To kick off this month’s sourdough recipes, I share my brioche mother dough and explain how to turn it into rolls, either rounded for the dinner table or as slightly flattened buns to split for burgers. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, this brioche dough has many uses. Once the dough ball is fully formed, you can bake it into all sorts of shapes. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite uses for this dough all month.

Brioche dough has a rich, buttery flavor and somewhat flaky texture that I feel is beautifully enhanced by the complex taste created by wild yeast. Brioche has less butter than croissants, but recipes vary widely in their butter-to-flour ratio. My version lands in the middle of many of the recipes I’ve tried. Brioche has plenty of eggs to make it denser than croissants and a little sugar—both granulated and milk’s natural sugars—to offset the tanginess of the sourdough. It’s also easier to make, with the soften butter pressed in at the start, long fermentation times, and minimal kneading.

Learn more about making a brioche mother dough and get the complete recipe for Sourdough Brioche Rolls in my column.

You’ll need sourdough starter for my brioche recipe. I’ve teamed up with other fermenters to share sourdough starter, scoby, kefir grains, and more through the Sharing fermented starters Facebook group. Join us in sharing the love of fermentation by becoming a member of the group and offering or requesting starters.

If you’re not a Facebook user, you can contact me with your request for sourdough starter. For a more personal project, learn to make sourdough starter from scratch. Once you start baking, be sure to share your creations.

Make it, share it.
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Twice as Tasty

When you’re making this week’s recipe, a few of these tips and tricks may come in handy:

• Soften the butter. The butter works in best when it’s smearable but not so melted that it becomes greasy. It softens faster when in smaller pieces, and thin slices or gratings made with a large-holed cheese grater work most evenly into the dough.
• Keep the eggs and milk cold. Add fridge-cold eggs and milk to help counteract the warmth of your hands as you work in the butter. If your house is quite warm and everything seems too sticky, refrigerate the mixed dough for about 10 minutes.
• Sweeter works too. If you like sweeter brioche, you can add another tablespoon or so of granulated sugar—but expect the dough to take longer to rise. The temperature of your house and vibrancy of your starter can also affect the rise time.
• Let the dough ferment. The long fermentation time at room temperature lets the wild yeast interact with the other ingredients. Continuing to let the dough proof and ferment in the refrigerator adds even more flavor and makes the dough easier to work.
• Play with the size. I scale my Sourdough Brioche Rolls recipe for 10 rolls, which makes them large enough to gently press flat and slice as buns for Black Bean Veggie Burgers or, for meat lovers, Cheese- and Bacon-Stuffed Burgers. When left round, they come out as large dinner rolls with a crispy exterior and fluffy center. For smaller rolls, divide the dough into 16 balls and reduce the baking time by about 5 minutes.
• Experiment with toppings. Egg wash turns the rolls golden and gives toppings something to stick to. I like to sprinkle on Herb-Infused Salt, which melts slightly into the surface while leaving flecks of herbs on top. A blend of white sesame seeds and poppy seeds also makes a pretty coating.

Although sourdough brioche dough benefits from long rests between stretching and while in the fridge, wild yeast is quite forgiving and you don’t need to time these periods precisely. Learn more about ways to adapt sourdough baking to your lifestyle in this blog post.

Need starter? Join the Sharing fermented starters Facebook group to request sourdough starter, scoby, kefir grains, and more, any time of year. If you are not a Facebook user, contact me by January 31, 2025, with your request for sourdough starter.