Wake up to these adorable chocolate chip vanilla custard brioches “brioches suisses” (or Swiss Brioches). Soft, creamy, loaded with mini chocolate chips, they have everything you ever asked for!
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Abroad, brioches suisses are certainly less known than croissants, chocolate croissants (pains au chocolat) or even pains aux raisins, but to me they rank to the same level and are among my favorites. You will find them in every French bakery in France, often with a different name, depending on the region: brioches suisses, Suisses, patte d’ours, pavé suisse… To me, they are brioches suisses, and this is how I chose to call them here.
We call them Swiss brioches
These lovely baked goods are indeed a common variant of chocolate croissants (pains au chocolat). However, unlike these last ones, Swissh brioches (or brioches suisses in French) are prepared with a brioche dough instead of a leavened puff pastry. The result is visible in the texture as they are soft and pillowy like a classic brioche, whereas the chocolate croissants are more on the crispy buttery side.
Another important difference with the chocolate croissants is the difficulty level: brioches suisses are much easier to prepare. Even if I made you a step-by-step tutorial to prepare a puff pastry a couple of days ago, I know that it can be quite challenging, sometimes discouraging, and often time consuming to prepare chocolate croissants. And also, we find them easily in bakeries (less in the US, but we can still find some good ones; I don’t want to be the snobbish French here). So until further notice, I suggest we reserve chocolate croissants to professional bakeries and focus on baking our own brioches suisses instead.
A French baking project
I have been willing to try this project for quite a long time but for some reasons, I never really took the opportunity before. In 2018 however, I decided to challenge myself a little bit more with sharing a French baking recipe every single month. So far we have a galette des rois, a brioche à tête, 5 no-knead bread recipes, a lemon meringue pie, a strawberry tart with pastry cream and pains aux raisins, and now the chocolate chip vanilla custard brioches that we call “brioches suisses” (fyi, I haven’t figured out if they really were from Switzerland originally… any hint among you maybe?).
A soft brioche dough
Coming back to the brioches suisses recipe (or Swiss Brioche), it is as I said prepared with a delicate brioche dough. I have read countless of different recipes before diving into the project, most of them claiming to be from the French pastry Chef Christophe Felder although I find them all slightly different from each other, which brings a little bit of confusion. That being said, I believe this is the way a recipe evolves and I kind of like it. So I took what I thought was the very best of these recipes and prepared my own.
The brioche dough is the tricky part because of the long kneading time. For this reason, I strongly advise you use a kitchen aid. I did my own brioche dough by hand but it took me quite a while until the dough was tamable (it is quite sticky for a very long time before that). The result was still very good so I am not saying it doesn’t work but a kitchen aid clearly makes your life so much easier: just place all the ingredients following the recipe instructions, turn on the speed on low-medium, and let the kitchen aid do the work for you. In the end, your dough must be dense, strong, and slightly sticky.
Once the dough is ready, you have a few long rising times, which makes the recipe quite long to prepare. On the good side: it doesn’t make it difficult; you just need to respect the rising time to give the yeast some time to develop.
The vanilla custard (pastry cream)
Meanwhile, prepare the pastry cream. I recommend the use of a vanilla pod instead of vanilla extract, but if you can’t find a hand on it, the second one will do the job too. For this recipe, I used the one suggested by Christophe Felder and found it absolutely perfect. I have made many different pastry cream recipes in the past but this one is by far my favorite: extremely smooth and perfumed. You’ve got to love it.
How to shape Swiss brioches?
When the dough is ready to use, simple roll it out in a large rectangle, spread the pastry cream on one side lengthwise, then cover with mini chocolate chips before folding the empty side on top of the garnished one. At this point, the recipe is almost over, although you will need to cut the dough into rectangles first and let rise for one long last time.
At the very end, brush with beaten egg and bake for 10-12 minutes in a pre-heated oven. Brush with the syrup, let cool completely, and enjoy. And if you are still wondering how good they are, let me just tell you that they seem to come right out from a bakery. No one would guess you are the one who have actually baked them!
