This soft, buttery brioche bread made with fresh milled flour is perfect for sandwiches, french toast, or just plain toast and it uses basic ingredients that you already have on hand!
Brioche is a French bread that is enriched with eggs, butter, and milk. In this recipe I use the Tangzhong Method, plus a 25 minute autolyse to achieve the softest, and fluffiest brioche bread with fresh milled flour!
If you are looking for other brioche recipes with fresh milled flour, try my Soft and Fluffy Brioche Buns, and Cinnamon Rolls!
What Is The Tangzhong Method?
The tangzhong method is an Asian technique that is known to create soft, squishy bread. This method of pre-cooking a small amount of flour, milk, and water pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, resulting in more moisture in the dough.
This is great! It gives the fluffy, soft texture that we’re used to in store-bought bread. If you want to read more about the tangzhong method, check out this article by King Arthur.
Pictured above is the process of the tangzhong method in action. It changes fairly quickly in about 2-3 minutes.
What You’ll Need To Make Brioche Bread With Fresh Milled Flour
Fresh Milled Hard White Wheat Flour
Whole Milk– This will still work with a lower fat milk or non-dairy milk, but for the best results use whole fat milk.
Instant Yeast– I use SAF Instant Yeast
Sugar
Salt
Eggs
Butter– You can use salted or unsalted. Totally up to you.
If you’ve made my brioche buns or cinnamon rolls this recipe is super close, but just a little different. This recipe is also incorporating the autolyse method, so we will be adding everything EXCEPT the yeast and salt until the end.
What Is The Autolyse Method?
The autolyse method is resting your dough mixture for 20-60 minutes BEFORE adding the yeast and salt. This will help ensure that your flour is fully hydrated and make your dough more stretchy, resulting in a softer loaf of bread. If you want to read more on the Autolyse Method read this article.
Making Your Brioche Bread With Fresh Milled Flour
Beginning with the Tangzhong ingredients: Combine the flour, milk, and water into a small saucepan and whisk over medium heat to make sure there are no clumps. Stir constantly until thickened. 2-3 minutes. I like to use a spatula after whisking so it doesn’t stick to the edges. It will look like a thick roux similar to thick pudding.
Next, in your mixing bowl add the Tangzhong mixture, milk, sugar, flour, eggs, and softened butter. Remember, DON’T ADD the yeast or salt at this step. Mix until thoroughly combined. We’re not fully kneading in this step. Cover and let this mixture Autolyse for 20-60 minutes. I just did 20 minutes for the pictures seen in this recipe.
After you’ve autolysed, add in your yeast and salt. Knead in your mixer for 6-8 minutes or until windowpane is reached. This will vary depending on your mixer.
Form the dough into a ball, put it in a greased bowl, cover and rise for about an hour or until doubled in size. This will vary by the temperature in your home.
Once it’s doubled in size, oil your hands and punch the dough down. Separate into 2 equal pieces, shape loaves, place in an oiled or parchment lined pan, cover and let rise until doubled.
*This recipe was just shy of being 2 pounds of dough, but it still filled out nicely in the small pullman loaf pans. You can also put all of the dough in the 2 pound large pullman loaf pan for a larger loaf if you’d like.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 24-30 minutes. This will vary depending on your oven and pans used. The small pullman loaf pans were done at 24 minutes. They will be 190 degrees F in the middle when done.
When they are done, remove them from the pan and cool on a cooling rack. At this time you can add butter to the tops if you’d like. Pictured below is one with butter and one plain.
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Brioche Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour (Tangzhong Method)
Ingredients
Method
- Combine all ingredients for tangzhong into a small saucepan and whisk over medium heat to make sure there are no clumps.
- Stir constantly until thickened. 2-3 minutes. I like to use a spatula after whisking so it doesn't stick to the edges. It will look like a thick roux similar to thick pudding.
- In your mixing bowl add the Tangzhong mixture, milk, sugar, flour, eggs, and softened butter. Remember, DON'T ADD the yeast or salt at this step. Mix until thoroughly combined. We're not fully kneading in this step. Cover and let this mixture Autolyse for 20-60 minutes.
- After you've autolysed, add in your yeast and salt. Knead in your mixer for 6-8 minutes or until windowpane is reached. This will vary depending on your mixer.
- Form the dough into a ball, put it in a greased bowl, cover and rise for about an hour or until doubled in size. This will vary by the temperature in your home.
- Once it's doubled in size, oil your hands and punch the dough down. Separate into 2 equal pieces, shape loaves, place in an oiled or parchment lined pan, cover and let rise until doubled. When finished rising you can do an egg wash on top before baking for a glossy brown finish.*This recipe was just shy of being 2 pounds of dough, but it still filled out nicely in the small pullman loaf pans. You can also put all of the dough in the 2 pound large pullman loaf pan for a larger loaf if you'd like.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 24-30 minutes. This will vary depending on your oven and pans used. The small pullman loaf pans were done at 24 minutes. They will be 190 degrees F in the middle when done.
