This was my breakfast this morning … man were these pastries good! They are reminiscent of croissants, but take MUCH less work to make. They came out soft and buttery on the inside with a flaky outside crust and were perfect spread with a bit of jam! My son liked them so much, he ended up having two for his breakfast. He’s 14 and going through a growth spurt, so he can handle the calories. Lucky him!
I had never heard of these pastries before, but a video from France popped up on my YouTube feed the other day and it peaked my interest. I decided to try the recipe out yesterday and if it turned out well, I would translate it for you guys! The video listed the ingredients in the description, but not the actual steps so I had to follow along with the video, pausing and playing with each step. It got a bit tricky when my hands got buttery, so I had to rope my son into both taking pictures, and playing the video for me, lol.
I found her instructions a bit vague at times, so I had to go by instinct a few times. Luckily I’m not stranger to making pastries! I will try to make them a bit more clear in my recipe for you guys 🙂
If you’re not familiar with brioche, it’s a bread that is enriched with milk, eggs, some sugar and usually some butter. This time, there’s not butter in the dough but instead you spread softened butter over the dough and fold to create layers, which ends up making a nice flaky puff pastry in the end result. This process was much easier than regular puff pastry and croissants, where there is usually a time consuming process of pounding out butter, rolling it between the dough, chilling and repeating. The whole process for this recipe, is about 3 hours from start to finish, and most of that was letting the dough rise and cooking the buns!
She suggested 800 grams of flour but had the instruction of not adding too much. You want a soft, fairly sticky dough and too much flour will make the buns dry. I found that I only ended up using 500 grams of flour. Perhaps because of a difference in Canadian flour vs European flour. I’m going to put 500-600 grams of flour down in the recipe. You basically want the dough to come together in to a ball but still be fairly sticky.
Her recipe calls for an optional brushing of the dough with a Turkish grape syrup before baking, which would help them to brown. I don’t know where to source that, so I just used the egg white wash.
I actually ended up taking a bit longer with my buns because I had forgot to include the fact that I had to go to an appointment in my timing, so after shaping them, I put them in the fridge to slow down the rising until I got back and could cook them. I figured the fridge time would be good because the hardened butter would be more conducive to creating the puff layers. They definitely still rose in the fridge so while the original recipe had more of a bagel-like shape, mine became more of a solid bun. BUT they turned out really well, so I might keep doing the step of some time in the fridge before cooking.
Because I wanted them for breakfast, I froze the buns after they had cooled and then thawed and toasted them in the morning. They were still fresh tasting this way. I would do this again for overnight guests. That way, I can make them ahead and have something to wow them with in the morning, with no actual work the day of!
[recipe title=”Brioche Feuilletée (Puff Pastry Brioche Buns)” servings=”13 buns” cooktime=”3-4 hours including rising time” difficulty=”moderate” description=”These flaky burns are reminiscent of croissants, but take MUCH less work to make. They come out soft and buttery on the inside with a flaky outside crust and were perfect spread with a bit of jam!”]
[recipe-ingredients]
– 200 ml hot water
– 200 ml milk (I used whole milk)
– 125 ml vegetable oil
– 4 tbsp sugar
– 1 tbsp yeast
– 2 eggs, separated (yolks go in the dough and whites are brushed on buns before baking)
– 1 tsp salt
– 500-600 grams all-purpose flour (3 1/2 – 4 cups)
– 9 tbs butter, softened (I used unsalted, but I think salted would also work well)
– optional: poppy seeds or sesame seeds to decorate.
– 2 tbsp softened butter to coat after baking
[/recipe-ingredients][recipe-directions]
1. Whisk together milk, hot water, vegetable oil and sugar in a large bowl. Liquid should be warm but not hot or it will kill the yeast. Whisk in yeast and let sit until yeast foams on top.
2. Whisk in egg yolks and salt.
3. Stir in flour a half cup at a time until you reach 3 cups. Then stir in a couple of tablespoons of flour at a time until dough comes together into a cohesive, but still sticky ball. I like to use my hands to I can feel the dough texture better.
4. Work the dough with your hand for a minute or two to develop the gluten.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, lightly coat the bowl in vegetable oil, then return the dough and turn to coat. Cover the dough and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size 1-2 hours.
