Potato Flake Sourdough Brioche
It's hard to pass up a good slice of potato flake sourdough brioche. It’s soft, buttery, and almost melts in your mouth with every bite. Using a potato flake sourdough starter preserves that sweet flavor and naturally rises your bread.
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook (or strong arms if kneading by hand)
- Mixing bowl with cover (plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, or a tight lid)
- Bench scraper (for dividing and shaping dough easily)
- Two loaf pans
- Parchment Paper
- Pastry brush – For applying the egg wash.
- measuring cups and spoons
- Kitchen scale (optional, but highly recommended for accuracy)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup active potato flake starter 193 grams
- 3 cups bread flour 420 grams
- 1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 237 grams
- 1/4 cup sugar 48 g
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 8 grams
- 1/2 cup whole milk 108 grams
- 2 softened sticks butter (226 g)
For the Egg Wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Feed your starter about 12 hours before you plan to make this recipe. This gives it plenty of time to get nice and active.
- Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead on medium speed until the dough becomes smooth and glossy. This will take about 10–15 minutes. The dough is very wet at first—resist the urge to add more flour. It will come together with time.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, or a tight-fitting lid. Let it rise in a warm spot for about 8 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Place the risen dough in the refrigerator for at least a few hours (or overnight). Chilling makes the sticky dough much easier to handle when it’s time to shape.
- Prepare your pan by either greasing well, or lining with parchment paper. Turn the chilled dough onto a clean surface and divide into two equal portions (a bench scraper works great for this). Cut each half into eight pieces, giving you a total of 16. Shape each into a ball.
- Use 8 pieces of dough in each bread pan. Place each dough ball into each parchment-lined loaf pan. Cover and let rise again until doubled—this will take 6–8 hours, or you can leave it overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Make the egg wash by whisking together the egg and water. Brush the top of the dough in each pan.
- Bake loaves for 15 minutes, then loosely cover with foil to prevent over-browning.
- Continue baking another 10 minutes, until the brioche is golden brown and baked through (about 25 minutes total). Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then remove to finishing cooling on a wire rack.
Notes
This is a wet dough. Don’t add extra flour, no matter how tempting it is—it’s the secret to that soft, fluffy texture.
If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose, though bread flour gives it a little more structure.
You may be able to make this dairy-free with plant-based milk and vegan butter (though I haven’t tested it myself).