Recipe · Brioche · Overnight
75% Hydration Overnight Brioche
A rich, golden enriched dough with a long, slow incorporation of butter. The crumb is tight and tender, the crust browns quickly from the egg wash, and the loaf keeps for days without going stale the way leaner breads do.
Total time
14 hours
Active
75 minutes
Hydration
75%
Difficulty
⌬⌬⌬
At 75%, you get real artisan crumb without fighting the dough. It's wet enough for visible holes in the cut loaf, dry enough that you can shape it on a lightly floured counter without the dough sticking to everything.
Overnight fermentation is where flavor lives. The dough goes in the refrigerator after a brief room-temperature ferment, the cold slows the yeast and lets enzymes do their work, and the loaf you bake the next day tastes like it cost more than it did.
Ingredients
900g total dough. Yields 1 brioche loaf, ~810g baked.
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|
| Bread flour | 433 g | 100% |
| Water | 273 g | 63% |
| Milk | 52 g | 12% |
| Salt | 7.8 g | 1.8% |
| Instant yeast | 5.2 g | 1.2% |
| Butter (softened) | 52 g | 12% |
| Eggs (whole) | 78 g | 18% |
Schedule
- Day 1, 6:00 PMMix flour and water. Autolyse 30 minutes.
- Day 1, 6:30 PMAdd yeast and salt. Mix until smooth.
- Day 1, 7:00 PMStretch and fold every 30 minutes for 2 hours.
- Day 1, 9:00 PMBulk ferment 1-2 more hours at room temperature.
- Day 1, 10:30 PMRoll the dough into a tight log, tucking the seam under, and place seam-side down in a buttered loaf pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Day 2, 7:00 AMPull from the refrigerator. Let the loaf warm 30-45 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Day 2, 8:00 AMBrush the top with beaten egg. Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes until the top is deep golden and the internal temperature reads 195°F.
Method tips for this style
Add the cold butter in small pieces with the mixer running on low. Wait for each addition to fully incorporate before adding the next. The dough will look broken before it comes back together; trust the process.
What to expect
A softer crumb than the low-hydration version, with slightly more open texture but the same tender pull. Good for both sandwiches and the toaster.
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