Cream Cheese Brioche

Enjoy these cream cheese brioche that nestle a creamy and citrus cream cheese filling in the center. The buttery brioche is perfect with the note of freshness and creaminess from the sugared cream cheese.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword brioche, cream cheese bread

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Chill and Rise Times for the Dough 6

Total Time 7 20

Servings

Calories 377kcal

Author sanna

Ingredients

FOR THE BRIOCHE : THE SPONGE

1/3 cup warm milk 110- 115 ℉
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
1 large egg
1½ cups all-purpose flour

FOR THE BRIOCHE: THE DOUGH

¼ cup sugar
3 large eggs lightly beaten
1½ cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
¾ cup unsalted butter softened

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING

3/4 cup softened cream cheese
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice or kalamansi juice
1/4 cup milk

FOR THE EGG WASH

1 egg see note 1 for instructions to make egg wash.
1 tbsp milk

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make The Brioche Sponge

In the bowl of heavy duty mixer, add the yeast, milk, egg and 1 cup all purpose flour. Mix with a rubber spatula just until combined. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of flour over the top without stirring, as if to cover mixture. Let this stand for about 40-45 minutes. There will be cracks on the flour surface at this point.
Stir everything well, making sure there is no dry flour left.

Make The Brioche Dough

Add the sugar, salt, and eggs. Stir everything with your wooden spoon until incorporated. Add the flour gradually while stirring until the dough gathers in the center of the bowl. You may have a little bit of flour left, that's okay.
Using a dough hook, run the heavy-duty mixer on medium high speed to knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. The dough should start to gather in the center of the bowl. If the dough is too sticky and not gathering, sprinkle the remaining flour gradually, and add up to ¼ cup of flour extra as needed.
Once the dough is cleaning and slapping the sides of the bowl, you are now ready to add the butter.
Add the butter bit by bit. Allow every bit of butter to almost incorporate before adding more ( see note 2). When you add the butter, the dough will fall apart again for a moment. Continue to knead until the dough gathers nicely in the center again. This is a shiny, flowy smooth dough.

Chill the Dough and Allow to Rise

Place the ball of dough into a greased bowl and cover with a plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Take the dough out of the fridge. Allow to rest for about ten minutes. Gently deflate the dough and divide it into 12 portions.
Prepare 2 large baking pans and line them with parchment paper. Shape a dough portion into a smooth ball. Using your palms, flatten the ball into a round disc or oval that is about ½ inch thick. Lay them on the prepared baking sheets. Leave enough space in between each assembled dough to allow room for their rising, about 2 -3 inches. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise for 2 hours in a warm place.

MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING

While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a mixing bowl, beat together softened cream cheese and milk until the cream cheese is broken into soft little bits. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Beat until the mixture is smooth. Beat in lemon juice. Refrigerate the mixture until you are ready to use.

ASSEMBLE AND BAKE

We will be baking half of the batch at a time (unless you have 2 ovens), with 6 pieces in each batch of pan.
When the dough has risen, preheat oven to 350 F. Using your fingers, create an indention in the middle of every risen dough (about two thumbs wide) so that you have a little well to put the filling in. Spoon or pour the filling into every indention, dividing the liquid well among the 12 portions. Brush egg wash on the edges of the brioche dough.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden. Enjoy warm. And also take note that the filling may remain hot even the bread is warm enough to handle. Store leftovers in a covered container for up to 3 days at room temperature. You can microwave them for 10-12 seconds to warm them up.

Notes

The Egg Wash. Beat together egg and milk until combined.
The Softened Butter. Make sure that the butter is at room temperature, but not warm or oily. It should be pretty soft and malleable. It helps to enclose the butter inside a wax paper, press it down using your thumb or beat it with a rolling pin to give it a malleable consistency.

Recipe source: Brioche Recipe by Nancy Silverton in the Baking with Julia Cookbook.

Nutrition