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Stir together this one-bowl, Overnight No-Knead Brioche Bread before bed. When you rise, it will be ready to shape and bake. It's the most tender, buttery bread that's wonderful for toast, sandwiches or for your next dinner party!
My mom was famous for her fabulous homemade bread. She would bake ten (yes TEN!) loaves at a time and made it seem like it was child's play. We all loved her bread and enjoyed it toasted for breakfast, warm and crusty in the dinnertime bread basket or for sandwiches of all kinds. When I served this bread to our son Nick for the first time, he took one bite and said, "This bread! It's better than grandma's!" I knew we had a winner!
Better and easier than grandma's bread...
And guess what? I used to watch my mom make her homemade bread and this no-knead brioche bread is WAY easier than the way she did it. Of course, she probably had really shapely arms because of all that kneading, but I can think of more fun ways to get shapely arms (or "guns" as my kids call them!).
The magic happens while you sleep...
The whole process from start to finish will take 10-12 hours, on average, but it's 99% hands-off time. Good bread can't be hurried when it comes to rising. And that's exactly where the majority of the time is involved with this recipe.
Your part is super easy. You simply stir together flour, sugar, yeast, salt, eggs, butter and water until it's well-mixed. Cover the dough, refrigerate and have yourself some sweet dreams. The magic will be taking place in the refrigerator. You'll know what I mean when you check things out in the morning. The dough will be light, airy, will have climbed up the bowl and be ready to roll (literally!).
I like to make four small (my pans are 3x6-inch) loaves of bread with this recipe, but you can also make two larger loaves.
Keep a stash of this no-knead brioche bread in the freezer
This no-knead brioche bread freezes beautifully. It's so nice to pull a loaf out for breakfast, lunch or dinner. As soon as my stash is depleted, I make another batch since it takes so little time. If I'm making it during the day, I can run out, do a few errands, have lunch with a friend, pick up groceries, and the dough just does its own thing while I'm gone.
I like to pop the little loaves back in the oven after thawing and get the crust nice and crisp. The hot bread is fabulous served sliced in a breadbasket. It's also wonderful for sandwiches (grilled cheese are amazing!), with salads or alongside soup (pictured below is my Fresh Spinach Soup - delish!)
Even if you've never made bread before, give this no-knead brioche bread a try! Because the recipe calls for instant (or rapid-rise yeast) there are no worries about activating the yeast. Instant yeast is combined with the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt) and activates on its own when the warm liquid is added.
You might even get a reputation like my mom had as a famous little old bread baker!
Café Tips for making this Overnight No-Knead Brioche Bread
- This recipe calls for "hot tap water". What that means is water that feels hot if you dip your finger in it but not so hot that you need to quickly pull it out. If you want to use an instant thermometer, the temp should be between 118-122˚F (47-50˚C).
- This recipe calls for instant (or rapid-rise) yeast. Don't try to use regular dry yeast. Instant (or rapid-rise) yeast can be found at most grocery stores right next to the regular yeast. It usually comes in small packets which hold 2¼ teaspoons, but you can also purchase rapid rise yeast in bulk which is infinitely cheaper!
- When turning the dough out onto the counter to form the loaves, use plenty of flour. If the dough is sticking to your hands or the work surface, you need more flour. Just keep flipping the dough in the flour till it's not sticky.
- A baker's bench scraper is a wonderful tool when working with bread dough. It keeps your fingers from getting sticky as you can use the scraper to turn the dough in the flour to coat it. It's also a great clean-up tool to scrape any excess dough from the counter.
- I like to let the bread cool completely then slip individually into bread bags and pop them into a freezer. A few hours before serving I pull a loaf or two out to thaw, then re-warm the bread in the oven at 300˚F for about 10 minutes - or until it's nice and crusty.
- If you want to make the dough in less time, just don't refrigerate it. It will take 2-3 hours to rise and then you can proceed with forming the loaves. Bake as directed once the loaves have risen. The bread has a deeper flavor with the long, slow rise but if you're in a pinch, you can do it without the refrigeraton.
- You'll need 4 small baking pans to make this brioche bread, approximately 3x6-inches. I've had these Chicago Metallic pans for several years and really like them. They're non-stick and come out of the dishwasher looking like new.
- If you want larger loaves, you could also use two 8x4-inch pans.
