Add James Beard Award–winning chef Joanne Chang’s famous brioche au sucre buns to your repertoire of bread recipes. Enjoy these versatile, eggy brioche rolls as a brunch side, or as the base of a decadent bread pudding. 

Joanne Chang’s Sugar Brioche Recipe

Joanne Chang is a Boston-based pastry chef and the co-owner of Flour Bakery. The award-winning pastry chef has a degree with honors in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Passionate about baking since her college days, Joanne left her consulting job to work in restaurants, eventually opening Flour Bakery in 2000. Since then, she expanded the bakery to eight more locations, opened a Taiwanese-inspired restaurant, won a reality TV cooking competition and a James Beard Award, and wrote five cookbooks.

Despite her long list of accolades, Joanne still delights in the alchemy of baking: simple ingredients that, when combined with the right techniques, transform into something magical. Learn to [bake like a pro](https://www.masterclass.com/sessions/classes/bake-like-a-pro) with Joanne Chang.

Brioche au sucre are small, no-knead bread rolls made out of [brioche](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-perfect-brioche-at-home)—a buttery French yeast bread dough—slit on top and covered in sugar. These rich, highly leavened sweet buns have a large crumb that’s great for soaking up liquids, like a bowl of chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). The egg yolks give sugar brioche bread a golden interior, and butter adds extra moisture. The result is a rich, buttery flavor and deep brown crust. 

Whether it’s your first time making this flavorful, sticky dough, or you’re a bread-baking pro, follow these tips to make the best sugar brioche rolls possible. 

1. __Use fresh or active dry yeast__. Rather than instant yeast, use either active dry yeast (which is a shelf-stable powder) or fresh yeast (which retailers sell in soft, compressed “cakes”) to make sugar brioche buns. Fresh yeast activates more quickly than dry yeast does, so if you use fresh yeast, the <a href='https://masterclass.com/articles/baking-101-what-is-proofing-learn-how-to-proof-breads-and-other-baked-goods' target='_blank' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://masterclass.com/articles/baking-101-what-is-proofing-learn-how-to-proof-breads-and-other-baked-goods","linkCopy":"proofing","category":"automated-link"}' automatic='true'>proofing</a> process will be faster. However, fresh yeast is more difficult to work with and has a shelf life of about 2 weeks when refrigerated. Bakers must crumble and proof it (or test its activity) in a yeast mixture with warm water before using.
2. __Use room-temperature butter__. Using too-soft butter will result in runny dough resembling pancake batter, and it will take longer for the butter to absorb. However, too-cold butter is difficult for your stand mixer to mix. Err on the side of colder butter than warmer if you don’t have the room temperature stuff. 
3. __Make the dough in advance__. Make the brioche dough for your sugar buns in bulk and freeze it for up to 5 days before baking it, after which the yeast will no longer be active. Place the dough in the freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic. Use dough stored in the refrigerator after 1 day. 
4. __Store properly__. It’s best to enjoy brioche au sucre on the day you bake them. Store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days, and reheat them in a 300 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 3–4 minutes. 
Add James Beard Award–winning chef Joanne Chang’s famous brioche au sucre buns to your repertoire of bread recipes. Enjoy these versatile, eggy brioche rolls as a brunch side, or as the base of a decadent bread pudding.

Joanne Chang is a Boston-based pastry chef and the co-owner of Flour Bakery. The award-winning pastry chef has a degree with honors in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Passionate about baking since her college days, Joanne left her consulting job to work in restaurants, eventually opening Flour Bakery in 2000. Since then, she expanded the bakery to eight more locations, opened a Taiwanese-inspired restaurant, won a reality TV cooking competition and a James Beard Award, and wrote five cookbooks.Despite her long list of accolades, Joanne still delights in the alchemy of baking: simple ingredients that, when combined with the right techniques, transform into something magical. Learn to <a href='https://www.masterclass.com/sessions/classes/bake-like-a-pro' target='_self' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://www.masterclass.com/sessions/classes/bake-like-a-pro","linkCopy":"bake like a pro","category":null}'>bake like a pro</a> with Joanne Chang.

About Joanne Chang

Brioche au sucre are small, no-knead bread rolls made out of <a href='https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-perfect-brioche-at-home' target='_self' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-perfect-brioche-at-home","linkCopy":"brioche","category":null}'>brioche</a>—a buttery French yeast bread dough—slit on top and covered in sugar. These rich, highly leavened sweet buns have a large crumb that’s great for soaking up liquids, like a bowl of chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). The egg yolks give sugar brioche bread a golden interior, and butter adds extra moisture. The result is a rich, buttery flavor and deep brown crust.

What Are Brioche au Sucre?

Whether it’s your first time making this flavorful, sticky dough, or you’re a bread-baking pro, follow these tips to make the best sugar brioche rolls possible. <ol class="mc-m-4"><li class="mc-my-4"> 1. Use fresh or active dry yeast. Rather than instant yeast, use either active dry yeast (which is a shelf-stable powder) or fresh yeast (which retailers sell in soft, compressed “cakes”) to make sugar brioche buns. Fresh yeast activates more quickly than dry yeast does, so if you use fresh yeast, the <a href='https://masterclass.com/articles/baking-101-what-is-proofing-learn-how-to-proof-breads-and-other-baked-goods' target='_blank' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://masterclass.com/articles/baking-101-what-is-proofing-learn-how-to-proof-breads-and-other-baked-goods","linkCopy":"proofing","category":"automated-link"}' automatic='true'>proofing</a> process will be faster. However, fresh yeast is more difficult to work with and has a shelf life of about 2 weeks when refrigerated. Bakers must crumble and proof it (or test its activity) in a yeast mixture with warm water before using. </li><li class="mc-my-4"> 2. Use room-temperature butter. Using too-soft butter will result in runny dough resembling pancake batter, and it will take longer for the butter to absorb. However, too-cold butter is difficult for your stand mixer to mix. Err on the side of colder butter than warmer if you don’t have the room temperature stuff. </li><li class="mc-my-4"> 3. Make the dough in advance. Make the brioche dough for your sugar buns in bulk and freeze it for up to 5 days before baking it, after which the yeast will no longer be active. Place the dough in the freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic. Use dough stored in the refrigerator after 1 day. </li><li class="mc-my-4"> 4. Store properly. It’s best to enjoy brioche au sucre on the day you bake them. Store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days, and reheat them in a 300 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 3–4 minutes. </li></ol>

4 Tips for Making Brioche au Sucre

Joanne Chang’s Brioche Au Sucre Buns Recipe

Add James Beard Award–winning chef Joanne Chang’s famous brioche au sucre buns to your repertoire of bread recipes. Enjoy these versatile, eggy brioche rolls as a brunch side, or as the base of a decadent bread pudding.

Add James Beard Award–winning chef Joanne Chang’s famous brioche au sucre buns to your repertoire of bread recipes. Enjoy these versatile, eggy brioche rolls as a brunch side, or as the base of a decadent bread pudding. 
