Brioche Lab217 recipes
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What goes into brioche

The main ingredient list of all 217 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • For sugar, 84% use white sugar alone and 12% honey or sweetened condensed milk (with or without sugar).
  • Of the recipes with yeast, 48% call for fresh yeast, 38% instant or rapid-rise yeast, and 7% active dry yeast.
  • For the liquid, 58% use milk alone, 13% water alone, and 12% none of these.
  • For eggs, 75% use whole eggs alone and 21% whole eggs and egg yolks together.
  • 5% add fruit and 3% chocolate; 90% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 400 g of flour, the size of a typical loaf. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical loaf on every ingredient.

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

White sugar includes powdered sugar, in 7% of recipes. "With honey or sweetened condensed milk" means any liquid sweetener (honey, sweetened condensed milk and maple syrup), with or without dry sugar.

Instant or active dry yeast

Among the 210 recipes with yeast, by the type the ingredient list names.

  • Fresh (cake) yeast

    median 16 g yeast · closest to typical: Brioche Nanterre (baketotheroots.de)

    48%102 recipes

  • Instant or rapid-rise

    median 7 g yeast · closest to typical: Brioche cocotte au thermomix (cookomix.com)

    38%81 recipes

  • Active dry

    median 7 g yeast · closest to typical: Brioche (fifteenspatulas.com)

    7%15 recipes

  • Either (the recipe names both)

    median 6 g yeast · closest to typical: Homemade Brioche (sallysbakingaddiction.com)

    3%7 recipes

  • Everything else

    2%5 recipes

Rapid-rise, quick-rise and bread machine yeast count as instant.

Water, milk or something richer

Each recipe counted once, by the liquids in its main ingredient list.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

  • Whole eggs only

    median 171 g egg · closest to typical: Brioche cocotte au thermomix (cookomix.com)

    75%163 recipes

  • Whole eggs and egg yolks

    median 135 g egg · closest to typical: Orangen-Brioche (kuechengoetter.de)

    21%46 recipes

  • Everything else

    3%8 recipes

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Which flour

Each recipe counted once, by the flours it combines.

  • All-purpose flour only

    closest to typical: Brioche cocotte au thermomix (cookomix.com)

    76%166 recipes

  • Bread flour only

    closest to typical: Classic Brioche (bakerbettie.com)

    11%25 recipes

  • All-purpose flour and bread flour

    closest to typical: Pan Brioche Bimby (ricettedalmondo.it)

    9%21 recipes

  • Everything else

    2%5 recipes

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 90% add none of these.

  • Fruit5%

    raisins 4%

  • Chocolate3%

    bar chocolate 1% · chocolate chips or chunks 1%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 217 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 400 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Butter99%

    216 recipes · median 145 g

  2. Eggs97%

    212 recipes · median 160 g (about 3 large eggs)

  3. Yeast96%

    210 recipes · median 11 g

  4. Granulated sugar93%

    202 recipes · median 51 g

  5. Salt91%

    198 recipes · median 6 g

  6. All-purpose flour87%

    190 recipes · median: all of the flour

  7. Milk71%

    156 recipes · median 110 g

  8. Egg yolks24%

    53 recipes · median 18 g

  9. Water24%

    53 recipes · median 40 g

  10. Bread flour21%

    47 recipes · median: all of the flour

  11. Vanilla18%

    41 recipes · median 6 g

  12. Honey11%

    25 recipes · median 25 g

  13. Whole lemon or orange10%

    23 recipes

  14. Powdered sugar7%

    17 recipes · median 49 g

  15. Sourdough starter5%

    11 recipes · median 176 g

Toppings and extras

18% of recipes (40 of 217) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Eggs11% (24)
  • Egg yolks3% (8)
  • Granulated sugar3% (7)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out. Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 400 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.