- This no-knead brioche bread is fabulous with a smear of butter and a dollop of this Overnight Raspberry Freezer Jam (pictured above). If you missed the fresh raspberry season, no worries, the jam can be made from frozen berries.
Thought for the day:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Psalm 106:1
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
Easy No-Knead Brioche Bread
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 envelope instant yeast, 2 ¼ teaspoons,7 grams, or ¼ ounce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 ¼ cups hot tap water
For the egg wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon tap water
- soft butter , for greasing the pans
Instructions
For the dough:
- Combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a medium-large bowl. Stir well to combine then make a well in the center.
- Melt butter in the microwave for 30-45 seconds on high power, until just melted. Remove from microwave and add the ¼ cup of milk. Stir with a fork then add the egg and stir again until well mixed.
- Add the milk mixture to the well in the center of the flour. Add the very warm tap water to the well then stir to combine. Continue stirring until all flour is incorporated. Cover the dough rightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight, 8-16 hours.
For prepping the pans and shaping the dough:
- Generously butter four 3x6-inch loaf pans and set them aside. (Alternatively, you could use two 8x5-inch loaf pans.)
- Generously flour a work surface and transfer the dough to the work surface. Turn several times with a bench scraper or spatula until the dough is well coated with flour.
- Using a bench scraper or spatula, divide the dough into four equal pieces. Turn each piece in the flour to coat all of the surfaces. Add more flour to the work surface if needed.
- Take one piece of the dough and flatten it out with your hands into a rectangle shape with the long side slightly longer than one of your bread pans. Turn to coat both sides with flour if any of the surfaces are sticky.
- Roll up tightly like a cinnamon roll, then tuck the ends under and shape with your hands into a loaf. Place in one of the prepared pans. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Cover the pans with a clean kitchen towel and let the bread rise again until the loaves look like they’ve doubled in size, about 1-2 hours (if your house is chilly, it may take a little longer.
When ready to bake:
- When the loaves are close to being doubled in size, preheat the oven to 350˚F. Prepare the egg wash by vigorously whisking together one large egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
- With a pastry brush, brush each loaf over the top with the egg wash. Try to be careful not to let the wash drip down the sides of the loaves into the pan.
- Place loaves in the preheated oven for 18-25 minutes or until golden brown. Check it after 15 minutes. If it's getting too brown on the top, cover it with foil for the last 3-8 minutes. (Larger loaves will take longer.)
- Remove bread from pans and transfer to a cooling rack. (If bread is stuck to the side of the pan anywhere (from the egg wash), loosen it with a small thin-bladed knife.) Allow to cool before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Gayle Humann says
I made this bread and it turned out perfect and was delicious. One question, my dough did not rise while in the refrigerator overnight? Not sure why.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Gayle,
It's hard to say why it didn't rise in the refrigerator. I wonder if your water was not warm enough. I"m glad it turned out well despite the problem.
Xei says
Brioche are my favorite. I would definitely try this! Would it be fine if i make buns instead and cook it in a dutch oven?
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, that should work fine!
Sara Goverman says
My loaves are fantastic. I made two loaves, didn’t have instant yeast, but it worked anyway. These loaves won’t last long, my husband already wants more!.
Chris Scheuer says
Haha! I love it! Thanks for reporting back, Sara! 💕
Sara Goverman says
It’s probably too late, because my loaves are in the pan for the second rise, but I was wondering how flat the ough should be before rolling cinnamon bun style.??
Chris Scheuer says
Not super-flat, just flattened out enough to be able to roll it into loaves.
Sara says
Thanks, I’ll let you know how they come out. I did find a tip about proofing that I thought I would share. Everyone who bake bread may already know it, but it’s new for me. I placed the loaves in the oven - oven of with the light on to proof and they rose up nicely.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Sara. That's a great trick. Sometimes I preheat the oven for 1 minute then put the dough in to proof with the light on. That works nicely too!
Sandra Kraft says
This looked and seemed too easy to be true. I live at 10000+ feet and was sure this would not work. WRONG. It worked perfectly. This is a delicious bread, perfect texture, and taste. Thank you a million. Still going WOW!
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! Thanks so much for sharing your results, Sandra!
Marsha says
I have a question in this step
Roll up tightly like a cinnamon roll, then tuck the ends under and shape with your hands into a loaf. Place in one of the prepared pans
I can’t visualize this. How much do you roll like a cinnamon roll ?
