We're sorry to hear that you're having trouble, Celest! We highly recommend kneading brioche by hand as the given times in the recipe are for a stand mixer, if done by hand the kneading times will be far longer. While there is the danger that over-mixing may occur, as long as you're keeping an eye on your dough and stopping the mixer to check the development of the dough this shouldn't be an issue. If the dough were to become over-mixed, it would start to break down again and become sticky and stringy after you reached the smooth, satiny stage. As for additional sugar, a scant tablespoon would be OK but we wouldn't recommend adding too much more as sugar impedes yeast development and will affect how the dough rises. If you'd like a sweeter loaf, we'd recommend brushing the bread with a glaze after it comes out of the oven. We hope this helps for future baking adventures! 

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