Sweet Brioche in a Crock Pot

Print Print | Email Email | by zoe, December 18, 2012
Filed Under crock pot, equipment, Special techniques | 61 comments

Sweet Brioche is the latest in my series of crock pot breads*. It may have taken me a while to give the old slow cooker a try, but now I am unstoppable. Some of you may know that I am in the very last stages of a kitchen remodel, which has me displaced and baking under less-than-ideal conditions. So, the crock pot is the perfect way to get the job done. It can travel from room to room and it takes up no space at all. This time of year we may not be concerned with heating up our house with the oven, in fact, I rather look forward to it. That is precisely why we northerners refer to winter as the “baking season,” because we do as much of it as possible to keep ourselves warm. But, this time of year can be a battle to find enough oven space. Thanksgiving and Christmas can pose a Rubik’s Cube style challenge of getting everything baked and on the table at the same time. Why not eleviate some of the pressure by throwing a ball of dough in your crock? Next I have to see if I can make bread pudding in my slow cooker. I do look forward to having my kitchen back, but until then I will not be without fresh baked bread.

Happy Holidays!

crock pot bread

Sweet Brioche in the Crock Pot:

Form a 1 pound ball of chilled brioche dough (you can use the recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day or Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day), and place it on a sheet of parchment paper. No need to let the dough rest before lowering it into your Slow Cooker and place the lid on. Turn the machine on, to high heat.

Let the brioche “bake” for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the top feels well set. This may take even longer in certain crock pots. At Thanksgiving I used a friend’s machine and it took nearly 2 hours.

When the dough is set, remove from the crock pot and turn on your oven’s broiler. Paint the top of the loaf with egg wash (1 egg whisked together with 1 tablespoon water) using a Pastry Brush. Sprinkle the loaf generously with sugar and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the sugar begins to caramelize. This last step can also be done in a Toaster Oven.

Remove from the broiler and sprinkle with more sugar.

Let cool until room temperature.

*More Crock Pot Breads:

Crock Pot Dinner Rolls

Fast Bread in a Slow Cooker

Gluten-Free Crock Pot Bread

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61 thoughts on “Sweet Brioche in a Crock Pot”

      • Zoe,
        I read your recipe for this bread and it says to place it in a crockpot. I have your “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” but cannot determine the size of the crockpot that you are referring to. It appears to be round but need to know the size so I can buy one.

        Thanks,
        Angelo Bonito

      • They come in standard sizes– and you don’t have the loaf touching the sides of the pot. Just don’t get an extra large one and you’ll be fine.

      • Hi Harry,

        No, we haven’t created an Ezeliel bread recipe yet, but its a great idea!

        Thanks, Zoë

  2. Thank you for your reply Zoe! I cannot wait to try this! I am one of those people with a too small kitchen and all the pans stored inside the oven.
    Although I would love to bake and enjoy fresh bread everyday (My Great Grandmother had a Bakery in Ukraine, and I am Celiac) the thought of emptying the oven on a daily basis is off putting. You have given me a wonderful alternative. I guess I can now break out the wedding gift crock pot I really never get to use. :-)
    Holiday Blessings & health!

    Reply ↓

  4. Looks so wonderful. Do you have any photos of the inside texture? I’ve been looking for a brioche recipe but am fussy on the texture, and the ones I’ve tried so far have been lovely but not what I’m after. Thanks! x

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Kavey,

      I added a picture to the post of the interior, I’m not sure how the picture got left out??? Thanks for the note, now you can see the inside!

      If you are going for a stretchier interior, you can knead the dough for a minute while shaping the ball. If you do this, it may take longer to bake, since you will have knocked out all of the air in the dough. I have done this with our traditional oven baking, but I let the dough rest longer before baking. Since the crock pot doesn’t require any resting time before baking I am not sure how this will work? If you give it a try, you may want to make a smaller loaf to start.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply ↓

  6. Hi there. I really want to try this but have never had much luck with yeast breads so I wanted to ask a question before trying this out. I looked at the dough making instructions that you linked to and was just wondering…Do you put the dough in the crock pot after letting it rise for 2 hours and then chilling in the fridge like the dough making instructions say to do before using for anything else or do you just make the dough and put it directly into the crock pot? Sorry if this is a silly question I was just confused because the above instructions say “no need to let the dough rest before lowering into the crockpot” but then thought maybe that meant the rest that would occur after taking the dough out of the fridge for it’s final rise before baking. Thanks so much!

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Angie,

      Not a silly question at all. You make the dough as instructed, including the refrigerator time, then take a 1 pound piece from the bucket, shape it and drop it in the crock pot.

      Thanks! Zoë

      Reply ↓

      • Thanks so much for your question. I would have made it w/o any resting time + put dough directly in the crock pot. I misunderstood the instructions on this page, and w/o your inquiry I would have messed up royally.

  8. We have a 12 volt crock pot that I have made bread in before while on the road…will have to give this a try next week when traveling. To show up my sister and present a fresh baked loaf……

    Reply ↓

  9. I just made 2 loaves of the regular bread recipe but forgot to score it ugh! And these are for teacher gifts so I want to make sure they taste as yummy as normal so did I ruin ruin see loaves? Hat does the scoring actually do? Just want to make sure it doesn’t affect e taste or texture of it when eaten.

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Kiim,

      The scoring only effects the look of the loaf, so they will still be just as tasty, but may have a more rustic look.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply ↓

  10. I made Pumpkin Pie Brioche last night and in my baking frenzy, put it straight into the refrigerator. What can I do with the dough now? Could this be baked in the crock-pot?

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Linda,

      Did the dough rise at all in the refrigerator? The cool environment will just slow the yeast way down. Yes, you can bake it in the crock pot. I have not tried this dough to know how long it will take, but I bet it will be close to the brioche, unless your machine is much stronger or weaker than mine. Keep an eye on it after an hour for a 1-pound loaf.

