5 Soft Brioche and Sweet Loaves to Bake This Weekend

Brioche can be a buttery loaf, a tender braid, or a pull-apart bread with custard tucked inside. Start with the French staple, then explore versions with potatoes, chocolate, and different shapes.

Brioche bread brings butter and vanilla to a staple of French baking. You can shape the dough into braids or rolls, or use the bread for French toast. Honey adds another layer of sweetness alongside the sugar.

Pro tip: give your dough its refrigerator rest so the flavors develop and it firms up for easier shaping.

Soft potato brioche bread offers a tender crumb that welcomes both sweet and savory pairings. Serve it with jam for breakfast, or pair it with cold cuts. The buttery dough makes either direction appealing without limiting the bread to something sweet.

Pro tip: you can brush the surface with milk, then decorate it with sugar granules.

Chocolate Brioche Bread pairs soft brioche with the richness of dark chocolate. These individual brioches are made for breakfast, giving you a chocolate alternative to a plain loaf. Butter and whole milk round out the tender dough.

Pro tip: when you're short on time, let the dough rise at room temperature for 1–1½ hours, though skipping refrigeration sacrifices some flavor.

Danubio dolce (Sweet pull-apart brioche) hides a creamy custard center inside soft balls of dough. Its pull-apart shape lets you separate the bread into individual portions rather than slices. Lemon peel and vanilla add citrus and sweetness to this filled brioche.

Pro tip: if you use different fillings, distinguish them with different colored sprinkles after brushing the dough with egg mixture before baking.

Leavened brioche braid combines a braided shape with a buttery dough scented with lemon and vanilla. Made with brewer’s yeast, it suits breakfast as well as an afternoon snack. Granulated sugar adds a sweet finishing touch to the braid.

Pro tip: you can add chocolate chips or raisins to the dough.