Pull-Apart Brioche Rolls (Bread Machine Dough)

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Sneak Peek: Let your bread machine do the heavy lifting, then shape this rich brioche dough into balls nestled together in a muffin pan. After a good rise and a golden bake, you’ll have buttery, pull-apart rolls that are as charming as they are delicious.

Brioche rolls and Raisin Brioche in a basket ready to serve.Pin

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This brioche dough stays true to what makes brioche special—plenty of butter, rich with eggs, and chilled overnight for flavor and easy shaping. The bread machine makes the process more doable, and I’ve included tips, tricks, and a video to guide you every step of the way.

Brioche is a buttery, tender bread that may remind you of Challah or Egg Bread, but its soft layers and slightly flaky crust set it apart. Many bread machine recipes claiming to be “brioche” cut corners, but this one holds onto the richness and texture that define classic brioche.

It’s not diet bread—but it’s bread worth sharing.

What Makes This One Worth Sharing

  • Uses the bread machine to simplify mixing and kneading
  • Results in bakery-style brioche with a fine, tender crumb
  • Tips for avoiding greasy dough and misshapen buns
  • Chilling dough improves flavor and workability—worth the wait!

Shared & Loved

“I just wanted to say that this is a really fantastic recipe, I’d tried others before that didn’t work but this really does. I even managed to make it using dairy free butter for my son who’s allergic to dairy and it worke–a treat. Thank you!”LISSIE


Ingredients and Substitutions

ingredients needed for briochePin
  • UNBLEACHED ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
    • Bread flour works too but will make the crumb slightly chewier.
  • EGGS
    • Large eggs (50 grams) are standard.
    • Don’t reduce the amount—brioche depends on them.
  • BUTTER
    • Use unsalted. Do not substitute oil or margarine.
  • MILK
    • Whole milk is preferred. 2% will work but avoid skim.
  • SUGAR
    • Granulated sugar only.
    • Don’t reduce or it will affect yeast performance.
  • SALT
    • Table or sea salt is fine.
    • Don’t skip it—it helps control the yeast.
  • INSTANT YEAST
    • Also called bread machine yeast.
    • If using active dry, dissolve in warm milk first.


How To Mix and Knead Bread Machine Brioche Dough

  • 1. Make the Tangzhong: Microwave flour and milk until thick like pudding. Let it cool slightly.
  • 2. Add all ingredients to the bread machine pan, but the chopped butter and a ½ cup of flour. Start the DOUGH cycle.
  • 3. Check after 1 minute: Make sure the paddles are turning and the dough is coming together.
  • 4. Add butter gradually: After two minutes of mixing, drop in softened butter by squeezing it through your fingers a little at a time.

  • 5. Add the remaining half cup of flour after you finish with the butter.
  • 6. Check at 15–18 minutes: The dough should stick to the sides, but it will not pull away cleanly.
  • 7. Let the cycle finish: The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
  • 8. Chill the dough: Cover and refrigerate for 4–24 hours before shaping.

  • 9. Pull the dough out of the bread machine. Go easy on the flour.
  • 10. Use your hands to fold the dough lightly 4-5 times to compress the bubbles.
  • 11. Flip the dough over to reveal a beautiful, smooth surface. Drop the dough into a large bowl.
  • 12. Cover and refrigerate for the next 4-24 hours before shaping. This is non-negotiable.

How To Shape Easy Pull-Apart Rolls Using a Muffin Pan

  1. Remove the chilled brioche dough from the fridge and place it onto a lightly floured surface. Portion dough into 24 equally-sized portions. Shape into small round balls.
  2. Place two balls together inside each hole in a cupcake pan.

📌Kitchen Tip📌: I like to roll all of the dough into balls before placing any of them into the cupcake pan holes. Pair balls together that look exactly the same size. They bake up prettier that way.

Variation: If you look closely at the picture above, you’ll see that I kneaded raisins into some of the rolls. After glazing, I sprinkled them with sparkling sugar. What a treat!!