      Cheers, Zoë

      Reply ↓

      • Thanks, Zoe, it did rise some in the refrigerator, so I will bake it and see how it turns out. Thanks again.

  12. Love the Web site! Not a comment on brioche, but wanted to comment on Olive Whole Wheat bread. It was a little dry for me, then I started adding a quarter cup of Chia seeds to the dough. That did the trick. This last time I added sunflower seeds, chia seeds and millet – this is so good toasted with Black Walnut jelly. Wow! I just cannot go back to boring store bought bread. Thanks so much for your recipes and techniques!

    Reply ↓

  14. I love this bread and that I can keep the oven free.
    My slow cooker takes about 3 hours on high to bake all my breads. Thought I’d pass on this time in case some would think the recipe doesn’t work for them.

    Reply ↓

  15. I am planning on making your brioche for the first time, as soon as I can surface the Artisan Bread book in my large cookbook collection. I’d love to try the crock pot method, but my husband cannot eat sugar. He can have honey, but I’m not too sure about caramelizing honey the same way. What would you suggest?

    Reply ↓

    • Alia: The brioche recipe calls for honey in the first place, and it’s not caramelized before using it in the recipe, so shouldn’t be a problem.

      You can always decrease the sweetener to as low as you like.

      Reply ↓

      • Jeff, it’s the caramelized sugar on the top of this particular loaf that’s added after baking that I am asking about. The reason I’m looking at this brioche recipe to begin with is the honey in the dough. It’s the broiled sugar on top I have an issue with.

  16. Sorry! I think this is very likely to work the same way with honey– just paint it on with a pastry brush; consider diluting it a bit with hot water so it’s spreadable.

    Reply ↓

  17. Hi, This question isn’t actually geared towards this post but just a general bread question. I LOVE your site and recipes. I’ve made several of them and shared them with family and friends. I cook on my outside grill (I’m in Florida, year round grilling!!!) and on my pizza stone in the oven. My question is, how do I get my crust to stay crunchy? When it first comes out of the oven, it’s nice and hard but after about an hour or so, it’s soft. The bread is still delicious but I like the crunchy crust. I let the bread rest on a rack for several minutes after I’ve taken it out. I know because it’s so humid here that might be an issue. But when I get my bread from Panera, their bread still has a crunchy crust. Any suggestions? Thanks again for the wonderful website!!

    Reply ↓

      • Hi Jeff,

        Thanks for the reply. Yes, I always use steam in the oven. My oven does have these little vents at the top where the steam does escape. Is this normal? Like I said, though, when the bread does first come out of the oven (or off the grill), the crust is nice and firm….it’s just after about an hour, it’s soft. I’ve tried all kinds of flour and I appreciate the tip about whole wheat…I didn’t realize it had all that oil in it! I’ve recently been using UltraGrain flour which looks like white flour but says it has 30% ultra grain. So I’ll go back to trying just white flour. I do have another question, if I just put a cup of water in the broiler pan, the water all evaporates about 1/2 way through cooking. So I’ve been putting 2 cups of water in so it steams through most of the cooking process. Is this typical or should I just put the 1 cup in? Thanks again!!!

  19. I love your website. All your help to the people asking questions is wonderful for the people just reading them.I hope you are on Pinterest + facebook. I will try to find you there. Your great instructions make it easier for people to try baking bread, and I am less fearful also.

    Reply ↓

  21. Regarding the brioche in crock-pot recipe, I know that the technique is different for the oven, but what if it is cooked in a dutch oven pot in the oven? Has this been tried starting with a cold oven with the dough in a dutch oven? Thanks- love the recipes!

    Reply ↓

  22. This looks like an awesome way to make bread. I never would have thought about using a crock pot. I am certainly going to need to try this sometime. Thanks for the great idea!

    -Hope

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  24. Love this idea! I mixed up the WW Brioche from “Healthy Bread” and plan to try this tomorrow. Just to be clear, I turn on the crockpot after putting dough in, I don’t warm the crockpot first?

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  25. I just want to ask ?’s….like my crock pot does not have temp. just high 4-6hrs, or low8-10hrs. How could I use that?? I use
    Kingarthur flour, I think it has more protein
    What setting do you use on your crock pot??
    I would love to try this but doesn’t sound like I can.

    Reply ↓

    • See FAQs page above and click on “Flour varieties: Do I need to adjust the liquids when I use different kinds of white flour?” About your crockpot, as we say above, “High Heat.”

      Reply ↓

  27. Discovered this when I searched for ‘slow cooker recipes’. Will be trying it this weekend. Would be great if you could publish an e-book on slow cooker bread/pizza recipes :)

    Reply ↓

      • My slow cooker is an old model and only has 3 settings – low, high and auto. Not sure of the temp. I made the first batch at high setting for 1 hour. It turned out gummy in the centre. I did a second batch and added more flour when I shaped it. Set it on high for 45 mins and low for 15 mins. perfect! Thanks so much for this extremely stress-free method.

      • Our guess was that differences in the cookers would mean that people would have to experiment a bit; glad yours worked out so well!

  28. I’m so excited to see this idea! I’m craving fresh bread, so am going to try this since my oven is on the fritz (can’t maintain baking temp, but can use broiler, weird eh?) I don’t have parchment paper, so I will try greasing my crock pot with shortening and dusting with cornmeal I think; hopefully the bread doesn’t stick.

    Reply ↓

      • It popped right out! Probably didn’t even need the cornmeal. I used 1/3 of the Master recipe from ABin5, and it took just over 2 1/2 hours to not feel “squishy” on top, and is under the broiler right now to darken up the top, but the bottom is a very nice color already.

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