Make your own authentic Sicilian Brioche with the tuppo, just like the ones you enjoyed in Sicily, at home! Serve these fluffy brioche with gelato, granita or as is for the perfect breakfast or snack any time of day.
Please note that the original recipe for Sicilian Brioche was posted in 2016 and was modified and improved in 2021 to create brioche with a fluffier texture and made with ingredients that are accessible to all.
My first Sicilian Brioche
Picture it. Sicily 1991. A young woman visits her parents’ hometown in Sicily for the first time. She is at her nonna’s home in the outskirts of a tiny medieval village located high on a hilltop.
The young woman is sleeping in her nonna’s bedroom with the shutters drawn tight to keep out the morning sun. Suddenly, she is awakened by the sounds of a man shouting unintelligible words into a megaphone in a heavy Sicilian accent. This was the brioche man making his morning deliveries.
That morning, she has her first taste of brioche for breakfast and falls in love. My dear friends, that young woman was me!
Fast forward 25 years later. I am back in Sicily once again enjoying my brioche, this time with my husband and children. Since we are not staying up in the hilltop village as last time, I’m not sure if the morning brioche man is still making his rounds. I obtain the recipe for brioche by a local cook. When I return home, I finally attempt to make them for the first time.
This is how my love of brioche began and I’m thrilled to finally share this recipe with you!
What makes these brioche Sicilian?
I am frequently asked what makes these brioche distinctly Sicilian. That is because they originated in Sicily. They are found in all cafés and bars and are called brioche col tuppo. The tuppo on top (meaning bun as in a bun in a woman’s hair) is characteristic of these brioche.
How to eat brioche
Now let’s talk about how you eat brioche when you’re in Sicily. You can have one for breakfast; at snack time around 10:00 am sitting at the bar with your friends; or as a late night snack sitting at the bar with your friends! So basically, all day long.
The first step is to remove the tuppo, the cute little bun on top, and pop it into your mouth.
You do not eat one on it’s own. A brioche is often accompanied by granita available in various flavors such as traditional lemon, coffee, strawberry, pistachio, or blueberry. You can also top your granita with fresh whipped cream. Are you drooling now?
The other way to eat brioche, which I learned from my cousin, is cut in half and stuffed with gelato. But unfortunately we are not in Sicily and do not visit the bar on a daily basis with friends on a hot blistery day. Therefore, we (particularly my children) enjoy them cut in half and spread with Nutella. Oh well, we gotta make do!
The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. Please scroll to the end of this post for the detailed printable recipe.
Step by Step Instructions:
Proof the yeast: place a packet of active dry yeast and 1 tsp sugar in a bowl. Warm milk until lukewarm and pour over the yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix eggs and sugar until smooth. Add honey, vanilla extract and freshly grated zest of 1 orange. Mix well and pour in the yeast mixture. Then add cubed softened butter. Mix all ingredients. Note that the butter will not dissolve into the mixture at this point. This is normal.
Remove the paddle attachment and replace with a dough hook. With the mixer running on low speed, begin adding flour 1/2 cup at a time as well as the salt. When all the flour has been added, increase to the next speed and knead the dough for 10 minutes. It will be very sticky and will wrap itself around the hook. 
Use a spatula to scrape the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise in warm place for 3 hours until doubled in bulk. I place my dough in my unlit oven with the light on.
To shape:
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a kitchen scale to separate the dough into 12 -90 gram pieces and shape into a ball. Remove a 15 gram piece of dough from each ball and shape into a ball for the tuppo.
Use your thumb to make a deep indentation in the center of each 75 gram ball. Use your fingers to spread the dough open and place the smaller ball in the center, as shown.
Let rise for 2 hours until doubled in size. Brush each brioche with egg/milk mixture.
Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 degrees F preheated oven until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips and suggestions:
- For best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh the base and the tuppo of the brioche in order to have equally shaped brioche.
- After the brioche have risen you may notice some of the tuppo may be off centered and lopsided. Resist the urge to nudge them back in the center of the brioche as they will deflate. Trust me, I know. You will simply have a brioche with an off center tuppo and that is ok.
- I was advised to place the brioche in the oven with the light on while they rise. The heat from the light helps them to rise. It does make a difference!
Can brioche be made without a stand mixer?