Brioche rolls and Raisin Brioche in a basket ready to serve.Pin
Yield: 12 rolls

Pull-Apart Brioche Rolls (Bread Machine Dough)

Buttery brioche rolls made from bread machine dough, shaped into two-ball pull-apart rolls, and baked in a muffin pan for a tender, layered texture. Before getting started, I recommend taking a moment to read the entire recipe from start to finish.
4 from 28 votes
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Video

Prep time: 3 hours
Cook time: 15 minutes
overnight chill and final rise time: 11 hours
Total time: 14 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients
 

Tangzhong Paste

  • cup (76 g) milk
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose unbleached flour

Dough:

  • 4 large (200 g) eggs cold
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon table or sea salt
  • cups (300 gr) all-purpose unbleached flour
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • ¾ cup (168 gr) unsalted butter (1½ sticks) cold but pliable
  • ½ cup (60 g) all-purpose unbleached flour

Glaze:

  • 1 large (50 g) egg
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Instructions

  • Make the tangzhong paste: Whisk ⅓ cup (76 g) milk and 1 tablespoon all-purpose unbleached flour in a microwave-safe bowl until smooth. Microwave for 45-60 seconds, stopping halfway to stir. The paste should be thick, like gravy. Cool completely before adding to the bread machine pan. (Tip: Chill the pan in the freezer to cool the paste instantly.)
  • Build the Dough: Add Tangzhong, 4 large (200 g) eggs, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon table or sea salt, 2½ cups (300 gr) all-purpose unbleached flour, and 2 teaspoons instant yeast to the pan. Select the DOUGH cycle and press START. After 1–2 minutes, use a spatula to help incorporate all the flour. The dough will look sticky and rough.
  • Add the Butter: Once the dough starts clumping, add chopped cold ¾ cup (168 gr) unsalted butter (1½ sticks) a little at a time while the machine kneads. Squish each piece with your fingers into the dough as it mixes. Work quickly to avoid warming the dough.
  • Finish the Mix: After the butter is incorporated, add the remaining ½ cup (60 g) all-purpose unbleached flour. The dough will be sticky but should pull away from the sides—but not cleanly. Add no more than 1 tablespoon of flour if needed.
  • First Rise: For best results, remove the pan from the machine and let it rise at room temp, no warmer than 75°F (24°C), to prevent greasy dough.
  • Chill the Dough: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Compress it to remove bubbles. Fold it a few times into a smooth ball, then place it in a large covered bowl. Refrigerate for 4–24 hours. Don’t skip this step.
  • Shape the Rolls: Remove chilled dough to a floured surface. Divide into 12 equal pieces, then divide each piece in half. Roll into 24 smooth balls. Place two balls per cup into a greased muffin pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled.
  • Make the Glaze: Whisk together 1 large (50 g) egg and 1 tablespoon heavy cream.
  • Bake: Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) while rolls finish rising. Brush rolls with glaze. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 15–18 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Cooling: Allow the rolls to cool for a couple of minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack.

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll | Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 367mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 436IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg

All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com

5-Star Ratings Are My Favorite!Help others find this recipe in search results on the web.

FAQ

  • Can I bake this in my bread machine?
    • No. Brioche is a delicate dough with different timing than regular bread. Let your bread machine do the mixing and kneading, then shape and bake in your oven for better texture and flavor.
  • Why is my brioche dough so sticky?
    • That’s normal. Brioche dough stays sticky until it’s chilled. Don’t add extra flour—doing so will make the bread dense instead of feathery and light.
  • Why is my dough greasy?
    • It likely got too warm. Possible causes include:
      • Warmed ingredients (not needed)
      • Tangzhong wasn’t cooled before adding
      • The bread machine or rising location was too warm
        Tip: Chill the bread pan before starting to cool the Tangzhong quickly. Aim for a dough temp around 75˚F (24˚C).
  • My machine struggles with heavy dough—now what?
    • Older or weaker machines may overheat trying to mix in the butter. Switch to a stand mixer if your machine can’t handle it.
  • How long does brioche stay fresh?
    • Best the day it’s baked. Toast leftovers the next day or use stale slices for bread pudding.

Final Thoughts

Make cinnamon rolls or braided loaves if you are more adventurous. Just about anything you can do with a standard sweet-roll recipe, you can do with brioche. The variations are truly endless.

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21 Comments

  1. Hey, Paula! I am intrigued, but I just can’t do bread experiments in this heat! I am impressed that you can. I have been baking extra loaves on cooler (NOT COOL) days and freezing them. However, I may try this when it gets cooler. It looks fabulous! I have never tried brioche, but I do make a bread that is similar called Portuguese Sweet Bread.

