Apple Brown Butter Bourbon Brioche

Fall, wrapped in brioche

I know, I know.  That name is a mouthful.  But here is the deal, this bread is a mouthful.  But not in a gratuitous way.  I didn’t add ingredients just for their buzz, they all build upon each other to make a bread that is absolutely delicious, but not overdone.  It is my ode to fall, and I really hope you give it a try.

Those who are paying attention will note that the brioche is the same recipe as my too easy brioche.  The bread dough can be made up to 5 days in advance, meaning this loaf can be broken down into several easy parts.

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Apple Brown Butter Bourbon Brioche

This bread has all the best Bs in it.  First, it is brioche, but then it has brown butter, brown sugar, and bourbon added to apples with a very scarce amount of spices  The bread is basically stuffed with the essence of fall, but manages not to be cloying and overly sweet, even with a little-powdered sugar drizzle.  It tastes decadent, but not overdone.  I hope you love it as much as I do.  

You will end up with two amazing loaves.  One to keep and one to share!

Ingredients

Brioche Dough

  • 3/4 cup water warm
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter (or 3/4 cup) melted
  • 3 3/4 cup flour

Apple Filling

  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 5 medium apples (adjust amount if larger or smaller apples peeled, cored and chopped
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4-1/3 cup bourbon optional, but oh so good
  • 2 pinches ground mace optional, but nutmeg works as a substitute
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Icing Drizzle

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk (you may need more, but start with less and add splashes as needed)

Instructions

Prepare the Brioche

  1. Mix everything but the flour together in a larger bowl until the eggs and honey are well incorporated. Dump in the flour and stir together. It will look kind of lumpy and a lovely dark yellow color from the eggs and the honey. Make sure the flour is fully incorporated and the bread is fully together, albeit very sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temp for two hours. After two hours, put the covered dough in the fridge, overnight is best, but at least an hour until the dough is chilled.

Prepare the Filling

  1. Melt butter in a large saute pan over medium heat and allow to brown until golden brown, then add in chopped apples and saute for 8-10 minutes until the apples are soft and very lightly brown.  

  2. Add in brown sugar and bourbon if using (please use, it's so yummy!), and spices and stir until the sugar is melted and oozy and your house smells like the best parts of fall.  

  3. Let the filling cool in the fridge until at least room temp.  Overnight works great too.

Prepare the Bread

  1. Generously butter two loaf pans, making sure you get into the corners.  This bread can be gooey in parts, so this is critical for getting it out after it has baked.

  2. Remove the bread from the fridge and divide into two balls.  Roll the first ball out into an 8 by 16-inch rectangle.  Spread half the apple mixture over the inside of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides.  Carefully roll the dough (starting with the narrow side) into an 8-inch long roll.  Repeat with the other ball of dough, and the remainder of the apple filling.  

  3. At this point, if you have time, you can refrigerate the dough for a bit before the next bit of trickery, or just move straight on. It will be messy either way.  Gently saw the roll in half lengthwise, so the roll is a cross section.  Smoosh the the ends of one side together gently, and very carefully lay one side of the dough over the other,  back and forth to make a slightly swirled bread.  Try to keep the cut side facing up so you don't lose all your goo on the board and very carefully plop the dough into the buttered loaf pan.  Repeat with the other log and pan.  Have faith--its okay if it looks messy.  It will work out!  Let the dough proof about 90 minutes in the pans, until poofy while the oven preheats to 350 F.

  4. Bake bread for 40-45 minutes, until deeply golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.  Let cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes.  Then turn out.  You may need to run a knife around the edges to fully release it from the sides.  Let cool almost completely before adding an icing drizzle if desired.  

Prepare the Drizzle

  1. Mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar with about 1 tablespoon of milk.  You may need to add a few more splashes in, but you want to start with as little as possible so you have a fairly thick drizzle.  Once the bread has cooled completely, drizzle the icing back and forth over the bread and let it set up before slicing.