By Rebecca St. Clair

High protein brioche bread is so soft, pillowy, and light! If you love baking bread at home but can’t seem to duplicate those super soft grocery store loaves, then this is your bread!

This easy brioche style bread is full of protein which actually makes an incredibly soft and feathery inside. The outside crust in tender and delicate, not chewy.

What makes this bread high in protein?

A good portion of the liquid in this recipe is made up of eggs! Not only does this bring added fat for a soft and pillowy bread, but also a ton on added protein!

If you happen to have an abundance of eggs at your house, this might be your new go-to bread recipe because you will be using 6 whole eggs in this bread recipe!

There is a loaf of bread that has been sliced.

Enriched dough

Brioche style bread is made using an enriched dough and this high protein bread is no exception.

An enriched dough just means a dough that is made using added fat from richer ingredients. A basic bread dough only requires flour, water, salt, and yeast. None of these ingredients are high in fat.

To make a super soft, pillowy, and light bread using an enriched dough we need to add rich ingredients like, eggs, milk, and fat (like butter).

How to store high protein bread

This recipe is going to make 2 loaves of bread. So let’s talk about how to store the bread for optimal freshness,

Room temperature

The best time to enjoy bread is fresh the first day. However, stored properly you can prolong it’s freshness for 3 days,

Fresh bread is best stored, wrapped in paper or plastic, on the counter for up to 3 days.
Bread will start to dry out and becomes stale the longer it is left out.
Fresh bread is at it’s best eaten the first day.
After that, fresh bread is best warmed or toasted with butter or toppings of choice.

Fridge

The fridge is not the best place to store fresh bread. Bread loaves will dry out quickly and become stale faster when stored this way. If you want to prolong the life of your bread loaves store them in the freezer!

Freezer

Fresh bread stores extremely well in the freezer, when stored properly. Follow these easy steps to store your high protein bread loaves for longer storage.

Let the fresh bread come to room temperature.
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or a bread bag. (You can wrap the bread whole or pre-sliced.)
Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When you are ready to use, unwrap and let it come back to room temperature.
To warm a full loaf, wrap loosely in tin foil. Place the loaf in a preheated 325 °F (160 °C) oven for 20 minutes.
For pre-sliced bread, you can place the frozen slices directly into the toaster!

Two loaves of bread. One has been sliced.

Overnight High Protein brioche bread

The smell of fresh baked bread first thing in the morning, is there anything better? Did you know you can do all the work of making high protein bread the night before and bake it first thing in the morning? If you want to have fresh baked bread for breakfast, this is what you need to do:

The night before, make the bread recipe up until the final rise.
After you have shaped the loaves, cover and place in the refrigerator. The low temperature will prolong the rise.
In the morning, remove the loaf from the fridge and bake.

How to make high protein brioche bread loaves

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour 600 g

2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast 1 packet or 7 g

½ cup warm water 125 ml

¼ cup sugar 50 g

1 teaspoon salt 5 g

6 eggs

¼ cup soft butter 60 g

1 Tablespoon butter 15 g (optional)

Method

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl if making the recipe by hand, add in the sugar and water. Sprinkle the yeast on top and set aside for a few minutes for the yeast to soften and become foamy.
To the bowl with the yeast add in the salt, eggs, butter, and flour.
Mix and then knead until you have a soft, smooth, elastic dough ball.
Knead for for 8 minutes if using a machine or 10 minutes if kneading the dough by hand.
Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot until doubled. About 1 hour depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

A metal bowl with yeast, water and eggs inside.

A metal bowl with risen bread dough inside.

6. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and split in half.

7. Form each into a loaf. I do this by flattening out the dough and folding it in thirds, like a letter going into an envelope. Then working in the opposite direction, Roll and press the dough together into a loaf. Pinch the seam and ends together to seal.

8. Place on a lined baking sheet and allow to rise in a warm spot until just about doubled. About 30 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

9. Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C)

10. Before going into the oven make some slashes with a razor or sharp knife over the top of the loaves.

11. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.

12. Immediately brush the top of the loaves with butter for a soft tender crust.

Bread dough shaped into two loaves. The dough is risen.

Two loaves of high protein bread that are being brushed with butter.

2 Loaves