Yes they can! Whisk the ingredients together in a large bowl (steps 1-4). Switch to a wooden spoon to stir in the flour. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will be tacky to the touch, this is normal. Add just a tiny bit of flour in order to knead it. You want to maintain a soft and slightly sticky dough.
Can brioche be frozen?
- As a matter of fact, I strongly recommend that you freeze extra brioche. Brioche are best eaten the same day as they tend to dry out and become harder as of the next day. If you don’t plan to eat them the same day, or at most the next morning, I suggest you freeze the brioche immediately once cooled. Take them out of the freezer the night before you plan to eat them. In Sicily, they are only eaten the day that they are purchased, you will never have leftover brioche the next day. That’s why you have the delivery man making his morning rounds!
If you try out this brioche recipe, please tag me with your lovely photos with @mangiabedda or #mangiabedda on Facebook or Instagram. Feel free to share this recipe with your friends by clicking on the social media buttons on this page. Buon appetito!
Here are a few other Sicilian favorites inspired by my travels:
- Trapani Style Potatoes Vastase
- Sicilian Involtini with Maccaruna
- Blueberry Granita
- Sicilian Rosticceria Small Bites
- Panelle (Sicilian Chickpea Fritters)
- Sicilian Pasta with Anchovies and Breadcrumbs
- Baked Sicilian Iris with Ricotta
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk plus 1 tbsp for the egg wash
- 8 grams active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 4 large eggs (reserve 1 for the egg wash)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 orange, zested
- 1/3 cup butter cubed and at room temperature
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Warm the milk until lukewarm. Place yeast and 1 tsp sugar (taken from the total amount of sugar) in a bowl. Pour the warm milk over the yeast and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix 3 eggs and sugar together until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add the honey; vanilla extract, and orange zest. Mix on the low setting until just combined.
- Pour in the yeast mixture and mix. Add the softened butter cut into cubes and mix to combine. The butter will not dissolve into the yeast mixture at this point, this is normal.
- Remove the paddle attachment and replace with a dough hook. With the mixer running at the lowest setting, begin adding flour 1/2 cup at a time as well as the salt. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to incorporate all of the flour.
- When all of the flour has been added, increase the speed to the next setting and knead the dough for 10 minutes. The dough will be sticky and wrap itself around the dough hook. Do not add more flour to it.
- Use a spatula to scrape the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm part of the kitchen to rise for 3 hours, until doubled in bulk. I place my dough in the unlit oven with the light on.
Shape the brioche
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a kitchen scale to divide the dough into 12 -90 gram balls. Remove a -15 gram portion from each piece of dough in order to form the "tuppo" and shape into a ball.
- Use your thumb to make a deep indentation in each ball and nestle the "tuppo" in the base of the brioche.
- Transfer the brioche to the prepared baking sheets and continue with the remaining dough. Place 6 brioche on each baking sheet.
- Place in oven with the light on and let rise for 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.
- Brush each brioche with egg/milk mixture.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until the brioche are golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- If you do not have a stand mixer, the dough may be prepared by hand.
- For best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh the base and the tuppo of the brioche in order to have equally shaped brioche.
- After the brioche have risen you may notice some of the tuppo may be off centered and lopsided. Resist the urge to nudge them back in the center of the brioche as they will deflate. Trust me, I know. You will simply have a brioche with an off center tuppo that is ok.
- I was advised to place the brioche in the oven with the light on while they rise. The heat from the light helps them to rise. It does make a difference!
- If you don't plan to eat them the same day, or at most the next morning, I recommend you freeze the brioche immediately once cooled. Take them out of the freezer the night before you plan to eat them. In Sicily, they are only eaten the day that they are purchased, you will never have leftover brioche the next day. That's why you have the delivery man making his morning rounds!
- Enjoy your brioche with granita, gelato, spread with nutella or as is with your coffee
Nutrition
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I would
Like to try this recipe but need some verification please. Both my husband and I are retired chefs in Canada, have extensive experience with yeasted sweet doughs and laminated doughs.. You do not mention in the recipe steps when to apply the egg wash using the fourth egg, I assume because it is such a tender dough that deflates easily that the egg wash is applied when the buns are formed prior to the final rise before baking. Please confirm if this is so and perhaps update your recipe to reflect this step. Thank you!
Hello Laurie, thank you for pointing this out! I in fact described the process in my step by step images but failed to mention in the recipe card but I will correct this now. I apply the egg wash after the shaped brioche have risen for 2 hours and prior to baking: Let rise for 2 hours until doubled in size. Brush each brioche with egg/milk mixture. Of course you do want to do this very gently to prevent them from deflating. Thanks again!