More Parisian-style breakfast recipes:
- Easy French Pains aux Raisins
- Easy Chocolate Brioche Buns
- French Chocolate Chip Viennoises
- French Brioche à Tête
- Almond Croissants (The Easy Way)
- Caprese Croissant Breakfast Sandwich
- Easy Classic No-Knead Bread
Pair with a warm drink:
PrintChocolate Chip Vanilla Custard Brioches (Pains Suisses)
- Prep Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 8 hours 12 mins
- Yield: 8 brioches 1x
- Category: Breads & brioches
- Cuisine: French recipes
Wake up to these adorable chocolate chip vanilla custard brioches “brioches suisses”. Soft, creamy, loaded with mini chocolate chips, they have everything you ever asked for!
Email me this recipe
We’ll send it straight to your inbox, along with weekly food inspiration!
Ingredients
For the brioche dough:
- 2 cups + 1 Tablespoon (250g) all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 0.35 ounces (10g) fresh yeast, crumbled
- 3 eggs (150g), beaten
- 2/3 cup (165g) unsalted butter, softened and diced
For the vanilla custard (pastry cream):
- 1 cup + 2 teaspoons (25 cl) whole milk
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2 yolks
- 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (20g) cornstarch
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
For the filling and brushing:
- 3/4 cup (120g) mini chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 ml) water
- 1 large egg + 1 yolk, beaten
Instructions
For the brioche:
- In the bowl of a kitchen aid with a paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt and crumbled yeast, making sure salt and sugar don’t interact with the yeast. Mix quickly.
- Add the eggs and knead for about 2-3 minutes at medium speed, until the dough become strong and thick.
- Incorporate the diced softened butter in several additions while the kitchen aid is running at medium speed. Knead until butter is completely incorporated and the dough becomes dense, smooth and slightly sticky, about 20 minutes.
- Place the dough in a clean medium size bowl, cover with cling film and let rise in a warm room for about 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Flatten the dough in a thick rectangle, wrap with cling film and place in the refrigerator for about 40 minutes (until 2 hours if you have time), and in the freezer for 20 minutes.
For the vanilla custard (crème pâtissière):
- Heat milk and butter on medium heat. Add the vanilla pod and grated seeds.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the yolks with sugar. Pour in the flour and cornstarch, and whisk until well combined.
- When the milk is bubbling, remove the vanilla pod and pour the milk over the egg mixture in a few additions until well combined.
- Pour the mixture back in the pan on low-medium heat, and keep whisking until it thickens.
- Transfer into a clean bowl, cover with cling film, making contact with the vanilla custard. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
For the filling and brushing:
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a clean surface covered with parchment paper in a large rectangle of 8×12 inches (40×30 cm). Cover half of the dough with the custard vanilla, lengthwise.
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips over, and gently use the rolling pin to make pressure so the chocolate chips make contact in the custard.
- Fold in the empty side of the dough over the garnished one, and flatten the top part with your hands to empty the possible air bubbles. Gently flatten with a rolling pin to make sure the surface is smooth.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the dough in 8 equal rectangles, about 1 to 1.5 inch (3 to 4 cm) wide. Place each of them on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space between each of them. Cover with cling film and let rise for 2 hours.
For the syrup and brushing:
- In a small saucepan, bring to boil sugar and water, until sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool.
- When the brioches are ready, brush them with the beaten egg and yolk, then bake in a pre-heated oven at 350°F (180°C) for 10-12 minutes, or until golden-golden brown, depending on your preference.
- Remove from the oven and brush with the syrup right away. Let cool completely before serving.
Did you make this recipe?
Lastly, if you make this Chocolate Chip Vanilla Custard Brioches (Pains Suisses), be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!
Jaymi
I followed the directions exactly and ended up with a perfect result. These look beautiful and taste quite yummy as well. I fully admit that my palate is at its most American when it comes to baked goods and desserts. Thus, I could stand for this to be a bit sweeter and creamier on a personal level. But I still say that this recipe deserves five stars because I do believe that it delivers exactly what it promises it will deliver. If you are a fan of pastries that don’t go crazy with the sweetness and richness, then these are perfect. (And if you are a fan of the big sweeties, then I still say you have a delightful baking project on your hands here.)
