My first brioche

Thanks to the info found here, and great advice from all you savvy bakers, my daily loaf (ciabatta) is predictably good. Nice tender crumb, crunchy crust, great oven spring.

However, it's getting a little boring. I found a recipe for Peter Reinhart's Rich Man's Brioche online and decided to try that.

Turned out to be much more of a bother and a mess than I'd anticipated, and the result, while tender and tasty, is too rich for my taste. I ate two brioche "muffins" last night, after the little brioches in the muffin tin were done, and then felt somewhat ill. Also, the little brioches and the big brioche loaf were so tender that they fell to pieces when handled -- as when trying to remove them from the pans.

I need to get the book from the library and try again with the Middle Class brioche. I think I need real brioche pans (the muffin cups were too small) or another loaf pan. I read here, after my experiment, that I need to develop the gluten BEFORE I add the butter (I think I didn't have enough gluten development). Someone also suggested "plasticizing" cold butter rather than waiting until it's half-melted.  If I had another Kitchenaid bowl, I could do that with the paddle.

Hmmm. Equipment requirements and I'm broke. Perhaps I should experiment in a different direction.