Brioche au Chocolat– Buttery brioche dough is stuffed with chocolate and baked until beautifully golden brown
Brioche is one of my favorite breads to make. It’s done entirely in a mixer, which makes the process so simple. Also, the dough is made overnight so I can make it the night before and simply wake and bake. But above all, my favorite thing about brioche is the the texture – it’s so buttery and light that it’s simply irresistible.
Recently, I had a craving for some pain au chocolat, which is croissants filled with chocolate. It’s not in the crescent shape like a croissant so that’s probably why they call it pain or bread.
Anyway, I digress…back to my craving. Instead of going through the pain of making croissant dough, which takes days, I decided to try out brioche and fill that with chocolate. And man was it delicious! Brioche has all the buttery flavor of croissant but the texture of bread. And that melted chocolate center? Yummm.
Before we dive into the recipe, let’s look at these gorgeous Brioche au Chocolat buns some more, huh?
Making brioche in a mixer
Brioche is made with lots of butter. In contrast, most breads have very little, if any, fat at all. Maybe 1 tablespoon? Whereas, brioche has 7 tablespoons! This is why we need a stand mixer to make the dough. Have you ever tried mixing in butter into a wet dough? It’s not easy and can get quite messy. Why not make the mixer do the work for you??
To make the dough, you first start by making the base of the dough. To do this, add scalded milk, yeast, flour, salt, sugar, and eggs and mix together using a dough hook. Once the dough forms, it’s mixed for a few more minutes to soften and smooth the dough.
Now it’s time to add the butter. To make it easier to mix in, the butter is added 1 tablespoon at a time. It will look like it won’t mix in and then suddenly, the dough engulfs the butter and it’s suddenly gone. Finish with all the butter and then knead in the mixer for another 5 minutes.
The dough is wrapped and chilled overnight. This allows it to rest, but most importantly, it chills the dough to make it easier to work with. Now that the dough has all that soft butter, we need to solidify the butter again, similar to making a cookie dough.
Forming the buns
Once the dough has chilled, it’s split into 16 even pieces. Take one piece and flatten it slightly. Place a piece of chocolate in the center and then fold the edges around it. Roll the dough into a smooth ball and then place on a prepared baking sheet, seam side down. Finish with the rest of the dough.
The buns get proofed until puffy, about 1.5 hours. Then they’re brushed with an egg wash before baking in a 350-degree oven.
Tips & Tricks
- Brioche dough is made with lots of butter. It will be very hard to mix by hand because the warmth in your hands will melt the butter and create a whole mess. Therefore, a stand mixer is necessary for this recipe.
- The dough needs to refrigerate overnight to let it rest and chill before it gets rolled out. Therefore, make sure you give yourself enough time to make the brioche before you want the buns ready to eat.
- The egg wash on top is so important because it gives the rolls their sheen. Don’t skip this step!
- The buns are best served slightly warm so pop them in the microwave if they’re at room temperature. No more than 10 seconds will do the trick!
Brioche au Chocolat
Ingredients
For the brioche dough:
- ⅔ cup milk scalded
- 1 packet instant yeast
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water)
Instructions
For the brioche dough:
- In a bowl fitted for a stand-mixer, add warmed milk, flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and eggs. Attach dough hook and mix ingredients on low for 2 minutes until all the ingredients are combined, scrapping down the sides, as needed, to incorporate all the ingredients. Once incorporated, continue mixing for another 2-3 minutes until the dough smooths out.
- Cut butter into 7 pieces. Add one piece of butter to dough and mix on low until completely incorporated into dough. Repeat with remaining pieces of butter, 1 piece at a time. Once all butter is added, continue to mix on low for another 5 minutes. It is important for all the butter to be thoroughly mixed into the dough. If the mixture is too loose, add more flour a couple tablespoons at a time until it slightly separates from the bowl.
- Put the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough to prevent it from drying out. Let the dough proof in the refrigerator overnight (16 hours max).
- The next morning, prepare a baking sheet by dusting with flour. Set aside. Unwrap the dough and place onto floured surface. Mold into a flat disk about 6 inches wide. Cut into 4 quarters and then cut each of those into 4 even pieces. you should have 16 even pieces of brioche dough.
- Take one piece of dough and flatten slightly. Place a 1/4 ounce of chocolate in the center and seal by folding edges into the center to form a smooth ball on the other side. Place seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of dough. You will need two baking sheet, with 8 rolls per sheet, so make sure to have two of them prepped.
- Cover rolls with plastic wrap and place in a draft-free place to proof for 1.5 hours.
- When there's 15 minutes left of proofing time, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once the buns have proofed, spread the tops of each with egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the tops are deep golden brown.
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YUM! This chocolate brioche was such a great way to start my Sunday! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Wow, this brioche au Chocolat looks so delicious and I’m drooling over the fact that the chocolate would ooze out once u bite into it! Thank you for sharing this recipe, I cant wait to make this!
Oh my sweet chocolate heavesn! This looks absolutely amazing and PERFECT for a Sunday Brunch My mouth is watering!
The wait is worth it. I love that prove over night. They were so delicious for breakfast. I’ll be making them over and over again.
Og my goodness! This is so delicious, and seeing this makes my mouthwatering. Yum!
This is something I’ll never be able to make because I would just eat the whole batch at once. They look so perfectly buttery and amazing!
Oh my! This looks crazy delicious. Chocolate + brioche is just a perfect match. And they’re so pretty, too!
Wow this brioche au chocolat is so beautiful!! I am drooling over these photos. Bookmarked to make this weekend, thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
Incredible! The texture of that brioche, the chocolate filling… it’s all coming together to be pure perfection. My family is going to love it!!
This is totally my kind of pastry!! It doesn’t get better than a light bread with chocolate!! So dreamy!
My family was obsessed with these brioche treat! Such a delicious and very addicting recipe! Turned out great and so yummy!
So sweet and amazing with every bite. The kids just love the hidden chocolate in these buns and want me to make them again and again.
I am in love! What can be better than brioche or chocolate, or both?! Thanks!
Brioche is my favourite bread. The addition of chocolate is heavenly! Thank you!
These turned out heavenly! Love the chocolate filling inside and the brioche cooked up perfectly!
I seriously want to LIVE inside of these! Your photos are gorgeous and I so appreciate the great tips to give this a try!
oh my gosh this looks so good!!! i honestly wish i could eat gluten 🙂 my mom would love this. I gotta make it for her
What an amazing recipe for these chocolate pasteries. I made this for the family and they loved it. SO good!
One of the best things in the world to eat for breakfast with a good cup of coffee… Delicious.
My husband is Romanian, and this recipe is very similar to some of the chocolate filled croissants he used to always have back home. This looks so delicious and I’m looking forward to making it so he can try!
Wow this looks so yummy! I’m going to dream of this until I can make it