Del’s Cooking Twist
Thank you so much Jaymi for your review. I am so glad you liked this recipe, and yes indeed it is very typically European ;).
Irina
A little bit of confusion…I measured out 2 cups all purpose flour and a tablespoon like it says. It should be around 250g. Well, I weighed it out the second time, and it’s measuring 2 cups and 1 tablespoons at 330g…help….
Del’s Cooking Twist
Did you use measuring cups? If so, you most probably filled your cups too much, did you pack the flour in the cups? (you’re not suppose to do that). Cups measurement are more prone to human error, it is not as precise as weighing. If you have a kitchen scale always prefer weight measurement to volume measurement for solids, that is why I always specify the weight you should get between () in my recipes. 250g is what is needed for this recipe which is equivalent to 2cups and 1Tbsp properly measured.
Becki
Hello! If I put in fridge for the full 2 hours on the 2nd rise, do I still need to put in the freezer for 20 min?
Delphine Fortin
If you put it in the fridge for 2 hours you should be fine!
Irene Christodoulou
Hi,
would there be much difference if I used baking spread instead of unsalted buttter?
Thanks!
Delphine Fortin
Hi Irene! For best results, I recommend you stick to butter than using a spread instead. I hope it helps! Del
celia
Hi,
These look delicious! I don’t have a kitchen aid. How long will I have to knead by hand? Any other tips for making this dough sans machine?
Thanks
Delphine Fortin
Hi Celia! I actually tried the recipe without a KitchenAid before, so I know it is possible to make it but it takes a little longer and build some arm muscles. Be reassured though, it works perfectly well as long as you have some time ahead of you. The dough is usually ready when it’s smooth and elastic but without sticking to the countertop. I hope this helps! Del
Lydia
These are beyond delicious! I’ve made them twice now. I’m not a very skilled baker but your recipe was perfect and they’ve turned out amazingly each time! I’m so glad I found this, thank you!!!
Delphine Fortin
Oh I’m so happy you liked them. Thank you so much, Lydia!
Jennifer
Hi! These look amazing! Should they be stored in the refrigerator because of the cream filling? Thanks! Can’t wait to make them!
Delphine Fortin
Hi Jennifer! You can store them in the refrigerator if you want to but they will also keep at room temperature for a couple of days. Since the cream filling is baked it won’t turn bad. I hope this helps! Del
Sanne
Hi,
You said ´Flatten the dough in a thick rectangle´, how big of a rectangle should this be?
I would love to try this recipe!
Delphine Fortin
Hello! I usually make a rectangle of roughly 40×20 cm but it doesn’t need to be exact. I hope this helps! Del
ps: a little video tutorial will be released in a couple of weeks, keep an eye open!
Vanessa
Hi!
I’ve made these a few times and started wondering about the second rise in the fridge. Is it compatible to do a second rise on the counter for a shorter amount of time or is the fridge better for a specific reason? Great recipe! My family loves these!
Elaine Leighton
Delicious. I am going to freeze these for our breakfasts for several Sundays but we had to try one first.
I did cheat slightly and made the brioche dough in my bread machine. Most of them even looked like the picture, a couple tilted over a little.
Easier than the Danish pastry dough I have been making during lockdown here in England.
Thank you so much for this recipe.
Delphine Fortin
Hi Elaine. I’m so happy you liked them. Thanks for your feedback 🙂 Del
Elaine Leighton
An update – they freeze beautifully. Took them out last night, thawed overnight in a plastic container, warmed in a medium oven (150 C) for 3 minutes. Perfect.
Elaine
Delphine Fortin
Hi Elaine! Thanks a lot for the update, I’m sure it helps many readers out there. Happy it turned out great. Thanks again! Del
Sandra
Hi Elaine, did you thaw them in the fridge, or just on the kitchen bench?
Joel
hi there, if i don’t have fresh yeast, can I use instant yeast? and would it be a 1:1 substitute? thank you
Del’s Cooking Twist
Hello Joel! Yes you can use instant yeast instead, but the ration is not 1:1. You need only 1/3 of instant yeast in weight compared to fresh yeast (for example 12g of fresh yeast are equivalent to 4g of instant yeast)