Gluten Free Brioche Bread
This highly enriched loaf of gluten free brioche bread is a lightly sweet, buttery, bakery-style loaf with a tender yellow crumb and a deep brown, but not especially crispy, crust. Perfect for French toast!
Servings: 1 standard loaf bread
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; you must use one of my recommended blends so please click thru for full info)
- 1 ¾ teaspoons xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 5 eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup warm milk about 95°F
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Grease and line a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan and set it aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (See Recipe Notes), place the flour, xanthan gum, sugar, yeast, and cream of tartar, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the salt, and whisk again to combine. Add the vinegar, eggs, milk, and butter.
- Place the bowl in the stand mixer and beat on medium-low speed for about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium-high, and beat for at least 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat on high speed for another 2 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared loaf pan, pressing the dough firmly into the corners. Using a moistened spatula, smooth the top.
- Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and place the pan in a warm, draft-free location until the dough has reached the top edge of the loaf pan. This can take an hour, or it can take much longer, depending upon the rising environment. In cool, dry weather, it may take significantly longer.
- Overproofing is not a function of time, but of rise. When the surface of the dough begins to take on an uneven, pockmarked appearance, it has begun to overproof.
- When the dough has reached the end of its rise, preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove the plastic wrap, score the loaf down the horizontal center using a lame or sharp knife at a 45° angle, cutting about 1/4 inch deep.
- Place the loaf in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for 25 minutes. Rotate the pan 180° in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.
- For a less browned crust, remove the loaf pan from the oven and transfer the bread to a large piece of aluminum foil. Wrap the bread completely in the foil and continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the inside of the loaf has reached at least 190°F.
- Remove from the oven, unwrap the loaf, and allow the loaf to cool on a wire rack. For a softer crust, keep the loaf wrapped for at least 20 minutes when it first comes out of the oven, and then unwrap to cool until no longer hot to the touch. Slice and serve.
- For a deeper golden brown crust, remove the loaf pan from the oven, transfer the bread to a baking sheet and then return it to the oven. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the inside of the loaf has reached at least 190°F. Remove from the oven and transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool until no longer hot to the touch. Slice and serve.
Video
Notes
About instant yeast
Instant yeast is also called rapid-rise or breadmakers yeast. It can be replaced with active dry yeast, but you’ll need to 25% more active dry yeast than the instant yeast called for in the recipe, and handle it differently.
Here, instead of 5 grams instant yeast, you can use slightly more than 6 grams of active dry yeast (5 x 1.25 = 6.25). You’ll need to dissolve it in the milk first, though, and allow it to bubble up before adding it with the wet ingredients.
About using a stand mixer
I’ve never successfully made this bread without using a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can try using a food processor.
If I were to attempt to make this bread in a food processor, I’d begin by processing the butter, sugar, eggs, and vinegar first until very well-combined. Then add the remaining ingredients and process fully.