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The stand mixer makes quick(er) work of brioche. I use some sourdough starter for flavor, as well wholegrain flours. This recipe is dedicated to Jeremy F., who has requested it.

Adapted from Serious Eats, which includes a link to a slideshow that has helpful images on the techniques used. Because flours differ from brand to brand, their amounts as well as the milk (or water) needed might vary. This makes enough for 2 medium (9-inch by 5-inch by 4-inch pans) loaves.. You can freeze the dough after the first rising, for baking later.

Ingredients

• 350 to 390 grams whole wheat flour: I used hard white flour from Grist and Toll, but a bread flour would work
• 350 to 390 grams whole grain Sonora flour, but all-purpose flour would work
• 200 grams sourdough starter
• 2 teaspoons active baking yeast, e.g., Bob’s Red Mill, or Red Star
• 90 to 100 grams sugar
• 2 to 2 teaspoons salt
• 150 to 180 ml warm milk or water
• 5 eggs, at room temperature
• 300 grams unsalted butter — very soft (but not melted) and at room temperature — in roughly 1 to 2 tablespoon pieces
• egg white, egg yolk, or a whole egg; whisked, as a wash for glazing

Method

1. Roughly hand mix all but the butter and egg wash. Then with stand mixer with dough hook, knead until smooth on low (level 2 on my 6-quart Kitchenaid mixer), about 2 to 4 minutes. The dough should be sticky, but if it’s too goopy (wet), I add more flour at this time. N.B. It’s easier to add flour to a wet dough than to add liquid to a dry dough, at this point; if you need to do the latter, add a little bit of liquid at a slow speed, otherwise it’ll splash.
2. Slowly incorporate butter, one piece at a time. There should be no streaks of butter at all, nor any greasiness on the dough’s surface before you add the next piece of butter. This takes about 15 to 25 minutes at level 2, again depending on your mixer.
3. Knead until stretchy, i.e., windows of dough when stretched; for me this was using level 3 for 6 to 10 minutes.
4. Allow to rise until almost doubled — it took me 1 to 1 1/2 hours when proofing in the oven (90º to 100ºF degrees) in a covered bowl (I just used the mixer bowl).
5. Stir down the dough. At this point it can be divided and stored frozen.
6. To make a loaf, with room temp dough: Form and place in pan, score it with a sharp knife, then cover it, for the second rise; it takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to proof in the oven. For frozen dough: Defrost it overnight in the fridge, then shape and place in the pan; rising will take longer with cold dough, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on it so the dough doesn’t overflow the rim of the pan! (I’ve made that mistake.)
7. Preheat oven to 375ºF. As the oven heats up, brush the top of the loaf with the whisked egg.
8. Place pan in oven, lower the temp to 350ºF, and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the pan, lower temp again to 325ºF, and finish baking until the internal temp of bread is 205º to 210ºF, an additional 20 to 30 minutes.
9. Cool in pan for about 5 minutes before removing loaf to further cool on a wire rack. Let cool for at least another 30 minutes before cutting and consuming.