Bread dough is a simple mix of flour, yeast, salt and water. Enriched dough includes butter, eggs, sugar or milk, which weaken gluten and make a softer, richer dough. There are many types, from doughnuts to babkas, but brioche is my favourite.
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Yields:
12
Prep Time:
25 mins
Cook Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
50 mins
Ingredients
For the brioche buns:
300 ml milk
75 g butter
100 g caster sugar
500 g strong white flour
7 g sachet yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 medium egg, beaten
For the filling:
300 g blueberries
3 Tbsp. caster sugar, divided
200 g cream cheese
1 medium egg, beaten
For the crumble:
50 g plain flour
30 g butter, chilled
30 g light brown sugar
Directions
Step 1For the buns, put the milk in a saucepan and heat until just steaming. Add the butter and sugar and remove from the heat, allowing the butter to melt. Leave to cool until just lukewarm.
Step 2Put the flour into the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook, along with the yeast and salt. Make a well in the middle and add the lukewarm milk mixture. Mix for 3-4min until you have a smooth, sticky dough. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover loosely and leave to rise in a warm place for about 2hr, or until doubled in size.
Step 3Line two baking trays. Transfer the dough to the work surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each into a ball and place on the prepared trays, spacing well apart. Cover loosely with oiled clingfilm and leave to prove again in a warm place for 30-45min.
Step 4Meanwhile, put the blueberries into a saucepan with 1tbsp of the caster sugar. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the blueberries begin to break down and become jammy. Set aside.
Step 5Whisk together the cream cheese, egg and remaining caster sugar. To make the crumble, rub the flour and butter together until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, then rub in the brown sugar.
Step 6Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Using the base of a Champagne flute or a small glass, make an indent in the middle of each bun. Fill with the cream cheese mixture, brush the sides with beaten egg, spoon over the blueberries and sprinkle with the crumble topping. Bake for 25min until well risen and golden. Leave to cool before serving.
GH tips:
It’s much easier to knead enriched dough in a stand mixer, as it can take longer to reach the desired texture.
Enriched doughs often need a longer first prove, so allow around 2hr for the dough to double in size.
Butter, sugar and eggs slow the yeast down, so enriched doughs often need slightly longer to rise than standard bread doughs.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
Sarah is Good Housekeeping's Kitchen and Homes Director, looking after all things food and homes for the brand. Sarah started her career in journalism, then retrained as a chef 15 years ago following a lifelong dream to work in food. Since retraining, she has worked as a private chef, assisted on tv commercials, created recipes for some of the country's leading brands and became the go-to birthday and wedding cake baker in her friends and family network. In 2025, she was shortlisted for Cookery Writer of the Year by the Guild of Food Writers
