Whether it’s a hot, crusty baguette with butter or pains au chocolat, one of the most wonderful things about Paris is baked goods for breakfast.

On my last visit to Paris, I discovered brioche. It’s a rich, buttery bread that can be made into a loaf, a tart, or – my personal favorite – an individual-sized roll. With a beautiful golden crust that gives way to a fluffy, melt-in-your mouth interior, brioche is the epitome of Parisian decadence. I can’t imagine a better way to start your morning!

Stateside, it isn’t always easy to find fresh, artisan bread every morning at a corner boulangerie. Instead, I decided to bring the bakery into my own kitchen, because there’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh bread wafting from your oven. First on my list? Brioche, of course! I discovered Dorie Greenspeen’s no-knead recipe, which is simple yet makes a wonderful, authentic bread. All you need is a stand mixer, which will do much of the work for you.

With a little planning, it’s even feasible to enjoy freshly baked brioche on a weekday. The dough needs to chill overnight, so plan to make the dough a day in advance: before you leave in the morning, take the butter and eggs out of the fridge. When you come back, the actual dough-making will take about thirty minutes of active preparation, but do set aside 3 ½ hours for the dough to rise. The next morning, simply divide the dough into twelve pieces among a muffin tin, let it rise for an hour, and bake for fifteen minutes. One bite will take you to straight to the banks of the Seine.

Bubble-Top Brioches
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan

¼ cup warm water (110°F to 115°F)
¼ cup warm whole milk (110°F to 115°F)
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
Chocolate chips (optional)
1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon milk (for glaze)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix warm water and milk. Sprinkle active dry yeast over and stir once, gently. Cover with a towel and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Add 1 cup flour. Blend at medium-low speed until incorporated. Repeat in 1 cup and ¾ cup intervals. Beat until the flour is completely incorporated and the dough looks dry and shaggy. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Increase the speed on the stand mixer to medium and add eggs one at a time. Add sugar.

Reduce speed to low and cut in butter, roughly 1 tablespoon at a time.

Increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high and beat until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Butter a large bowl and scrape the dough into the bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm, dry area until doubled in volume, about 1 ½ hours.

Deflate dough by lifting around the edges with a rubber spatula. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge. Continue deflating the dough every 30 minutes until the dough stops rising, about 2 hours. Chill overnight. 

Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. For bubble-top brioches, divide each of the 12 pieces into three balls. Place at the bottom of a muffin cup.

If you decide you would like chocolate chip brioche, take one of the 12 pieces and flatten it. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of chocolate chips and roll it back into a ball. Divide in three balls and place at the bottom of a muffin cup. Cover with a towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Brush the egg and milk glaze over the tops of the brioches, taking care not to let any drip between the tin and the dough.

Bake 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. Turn the oven off and let the brioche sit in the warm oven for an additional 5 minutes.