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If you’ve ever bitten into a fluffy, slightly sweet milk brioche roll, you know how satisfying it is! These small batches of bread are the perfect combination of soft, buttery deliciousness that can elevate any meal and can be paired with a variety of toppings as a tasty snack. Whether you spread them with jam, use to scoop your favorite stew, or just enjoy them plain hot from the oven, Milk brioche rolls are a must-try. If you’re looking for an easy recipe to follow, read this blog post to learn more about how to make the perfect enriched dough that is ideal for brioche rolls, how to prepare ahead of time, and much more.
In this recipe for milk brioche rolls, I not only teach you how to make the perfect rolls. But I also guarantee you know how to make the best quality, rich dough for a perfect result every time. I’ve seen a lot of recipes that make milk brioche rolls from regular dinner roll dough, which is not correct. Although dinner rolls and milk brioche rolls are similar, they differ slightly in terms of ingredients and texture.
Let me tell you something basic here: Brioche requires ingredients at a rather cold temperature. Therefore, you should not use warm milk or other warm ingredients, as in the recipe for dinner rolls.
Two, high protein flour is the most essential in all brioche recipes. So if you want to make milk brioche rolls from traditional French milk-enriched dough, follow these two important factors and my tips and tricks below. I will guarantee you a perfect brioche dough every time.
Brioche Dinner Rolls Require a enriched Dough
Brioche bread requires a dough rich in fats such as milk and egg. And, to create an ideal milk brioche roll with a lovely gluten network, using a strong flour Aka high protein flour, is curious. If you use all-purpose flour, you’ll lack the protein needed to create a good network, as there’s a lot of fat in our dough. So bread flour is the only solution.
Here’s the list of the 6 other bread ingredients you’ll need:
- Milk: Whole milk is the best solution due to its richness of fat. However, you can still use low-fat milks in this recipe, but avoid using skimmed milk.
- Yeast: All active, instant dry, and fresh yeasts work. If you are using active dry yeast or fresh yeast, see the recipe card notes below.
- Sugar: Sugar feeds yeasts, strengthens the dough, and softens the crumbs, as well as increasing the temperature of brioche rolls during the baking process, resulting in a more moist rolls.
- Egg: Egg provides richness, structure and enhances the flavor.
- Butter: When making a brioche dough, professionals use between 30-50% butter from the amount of flour. But 10-12% is enough for this recipe. Make sure it’s at room temperature.
- Salt: Flavor.
Related: Important Ingredients in Baking Bread.
Why You’ll Love These Brioche Rolls
- Super soft brioche rolls with a fluffy texture and a subtle sweet, buttery flavor.
- Require 1 rise time
- Suitable for both sweet and savory dishes, including Hawaiian sandwiches
- Only 7 ingredients
- Great to make-ahead, freeze friendly recipe
Overview: How To Make Milk Brioche Rolls Recipe
Make the dough: Do this step as I mentioned on the recipe card. Check out my success tips below to create the perfect dough.
This is the dough after the first 4 minutes of kneading:
Freeze the dough: Freeze the dough for 1 hour at 4°C or overnight in the refrigerator.
This is the dough before and after freezing:
Shape the rolls: Divide the dough into equal 12-15 pieces and shape each into a ball. Place the dough ball in the prepared glass pan.
Let the rolls rise: Cover the shaped rolls with plastic wrap or kitchen towel, and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm environment.
This is the dough before and after rising:
Make the egg wash by mixing the egg and milk, brush it over each roll using a pastry brush, then sprinkle pearl sugar on top.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
How to Make Brioche Rolls Ahead of Time
This dough can be made the night before after completing step 1. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, remove from the refrigerator, divide and shape your rolls. Let the dough rise in a warm environment for about an hour. Keep going with the remaining steps.
Success Tips
- Make the dough with a stand mixer.
- Be patient during the kneading process to get a perfect gluten network. It sometimes takes more than 30 minutes depending on the brand of flour used. If the gluten network is not perfect after finishing the kneading process. Rest the dough for 30 minutes at room temperature before placing it in the freezer.
- Use ingredients at room temperature to prevent the buttery dough from overheating during kneading. If it’s too hot in your home, consider cooling the milk and flour before using it. The brioche dough temperature should not exceed 86°F (30°C).
- Enriched dough needs a strong flour. But , if you only have all purpose flour and you already have a vital wheat gluten. Add 1.5 teaspoons to each cup of all-purpose flour to get a strong flour.
FAQs
How to Create a Warm Environment for Proofing?
Simply place a pot of boiling water in the bottom of the pan in the oven. This will provide an ideal warm environment for your milk brioche rolls to rise. Alternatively, you can turn on the oven light and leave the door closed. The light bulb will provide gentle heat that will help the dough rise.
How to Store Brioche Rolls?
Allow your brioche rolls to cool completely before wrapping them tightly in cling film or plastic wrap, ensuring that no parts are exposed to air, this will keep brioche fresh for up to 3 days. For longer storage, place each roll in a freeze bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, take out the rolls you need, leave them at room temperature for a few minutes, and then reheat in the oven for about 5 minutes at 320°F (160°C).
Milk Brioche Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups and 3 tablespoons (475 grams) bread flour
- 1 cup (260ml) milk, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup (58 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 ounces (54 grams) unsalted butter, cubed at room temperature
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7 grams) instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon (7 grams) sea salt
Topping
- 1 Egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ⅓ cup pearl sugar
Instructions
- Make the dough: In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the ingredients in this order: egg, milk, flour, sugar, salt and yeast. (Place the yeast, sugar, and salt in separate places.)Mix with the dough hook for 4 minutes on low speed, then for 6 minutes on medium speed. *The dough is slightly stiff at the end of this step, it's okay.* Set the mixer to low speed again and add the softened butter cubes one at a time. Knead the dough for an additional 6 minutes. (To ensure the dough's consistency, use a bowl scraper to remove any dough stuck to the bowl between mixing cycles.) *The dough will be a little sticky at the end of this step*
- Rest: Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and freeze for 1 hour at 39°F (4°C).
- Grease a 9*13 inch glass baking pan or round baking pan.
- Shaping: When the dough is ready. Remove it from the freezer. Divide into 12 equal pieces and shape each into a soft ball. A bench scraper is always useful for dividing and shaping enriched dough. Place them in the prepared baking pan.
- Rise: Cover the shaped rolls with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise in a warm environment for 60-90 minutes or until it puffs up. *The ideal temperature for brioche rising is 82°F (28°C).*
- Set the oven rack in a lower position and preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C).
- Egg wash: Egg wash: right before baking, whisk together the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons milk. Brush egg wash over the tops of the rolls with a pastry brush. Sprinkle pearl sugar over the top of each roll.
- Bake: Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on the top. If it's browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper after 15 minutes.
