The best brioche (without eggs and butter, chef Christophe Michalak)

Piece of life

A brioche recipe from Christophe Michalak is a good start, but “without eggs and butter,” it gets intriguing. Let me tell you something immediately…. it’s magic!

For the record, I came across this recipe because of a fridge problem… At the start of the pandemic, our fridge broke. Imagine: shops closed, handymans overwhelmed and my fridge freezing everything, cooking had become a real headache! And the kids [100% of the time at home] wanted a brioche, but I didn’t have any butter and only 2 frozen eggs [damn fridge], so I thought I’d look for a vegan recipe. And that’s how I found this recipe on Mercotte’s website [PS: the recipe is not vegan since there is milk, but you can use plant-based milk instead, it works out great !].

About the brioche

This brioche is a wonderful discovery. The texture is amazing: stringy, soft, and very greedy… For the skeptics, believe me, it’s worth the try. And as a brioche passionate, you should trust me!

I had fun testing this brioche in different ways.

1/ The oil: I mostly use olive oil. It has a strong flavour but matches perfectly with the recipe, though you can change it to a more neutral oil, like avocado oil or grape seed oil.

2/ The milk: cow or plant-based, as you prefer. I made this brioche with cow and oat milk, both versions were equally good.

3/ Sugar. I reduced the quantity a bit from the original recipe. I tried the recipe with a different form of sugar: white sugar, honey and maple syrup. If you go for a “liquid sugar,” you’ll have to decrease the amount of milk a bit to compensate; the dough being already soft, the addition of liquid makes it too hard to handle.

4/ I don’t follow the same steps for the dough preparation as the original recipe, but it works perfectly.

5/ The shape: well, be creative…

The best brioche (without eggs and butter, chef Christophe Michalak)

A heavenly soft brioche, with oil and no eggs or butter… that is surprising ! And it is amazing !

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Cooking time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Course: Bakery, Brioches

Cuisine: French

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

• 380 g flour
• 260 ml milk (cow or plant-based) 250 mL if you use maple syrup or honey
• 70 g oil olive, avocado, grape seed, canola (rapeseed)…
• 40 g sugar or maple syrup or honey
• 20 g fresh yeast or 1 bag of dry yeast (about 7 or 8 g)
• 5 g salt

For the topping

• milk
• pearl sugar

Equipment

• Mixer equipped with a baking hook (or by hand)
• Mold (mine is 23 cm or 9 inch), with a high edge
• Pastry brush

Method

 

1. Line the mold with parchment paper (or grease it with oil).
2. Crumble the yeast into the bowl of the mixer (fitted with the hook).
3. Pour in the warm milk and let the yeast dilute for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the flour, oil, sugar (honey or maple syrup) and salt.
5. Knead the dough on slow speed for 10 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky, this is normal.
6. Cover the dough with a clean cloth and let it rise for about 1 hour in a dry, warm place, until the dough has doubled in size.
7. Punch down the dough. Cut the dough into 8 pieces of the same size (more or less… I don't weigh it, I do it by eye), and shape them into balls. Place them in the mold, forming a flower. Leave a small space between each piece, about 0.5 cm (as the dough will rise).
   
8. Let it rise for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.
   
9. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
10. Gently brush the dough with a little milk, then spread the pearl sugar over it.
11. Bake for 30 minutes.