Nightshade Free Brioche Loaf

Total time11 hr 15 min

Prep time40 min

Cook time35 min

4.7

(14)

Rich, buttery, and impossibly tender, this brioche loaf is the kind of bread that makes you want to clear your whole Saturday morning just to bake it. Every ingredient here is naturally free of nightshades — no hidden spice blends, no tomato-based glazes, nothing that requires a label check — just flour, eggs, butter, milk, and a little patience. The real magic is in the slow-build method: a long cold retard in the refrigerator firms the butter, deepens the flavor, and makes the dough far easier to shape than a same-day loaf. That extended chill also means most of the hands-on work happens the night before, so the actual bake day feels almost effortless. The four-ball shaping technique gives you those gorgeous, pull-apart domes on top, and the egg wash bakes into a deep chestnut crust that looks like it came straight out of a Parisian boulangerie. Slice it thick for French toast, pull it apart warm with a little extra butter, or use it as the base for an elegant sandwich — the soft, pillowy crumb holds up beautifully to just about anything you pile on.

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Ingredients

10 servings

For the dough

¼ cup whole milk, warmed to 110°f (43°c)
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp fine salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
14 tbsp (1 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, softened

For the egg wash

1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp whole milk

Instructions

1
Combine the warmed milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy and fragrant.
2
Add the flour, sugar, salt, and 4 eggs to the yeast mixture. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and mix on low speed for 2 minutes, until the ingredients are just combined into a shaggy mass, then increase to medium speed and knead for 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

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