This recipe isn’t balanced correctly. Way too dense. Needs more eggs and butter. Did you really mean 4 cups of flour total?
Hello Thomas, I’m sorry your brioche did not turn out as you pleased. I assure you that the recipe, shared with me directly from my contact in Sicily where they are originate from, is accurate and is indeed 4 cups. Thanks for your feedback!
Hello Nadia,
I think your recipe is error in conversion. When i try to print the recipe using metric, the flour converted to 187.5gr. If you said that it needs 4 cup, isn’t 1 cup of flour (us standard) is 125gr in metric, so it should be 500gr of flour? It’s so confusing. Maybe you could help in this matter because i relly want to try this recipe. Thank you.
Hello Winda, thank you for pointing that out. The convertor is built into the recipe card and supposed to correctly convert to grams however you are correct. 4 cups of flour to grams is indeed 500 grams. I’ll look into this error. Thanks again for letting me know and hope you enjoy the brioche!
Can you prepare them and let rise overnight so you can bake them in the morning?
Hello Carol, someone asked me the same question and I actually verified with my contact in Sicily who shared the recipe with me. Once they are shaped the brioche are very delicate and can deflate quite easily so you can not let them rest overnight at this point. However, something I’d like to test is making the dough and letting it rest overnight and then shaping them the following day. But of course at that point the brioche will need to rise before popping them in the oven. It is indeed a delicate process! Hope this helps and thanks for your question.
Hello!! Your story is very familiar, I spent my summers in Sicily and my mother would buy a brioche con panna for me every morning from a an with a whistle I can still hear in my head. Anyway-I really want to perfect these. My first was a bust-very dense and not fluffy like Sicily. What can I do do make them more light and airy inside? All suggestions appreciated. I did use the AP and 00 flour
Hi Maria, you also experienced the car delivering the brioche? I wish we had that here! That said, with the regards to the texture of the brioche, I have a couple of suggestions: did you knead the dough enough the first time? And most importantly, once you shape the brioche and put them in the oven to proof the second time, you must not touch them at all or they will deflate. Even if the tuppo falls off to the side (which does happen) it is best not to try and place it back. Also, if you pass the suggested second rising time, they may also deflate after a while. I do hope this helps Maria, of course sometimes it also just takes practice and a couple of trials to get them right. Thanks for your question!
Hi! I tried the brioche and it came out firm and very dense. The flavor was amazing though! Does that mean I didn’t knead it enough? It didn’t really rise either.. I used active quick rise yeast. Would you be able to tell me some pointers on how to fix it do I can attempt again for New Years?
Hello Sarina, if the dough was dense it can be due to a number of issues. Perhaps, as you mentioned, you did not knead it enough. Did you use a stand mixer or your hands? If you kneaded it by hand it needs to be kneaded for longer than if you use a stand mixer, at least 10 minutes. I let my dough rise in an unlit oven with the light on to add some warmth. It also very important that it is an are free of drafts as I find it to be a delicate dough. Also very important, after you’ve shaped the brioche with the “tuppo” on top, you must not touch them as they are rising as they will deflate. Hope these tips help Sarina and please let me know if they turn out right next time. Thanks for your question and happy holidays to you!
Thank you! I truly appreciate the quick reply! I use a stand mixer. And I did let it rise in my oven! I’ll try kneading it more next time! Thank you!
You’re quite welcome!
Hello Nadia,
Happy Easter 🐣
I just made the brioche just waiting for 2nd rise I,love publish the picture as soon as they’re ready
🙏
Hi Rosa, happy belated Easter! I saw your brioche and I think they look gorgeous! I hope you enjoyed them and thanks for sharing your lovely photos with me.
I will have to give this recipe a go, I love brioche !! 🙂
So do I, especially when eaten by the sea in Sicily!
Thank you so much always appreciated your fabulous recipe God bless you
Thanks so much Rosa!
Your post brought me back to the time when I was eating these brioches filled with gelato for breakfast when I was in Sicily. Happy times!
Thanks for sharing your recipe! Did you purchase the yeast in Laval?
Yes indeed they were happy times! Such great memories associated with food! Yes I bought the yeast at a local bakery in Laval. Not expensive at all.