I see glucose being used in cake to make them soft and moist. Now I'm wondering if glucose could have the same effect in bread.
Can glucose be used in a brioche type bread? Perhaps as part of complete substitution for the recipe's sugar. If so, is there a difference in using powder vs syrup?
The answer is yes, sugars (including glucose) will affect the crumb of your bread. It will diminish the gluten formation and make the bread softer, it will cause the yeast to be more active since the yeast eats sugar (so the bread may rise more and/or faster), it will help the crust brown (the Maillard reaction is the browning of sugar and proteins), and it will sweeten the bread.
Dry sugar vs syrup makes no difference in terms of the effect of the sugar, but keep in mind that with syrup you're also adding liquid. This small addition of liquid probably makes little or no difference as it won't substantially change the hydration. Also, syrup (depending on when and how added) will probably absorb more easily than granulated sugar, depending on the size of the sugar granules (e.g. table sugar vs caster sugar vs. confectioner's sugar).