Thank you
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Marsha, when you make cinnamon rolls you start with a flat rectangular piece of dough, add the filling, then roll it up into a long tube. With cinnamon rolls, you then cut the tube into a number of pieces. That's the same thing you do with this bread minus the cutting. After rolling, you tuck the long ends underneath to fit into the loaf pan.
Elizabeth says
Wow! Just made this and it was fantastic. This is more dense than traditional brioche, but such a great loaf of bread. I think you’ve just replaced my regular sandwich bread recipe.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, so much, Elizabeth! We had some for dinner tonight, it's one of our favorites!
Lang says
I live in China and have tried several of your recipes, they have all been fabulous. I especially appreciate that most can be made with easily found basic ingredients since it can be challenging to get specialty baking ingredients here! I was wondering if I could bake half and freeze half this dough for later use? Thank you for sharing your baking wealth with the world.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lang,
Greetings all the way to China!
Yes, you can freeze the dough. I like to freeze it right in the pan. Then when I take it out of the freezer, I just cover and let it thaw and rise right in the pan. You can also bake the bread and freeze it then let it thaw and warm it up right before serving.
Patty Cone says
I noticed your comment about instant yeast. Can it be done with regular (I buy in bulk)?
On another note, I broke 3 bones in my foot as I was running around the car because I thought a kayak was falling off the racks. I feel your pain.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Patty, Thanks so much for your empathy regarding my foot. I'm off of the roller and the crutches now, still not walking at my normal speed but I'm so happy to be able to walk!
Regarding the yeast, I also buy regular yeast in but I do purchase packs of the instant yeast for recipes like this as they do not require proofing. That's really nice when you want to make bread a little faster and more streamlined. If you have an Aldi near you, they sell the instant yeast for a really reasonable price. I usually stock up when I'm there.
That being said, if you wanted to proof your yeast and add it to this recipe instead of the instant yeast, I'm sure it would work!
Happy Bread Making! 💕 Chris
Matilda says
The best bread I've ever made! I couldn't believe how light and delicate this turned out! I made two bigger loaves instead of four smaller, and I was a bit worried since I had to leave it in the oven for 75 whole minutes before I was sure it was fully baked... But it was worth it for the fantastic result!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for sharing your results, Matilda! So happy you enjoyed it!!
Kathy says
Hi. I'd like to make this recipe. I will use two larger pans. Can you please tell me what you estimate the baking time to be for the two larger loaves? Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kathy, I would let them go for 25-30 minutes. Cover the loaves with foil if they're browning too quickly during the last 10 minutes.
Doris Noblet says
Chris, I hope you're not in too much pain! To a knitter and crocheter like me, a few weeks off my feet per doctor's orders would give me time to finish my UFOs and WIPs and that's a good thing. But to a kitchen wizard like you, it must be a disappointment. Take it easy and just send us some of your "old" recipes until you're healed. The brioche sounds delightful and almost as easy as the bread machine. I even bought two more bread pans at my favorite thrift shop on Thursday.
Judi says
Ah it was indeed a GOOD morning around here as I baked 2 loaves of this bread. Onel loaf was a bit smaller than the other and not evenly risen (I will weigh the dough next time)and do a better job of putting it in the pans) but the bread is really lovely, especially with some of your freezer strawberry jam. I am very pleased as I have struggled with bread making in the past and just never got it 'right'. This will be my go-to from now on as we are tired of spending between 6 and 9 dollars a loaf for nice bread. I will try adding a few extras like seeds and nuts and see how that goes. Just for a change. Thanks for this recipe. And how can you not love the way the house smells!!
Dioza says
This bread is the same as pandesal recipe calls for. The different is how you shaped the dough. All the method are the same except we roll the dough in bread crumbs before baking, and either you refrigerate it over night to rise or on the counter for couple hours. I'm just saying that you just figured it out that pandesal can be shape to anything too. I don't have my website anymore but I had the same post 2 years ago. But this is great. Glad someone like you figured it out to re-posted this.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Dioza! I never heard of pandesal but it sounds wonderful!
Joyce says
Could you add cinnamon and or raisins to this recipe? Thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, that would be wonderful! I would probably add the raisins with the dry ingredients and, when you flatten out the dough before shaping into loaves, I would spread it with a bit of soft butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then proceed with rolling up and shaping the loaves.