    1. Hi Becky,
      I love Portuguese bread. My Cardamom bread is similar in texture and sweetness. I understand about heat and bread. It can be challenging.

  2. Instead of making rolls, I’d like to make a King Cake. Do you think this recipe would lend itself to that?

    1. Hi Rose,
      Possibly. I looked at a traditional recipe, and they seem to be similar. Sounds like a fun experiment.

  3. Hi Paula,

    The dough cycle for my bread machine (West Bend) begins the first rise 10 minutes into the cycle. So, by 15 minutes, the dough has already formed into a ball, as one commenter has observed. I attempted to correct this by restarting the cycle and adding it in the kneading phase.

    Should I just start over and add the butter around 5 minutes of the knead cycle?

    Thanks,
    Madeline

    1. Hi Madeline,
      Yes, start over and add the cheese. You may have to help the machine a bit by pushing the butter into the dough with a spatula as you add it.

  4. Absolute disaster. I followed your recipe to the letter and came out a buttery mess! Maybe this recipe works for some people but not for me! Ouch!

    1. Hi Rick,
      I’m so sorry your bread did not turn out. Brioche can be tricky with all that butter. If you will send me an email, I am eager to troubleshoot with you. Give me as many details as you can.

  5. I have my bread in my machine right now, but I’m following your directions, I don’t think it will come out correctly. I set timers to check the dough and to add the butter, but by the time I added the butter it’s not incorporating because the dough is already in a ball. I’ve restarted the knead cycle in hopes to salvage it, but I don’t think there’s any hope. I guess I’ll try again at some point and adjust my times. Do you have any other suggestions?

    1. Hi Melissa,

      You may need to help the butter incorporate into the dough by pushing it into the dough with a small spatula as you add it. See the video.

  6. Margaret Ford says:

    My bread machine has a receptacle for adding the dry yeast. Can I still add it there or should I bypass that and add according to the instructions?

    1. Hi Margaret,

      I would bypass it. Just lay it on top of the flour as long as flour is the last ingredient you add.

  7. Wonderful recipe. I wanted a slightly more cake like stollen, so thought I would try this recipe and add red & green candied cherries. It was just what I had hoped for. Thank you!

    1. Fantastic Jori. You’re my kind of cook. Experiment until you figure out what suits you perfectly. Good job!

  8. I just wanted to say that this is a really fantastic recipe, I’d tried others before that didn’t work but this really does. I even managed to make it using dairy free butter for my son who’s allergic to dairy and it worked a treat. Thank you!

    1. Oh Lissie, I’m so glad to hear this. I’ve never made these with dairy-free butter. Happy to know that’s an option.

  9. Can I use unbleached enriched artisan bread flour For the brioche recipe? I plan on making the brioche with the raisins and sanding sugar…The brand of the flour is bobs red mill..Also, can the milk be either whole milk or low-fat milk? Thanks for your reply!

    1. Hi Ingrid,
      Yes, that flour should work just fine. Regarding the milk: whole milk will result in a richer (and more delicious) product, but low-fat will work, too.

  10. Hi. I plan to try the brioche recipe, but I have a question before starting. Milk is listed as 1/3 cup in the ingredients section, but the instructions indicate making the tang zhong with 1 tablespoon of flour and 1/3 cup of milk, and then adding an additional 1/4 cup of milk. So which is correct, (a) 1/3 cup of milk or (b) 1/3 + 1/4 cups of milk?

    1. Mel, You are very observant. I tested and changed this so many times. Looks like I missed deleting the instructions to add additional 1/4 cup of milk. I have corrected the recipe.

      Let me say it another way so there will be no misunderstanding. You will need only 1/3 cup of milk to make the Tangzhong. You WILL NOT need to add any more milk.

      Let me know how these turn out for you if you try them.

  11. 5 stars
    Hey there! I found your brioche recipe via a search for brioche on Foodgawker. I simplified it even more but baking it in a pullman loaf pan. The result is most beautiful toast ever to grace the planet.

    I wanted to thank you for posting this recipe. I have made many types of bread before but never tackled brioche as I thought it would be too complicated (I don’t know where I got this idea!) and your encouragement to just dump in all the stuff and mix for 15 min – really worked! It was a very beautiful dough, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t cool the dough, against your warning, and still achieved a slice of toast the likes of which I have never encountered.

    Really, thanks so much!