Having grown up in a small town in Mississippi, the bread of excellence was cornbread. No, not the kind with sugar added, because that is not cornbread, that is corn cake. I don't care what anyone says on that, as it is not up for debate. Real cornbread has no sugar. Anyhow, where was I? Yes, Brioche. Having grown up where cornbread was king, I can't say I tried brioche for the first time until I was my early 20s after I moved to the West Coast. That really goes for many life experiences, actually. But, I digress. I still recall the experience and how I was blown away by how something that, from the outside, appeared like it would be heavy and dense, was actually like eating a buttery cloud of pillows. From that first bite, Brioche became a frequent go-to when visiting a bakeshop--that is, when they have it.

Having tackled the once seemingly impossible task of the Kouignn Amann, I felt a bit more confident in my dough skills, and wanted to give Brioche a try. I consulted in my newish copy of The Fearless Baker. I have wanted to try something from it since I purchased it, and the dough recipe had many add-on recipes. I thought I could try to make the standard Brioche buns from half, and save the other half for another use from the cookbook--specifically the Figgy Pull-Apart Bread that could make use of my hoards of fig jam. One thing that immediately seemed a little odd to me, against other recipes, is the call for bread flour. In hindsight, that should have been a warning cry because some other things made no sense, nor did the outcome of my first attempt.

The Fearless Baker Brioche Rolls Ingredients List:

• 623 grams bread flour
• 99 grams granulated sugar
• 12 grams sea salt (I just used Kosher)
• 10 grams of instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)
• 5 large, cold eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 cup whole milk
• 397 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
• nonstick spray
• Egg wash: 1 large egg, 1 tbsp water, pinch of sea salt (again, Kosher is fine)
• Pearl sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

For my first attempt, I followed her recipe, with exceptions to the suggested mix times, in some cases, because they were just plain wrong for me. I used the dough hook of my stand mixer to mix the flour, sugar, and salt on low speed to combine. I then added the yeast and mixed a bit more. I then added the eggs and milk, mixing around 4 minutes on a low speed. She says the dough should form a sticky, shaggy ball around the hook. Well, it doesn't at 4 minutes. Actually, it never really does ever.

I then increased the speed to medium and added the butter one tablespoon at a time. I didn't add the next tablespoon until the prior was fully mixed in. She says this process should take three minutes, while it took more like 8-10. I then scraped down the bowl to ensure everything was mixed. She says this period is considered intense mixing and the mixer may make weird noises as the dough comes together. I am not sure if it is not as intense, since I was using my 8 qt Commercial Kitchenaid, or it is not as intense as she warns. Anyhow, she suggests kneading for a minute more. Going straight off her suggestion, I kneaded it for exactly a minute, but it just didn't looked mixed enough or how I'd expect bread dough to look. Not knowing better, I then dumped it into a greased glass bowl, covered with plastic wrap and moved it to the refrigerator to rest for at least 12 hours. Wait up. She wants me to put the dough straight into the refrigerator without any chance to rise at room temperature? Doesn't cold retard yeast? While my logic is telling me all kinds of reasons to not trust this recipe, I continue to forge ahead. It reminded me of the episode of "The Office" when the GPS caused Michael Scott to drive into a lake when he clearly saw he was going to drive into a lake if he continued to follow its lead.

The next morning, I woke to find that I was Michael Scott, and I drove into a lake. My instincts were correct. I woke up to what looks like a large mass of buttery Play-Doh. It didn't rise much at all. Trying to salvage it, I tried to let it proof on the counter after coming to room temperature. That wasn't working. Then I tossed it into my dehydrator, which I sometimes use as a proofing drawer. That just made the butter ooze. It was ruined. All I could think of was how I wasted such pricey ingredients by following a recipe, and not my instincts. I was determined to try this again, and end the day with something edible on a plate. Using this recipe again, I took matters into my own hands.

I did everything the same as prior, until the point of the final kneading of the dough in the mixer, which I did at medium speed for about 12 minutes. While it kind of pulled away from the bowl, it never formed one of those bread dough balls on the hook. After transferring to a glass bowl, covered with plastic wrap, I popped it into my dehydrator at 105 degrees F for about an hour and a half. At that point it, it was doubled in size. I punched the dough down, recovered it, then moved it to the refrigerator for 2 hours to rest. I felt I was back on track.

After the dough rested in the refrigerator--having grown to the "pre-punch" size--I kneaded the dough a bit on my floured countertop until it wasn't quite as sticky. I then wrapped half of the dough and popped it into the freezer for future use. With the remainder of dough, I formed a log and cut it into 12 somewhat equally sized pieces. I then cut each piece into three pieces and formed three little balls that I gently placed into the cavity of a greased muffin tin. After doing this twelve times, I covered the tin with a plastic bag for about an hour. While many use special proofing bags, I find that the clear trash bags from Costco work just fine, and it is something I already have on hand. As I waited, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees F.

Once the dough puffed up nicely and passed the proof test: when pressing gently with your finger, it leaves an indentation that doesn't bounce back, I brushed on an egg wash, and topped half of them with cinnamon sugar. I didn't have pearl sugar on-hand, so this would do. I placed the muffin pan into the oven for 28 minutes, as the recipe calls.

I was pretty nervous with anticipation throughout, as I couldn't peek into the oven, as my oven light was broken, making it a sea of darkness and mystery through the looking glass. Just as the final minutes were approaching, my sister-in-law, who is a lover of all things carby, rang the doorbell. She got to see the grand unveiling with me. As the timer went off, we ran over to see the result. Feeling a bit nervous, I slowly opened the door, but my anxiety was met with relief when some beautiful, golden rolls were staring back at me. My sister-in-law, being the goof she is, captured the big reveal all on video. While they were definitely not a fail, they still looked too pale, although my oven was properly calibrated at 375 degrees F. I gave it a couple more minutes until I liked the looks of the tops. Pulling them out of the oven, I immediately released them from the muffin tin onto a wire rack and waited with anticipation for a few minutes for them to cool down enough to eat. That lasted a solid five minutes. We couldn't wait any longer. We are impatient people. A nice flaky exterior, a buttery, soft, pillowy interior... it was pretty close to perfect, aside from the shape, which formed into more of a muffin than a brioche bun from a French bakery. Next time I will use less dough per muffin cavity, and also have Swedish Pearl Sugar on hand. That said, once I looked past the recipe and followed my instincts and logic, I had a great result. It just serves as another reminder to trust oneself when something--even if from an expert--seems a little off. Now I can check brioche off my list.

Now that I have knocked out another French pastry, I have my eyes on you, croissants.