar, so there's nothing here that conflicts with avoiding beef or beef-derived products, and no need to scrutinize labels for hidden meat-based additives. After a slow proof, the three dough balls rise into a gorgeous, domed loaf that gets finished with an egg wash for that deep chestnut crust. Slicing into it warm reveals a tender, golden crumb that works equally well for French toast, a fancy sandwich, or simply eaten with a little extra butter. It's a showstopper that looks far more complicated than the steps actually are.
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Learn more →Ingredients
12 servings
For the dough
- ¼ cup whole milk, warmed to 95–100°f (35–38°c)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, softened
For the egg wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp whole milk
Instructions
- 1
Add the ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order your machine's manual specifies (typically liquids first, then dry ingredients, with yeast last and kept away from the salt). Add the warmed milk, then the 3 eggs, sugar, and salt. Add the bread flour on top, then make a small well in the center of the flour and add the yeast.
- 2
Select the Dough cycle on your bread machine and start it. Once the machine has been kneading for about 5 minutes and a shaggy dough has formed, begin adding the softened butter cubes a few at a time through the lid opening, waiting about 30 seconds between additions. The dough will look rough and greasy at first — continue until all the butter is incorporated and the dough is smooth, supple, and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the pan, about 10–12 minutes into the knead cycle.
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