- When they are done, remove them from the pan and cool on a cooling rack. You can butter the tops if you'd like when they're warm from the oven.
Video
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Thank you! Tag me on Instagram @freshmilledmama and please leave a review below on the blog!
MORE FRESH MILLED FLOUR RECIPES:
I found your website looking for fresh milled flour. I am going to make your recipes and know they will be good. I would like to know why basic bread recipe uses sunflower lecithin powder and wheat gluten and brioche bread doesn’t use it. I am definitely making the basic bread recipe today. Thank you.
Hello! So the basic bread recipe uses the lecithin and wheat gluten for a softer loaf. It is not required, but it does make a difference. The brioche bread uses eggs, butter, and milk which enrich and soften the loaf. I’d love to hear how your bread turns out!
Finally a bread with the same texture of regular white bread!! So so so happy with the results.
Since we have been eating bread with a heavier wheat flavor, the taste is a little bit bland. Can I substitute honey in the same amount for the sugar?
Also have you used anything different combinations of wheat for this recipe?
Thank you for sharing as we have been very frustrated with not finding a bread that doesn’t fall apart!
So glad to hear you enjoy it! You *should* be able to substitute honey with the same amount with no issues since it’s a small amount. So far I’ve only used hard white. You could substitute hard red with no problem.
I did it!! I can’t believe how good this bread turns out! I’ve failed miserably with fresh milled flour based bread before, but your use of the autolyse and the tangzhong method were the secrets to success, as well as oiling my hands before shaping the loaves. I followed the recipe exactly using my scale for the masses with one exception…I was short on wheatberries and had to make up the last 100g of flour with my organic bread flour.
Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy to hear! <3
This is absolutely the best loaf of bread I have made. Thank you so much for sharing this. I had been having trouble getting a great loaf with fresh milled flour.
This was a success the first time making it I can’t wait to move on to other recipes
<3
Best FMF bread!
This is so SOFT! The flavor is great and we can’t wait to try french toast with it. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh, yum! You’re welcome!
can this bread be made with hard red wheat instead of hard white wheat?
Hard red should be able to be substituted!
This bread 🍞 is delicious! It is definitely on my weekly baking list!
Made this! Amazing!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Would kamut grain be okay to use?
I haven’t used Kamut in this and am not sure how it would turn out. Sorry! If you try it please let me know how it goes.
I noticed with your brioche rolls you don’t do the autolyse. Is there a reason for that? I see with the bread do you use the autolyse method. Just curious if I should be doing it with the rolls?
I made that recipe before I ever heard of Autolyse. I think it’s fine either way, but it does help with the softness. So it’s totally up to you.
How would I use active yeast? I only use an active yeast with yeast listed as the only ingredient. Instant yeast will have 2-3 based on the brand. Thank you!
You would use the same amount. The only difference with active vs. instant is the active needs to be rehydrated in water before adding it in.
Can you use sourdough starter for this recipe?
I’m sure you could. I just don’t know the measurements for substituting it.
Made this yesterday, followed the recipe exactly, the bread came out delicious and soft, but shrank during baking. The dough rose great, until I baked it. I used Red Star quick rise yeast, it’s fresh, so don’t know what happened.
It sounds like the dough may have been overproofed?
10 out of 10 will recommend. This is delicious! Exactly what I’ve been missing with freshly milled ..I have tried several different recipes, and I agree with you. I can’t seem to get that squishy soft pillowy bread that I’m used to with regular bread..
This right here is the squishy soft bread that we all have been used too, but with freshly milled.
<3 <3 <3
Could I make this recipe in the zojorushi bread machine?
I have not tried this in a bread machine.
I’ve been milling for about a month now and have really struggled to find a bread recipe my youngest daughter really loved. This IS that recipe!! The whole family loves this bread and it will be our go to sandwich loaf! It’s perfect!
I love this! It’s great when everyone enjoys it! If you haven’t already, you should use it for French toast. It’s the best french toast my family has ever had! <3
Best Bread EVER !!
Thanks! <3
Oh my goodness! This bread was fantastic in every way. In one recipe you encapsulated all the things I knew were necessary when using freshly milled whole grain flour. I chose to use a one hour autolyse. Fantastic, delicious, light and beautiful nutritious bread! What more could you ask for? Thanks so much for this amazing recipe. L
Thank you! <3
This is my “go to” sandwich bread for the family. My kids LOVE brioche bread, so I was thrilled to find a FMF recipe. Highly recommend!