Ruth says
What a cute story you came up with about your mishap. I must admit that I totally bought into it and thought, how fun....until you got to the part about the broken foot. Oh no, I am so sorry! Life has a way of reminding us that everything can change in a heartbeat. I do hope your foot heals well and quickly!
The bread sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
Sorry to hear about your foot! I did lol though at the thought of you jumping a picket fence 🙂 I'd stick with that story, too. Now this bread! While I've always found kneading a bit therapeutic, I'm just as happy to no-knead as well. And a brioche dough is especially nice. I will be making this one soon!
DEBRA says
How much is one envelope instant yeast
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Debra, good question! I have amended the recipe to include that information. 1 packet or envelope of yeast (instant or regular active yeast) is 7 grams or ¼ ounce and equals 2¼ teaspoons. Hope that helps!
Sarah says
This bread looks delicious! I love baking bread and think I'll try this one next. Just to clarify....if I don't want to put it in the refrigerator overnight then the first rise is 2-3 hours and the second rise is 1-2 hours, correct? My husband and I are full time retired RV-ers and it's hard to free up enough fridge space for a large bowl of dough overnight! Thanks in advance for the clarification!
Liz says
Bill loves brioche as much as I do. I've been wanting to remake a no-knead bread I have on the blog, but now I want to bake up yours instead! It looks fabulous! P.S. So sorry about your foot! Darn that curb.
Tricia B says
So sorry about your mishap and yes, the first story is a good one! Hope you are on the mend soon. The bread looks fabulous and I can't wait to give it a try. I can smell it baking now 🙂 Pinned!
Deb says
Oh the wonderful memories of your mom's delicious bread! I'd open the back door and that sweet aroma would be wafting through the neighborhood. I knew I would have to invent some excuse to ring your doorbell and hope your mom would notice that I would be drooling. I can't wait to try this!
Chris Scheuer says
I love this, Deb! Such a sweet comment and it brought me back in time too! Thanks 🙂
Terry says
After step 7 where we form the rectangle, do we just place the rectangle in the pan, or do we roll it first like a sandwich loaf, and then place it in the pan?
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Terry, for noticing that. Somehow that step was omitted when I added the recipe to the post. I've added it back in now. I appreciate having extra "eyes" out there!
Ken Easterling says
I feel your pain. A year or so ago, I was out on the back patio having a smoke. I had to pee and we don't smoke in the house so I walked off the patio, lost my balance (I have peripheral neuropathy. My feet are numb.) amd was flailing around trying to get my balance under control. Arms and legs going ever which a way. Broke my right Tibia at the ankle. I was yelling at my wife but she could not hear me. Finally she realized I had not come in the house. My wife is a Nurse with 40 years experience, (21 years in the Air Force, retired) Well she came out onto the patio an told me to get up. Well, I couldn't do that. She came over and made a half effort to help me stand. I told her that my ankle was broken. She didn't believe it. She kept telling to stand up. We went to the St. Joseph's/Chandler small emergency clinic. I was told to go to St. Joseph Hospital in Savannah. We did and they gave me a blow up cast and I was told to be in some city in Georgia and be ready for an Ankle Fracture Open Reduction and Internal Fixation. Well we hadn't slept much having been at the emergency clinic and then waiting at the ER at St. Joseph. So we decided to just stay in the clinic. I don't reccommend......
Chris Scheuer says
Yikes! You had quite a time! I'm so sorry! Hope all is healed now.
Gayann says
I have everything I need to put this together before bed time! So sorry about your foot! Lucky for your family, you will be “ up and running” before Thanksgiving!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Gayann, that's a good point!
Susan says
It would be helpful to know what approximate temperature the water should be. The recipe says hot and the instructions says very warm. Everyone's hot tap water is a different temp.
Susan says
Nevermind, I see what you say about water temperature in the notes above. Disregard comment.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Susan,
No, that is a good question. Normally I would give an exact temperature for the liquid but I've found that instant yeast isn't so fussy, it's not that big of a deal as it is when you're activating regular yeast. Also, the fact that the milk and butter mixture is already somewhat cool, adding nice hot water to the mix makes it perfect for the instant yeast to do its job. Thanks for asking.