6. Lightly coat your work surface in vegetable oil to prevent the dough from sticking, then turn the dough out onto the counter.
7. Using your hands, gently stretch the dough to a rectangle that is about 12 x 24 inches in area and about 3/4 inch thick.
8. Dot the dough with half of the butter, then use fingers to spread over the entire surface.
9. Fold the dough in half, bringing the top half of dough down toward the bottom half to encase the butter.
10. Use hands to gently pat and stretch the dough to about 3/4 inch thick.
11. Spread the rest of the dough over the right half of the dough only.
12. Fold the dough in half again by bringing the left side of the dough over to the right side, encasing the butter.
13. Use hands to gently pat and stretch the dough to an approximate 13 inch square.
14. Cut the dough into 1-inch strips. A pizza cutter works well for this.
15. Working with one strip at a time, fold each strip in half then twist to form a rope shape. Form into a circle and tuck ends together. I tucked the outside end into the loop of the centre end. Place onto a baking sheet lined with either a silicone mat or parchment paper. I used 2 baking sheets total.
16. Optional, but recommended, cover buns and place in the fridge for 1 hour to rise further and harden the butter.
17. Remove buns from fridge and preheat oven to 400F/200C.
18. Brush buns with reserved egg whites. Optional: sprinkle a portion of the buns with poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
19. Bake for 15 – 17 minutes, until browned on top, rotating the trays halfway through for even browning.
20. Remove from oven. While still warm, coat the tops in a bit of softened butter.
– Once cool, the buns may be stored in the freezer and reheated as wanted.
[/recipe-directions][/recipe]
Whisk together milk, hot water, vegetable oil and sugar in a large bowl. Liquid should be warm but not hot or it will kill the yeast. Whisk in yeast and let sit until yeast foams on top. Whisk in egg yolks and salt. I started out with my stand mixer but then decided to use my hands so that I could feel the dough better.
Stir in flour a half cup at a time until you reach 3 cups. I like to use my hands to I can feel the dough texture better. In the video she had gloved hands and I thought this might be a good way to keep my hands clean, but I ended up abandoning them because the dough clumped on the gloves and I didn’t like the feeling.
Then stir in a couple of tablespoons of flour at a time until dough comes together into a cohesive, but still sticky ball. Remember, a wetter dough equals a softer bun.
Work the dough with your hand for a minute or two to develop the gluten. Remove the dough from the bowl, lightly coat the bowl in vegetable oil, then return the dough and turn to coat.
Cover the dough and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size 1-2 hours.
Lightly coat your work surface in vegetable oil to prevent the dough from sticking, then turn the dough out onto the counter. Using your hands, gently stretch the dough to a rectangle that is about 12 x 24 inches in area and about 3/4 inch thick.
Dot the dough with half of the butter, then use fingers to spread over the entire surface.
Fold the dough in half, bringing the top half of dough down toward the bottom half to encase the butter. Use hands to gently pat and stretch the dough to about 3/4 inch thick.
Spread the rest of the dough over the right half of the dough only.
Fold the dough in half again by bringing the left side of the dough over to the right side, encasing the butter.
Use hands to gently pat and stretch the dough to an approximate 13 inch square.
Cut the dough into 1-inch strips. A pizza cutter works well for this. I used a ruler and first cut guide marks before cutting the strips.
Working with one strip at a time, fold each strip in half.
Then twist to form a rope shape.
Form into a circle and tuck ends together. I tucked the outside end into the loop of the centre end. Place onto a baking sheet lined with either a silicone mat or parchment paper. I used 2 baking sheets total.
Optional, but recommended, cover buns and place in the fridge for 1 hour to rise further and harden the butter. This is what they looked like after I took them out of the fridge. You can see that they still rose and puffed up quite a bit.
Brush buns with reserved egg whites.
Optional: sprinkle a portion of the buns with poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
Bake for 15 – 17 minutes, until browned on top, rotating the trays halfway through for even browning.
Remove from oven. While still warm, coat the tops in a bit of softened butter.
Finished product. I might try these another time with a bit more sugar in the dough and put a filling in the centre like a danish.
I’m coming over for tea !
[…] in July I published a recipe for Brioche Feuilletée, which are buns that are filled will layers of butter so that they puff up and become flaky in the […]