Glad you enjoy it! <3
I made Mama’s doughnuts first (which were fantastic!), and the recipe is from this one. Oh my!!! This is excellent. My 17 year old son said it’s the best bread I’ve made so far!
That’s wonderful to hear!
I used kamut flour and it all seemed to be going well, but the texture is really dry and the bread didn’t rise while baking. Any idea what might have gone wrong?
Thanks!
I’m not sure other than maybe you didn’t need as much Kamut as the recipe called for in white wheat.
Could you use whey instead of the milk in this recipe? If so, would it be an equal exchange amount or would I need to make any other adjustments to the recipe? I have a lot of whey left over from making Greek yogurt. I didn’t want it to go to waste.
I think that it would work.
My kids love this bread!
That’s a win!!
Oh this bread is SO soft and delicious! I did a few variations to hopefully counteract the antinutrients. Here’s my process. I added about 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the dough before autolyse. Let it set overnight or about 12 hrs, covered with plastic wrap. After long autolyse at room temp, I then added the yeast and salt as usual. Kneaded in my KitchenAid and baked as directed. It turned out so fluffy and delicious! I got one nice loaf as well as 4 hamburger buns. Hope this helps someone who is wanting some gut friendly bread without sourdough!
Glad you love it! Thanks for sharing your process.
This is an excellent recipe! I usually make one loaf and use the rest for hamburger and hotdog buns. SUPER yummy and we have so many eggs right now that I acually use 3 instead of two.
Thank you! So glad you enjoy it!
How would you double this recipe? Thanks!
This recipe doubles well. Just double the ingredients. 🙂
THANK YOU for this recipe!
This is my first FMF recipe I’ve ever tried. I unboxed my mill today and used it for the first time for this. I also used the Kitchen Aid mixer my children gave me about 1 1/2 years ago for the very first time.
This recipe is very forgiving to the new baker. I learned while baking that my oven was 35° off and I turned the temp up and down trying to adjust the temp while the loaves were baking.
They are perfect!! Soft, spongy and you absolutely would never ever know they were made from whole grains. So very light and airy. You have made me a baker!!
That’s wonderful!!
Not sure what I did wrong. I did an hour long auto lease, but still for some reason It was way too wet so I added about quarter cup of flour at the end of mixing. I never got to the window paint stage, but it turned out amazing. Super soft and my husband who doesn’t like whole wheat love a loaf made out of hard red wheat!
I have looked for a FMF bread recipe that works for 5 years. I can make everything from pie crust to cinnmon rolls that are fantastic, but I could never get the bread right. I cannot thnk you enough. This is so soft and lasts for days. It freezes well and is wonderful. Thank you a million 🧡
That’s great to hear! <3
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’ve been baking my own bread for over 50 years. About 3 years ago I switched to freshly milled flour and it’s been quite a journey since freshly milled flour behaves so differently from store bought. I have used the Tangzhong method before too, but the crumb was still on the dry side. And then I stumbled upon your recipe! I decided to combine about 100 grams of hard red wheat with the hard white, autolyse for 45 minutes, and used a large Pullman pan to bake. As soon as the loaf cooled, I sliced off a piece. Pure heaven! I’m really looking forward to making this recipe in combination with other kinds of wheat I have on hand : Einkorn, Kamut, Spelt, Emmer, and Rye. Since those varieties don’t have the same strong gluten as the modern white and red hard wheats, I’ll only sub 50 grams or so, but I like the diversity. This will be my new go to recipe for sandwich bread, rolls, and buns. Brilliant!
Glad you found the recipe! Thanks for your feedback! <3
Hi! I’m new to milling my own flour and I’m trying to find the perfect bread for my picky 6 year old. I was told about this recipe and decided to try it because it looks so good! For some reason my loaves didn’t come out. They turned out dense and smaller than yours look in the photos. They weren’t spongy either. We still enjoy the bread the taste is great it’s just not the texture I was looking for. Any ideas on what I could’ve done wrong ? I used the measurements you listed and did not weigh my ingredients. Your dough also looked more moist than mine. I am going to attempt again and maybe weigh everything this time but any other recommendations would be helpful! Thank you!
I would definitely try again and weigh your ingredients. If it seems too dry go ahead and add enough liquid to get it where it needs to be. It could be off just a tad due to temperature, humidity, elevation, and even wheat berries vary in moisture content.
I am very new to FMF. This was my very first recipe and although i accidentally overproofed my dough, this turned out beautifully. I tried a different recipe and it was a disaster. Went back to this one and it is truly the best. Thank you!!
<3 Thank you!
I have made this recipe several times with 300g Turkey Red 125g Hard White and honey in place of sugar turns out moist, full of flavor and fantastic every time.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful bread.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing your variation.