Think of this like eating a cinnamon roll…but star shaped! Such a super fun bread to make and eat and I promise it’s much easier than it looks and comes together quickly. It’s fluffy, tender, buttery and layered with cinnamon sugar. A bit of orange zest in the dough makes it extra festive and flavourful. Let’s break bake bread together!
This bread is made with a dough that’s very similar to this pretzel roll recipe. While looking for easy methods to shape the bread, I found Sally’s Baking Addiction super helpful and realised her dough was just the kind I was hoping to work with. I’ve switched things up to make it eggless by simply using a little more milk. The addition of orange zest was a seasonal inspiration and I’ve been doing that a lot these days! I also discovered a couple of ways to make the shaping more efficient if you limited counter space and a warm kitchen.
This star bread just looks complicated, it’s really not. I have lots of tips in the recipe below as well as some photos of the shaping process. Essentially, it’s four layers of dough filled with butter and cinnamon sugar, then sliced and twisted to create the eight ‘points’ of the star. Once you have your dough rolled out, the shaping is a 5 minute thing, I promise!
Star bread is often dusted with powdered sugar but I chose to brush a little melted butter over the top after baking, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar all over it. It adds a little something extra and increases its resemblance to a cinnamon roll! You break each piece off like a pull-apart bread to reveal the soft and fluffy bits of twisted, layered bread. It’s THE BEST!
This is a yum, festive bread to bake for holiday parties because it just looks so great when it comes out of the oven. Don’t worry if a couple of the pieces seem bigger or smaller, as the dough rises and bakes it all evens out. I’ve written the recipe as detailed and clearly as possible and I hope you’ll try this bread. Have fun with it!
Cinnamon Sugar Star Bread (Eggless)
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 cup warm milk (250 ml; you should be able to dip a finger in comfortably)
- 2 tsps active dry yeast
- 3 tbsps caster sugar
- 55 gms unsalted butter, at room temp (1/4 cup)
- Zest of 1 orange, optional but recommended
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (280 gms), plus extra as needed
For the filling
- 3 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temp
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsps caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Combine the warm milk, yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Stir, then cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture is frothy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the remaining sugar, butter, orange zest and salt. Mix briefly, then pour in the yeast mixture and stir.
- Add the flour and let the mixer run on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes until the dough starts to come together and leave the sides of the bowl. It will remain soft and sticky and will not form a ball, but if it's too sticky to handle, add 2 to 3 extra tablespoons of flour.
- Once the dough is a little more cohesive, scrape it out onto a lightly floured surface and give it a few quick kneads. Shape into a ball and place in the a lightly oiled bowl (I just use the mixing bowl itself). Cover with clingfilm and set aside for 1 to 2 hours until doubled. This rise is important because unlike other bread recipes, this dough does not get a long second rise since the star will lose its shape. So the first rise is where the dough needs to become nice and puffy.
- For the filling, keep the butter ready and stir the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside 2 tsps of the cinnamon sugar for after the bread is baked.
- Once the dough has doubled, punch it down to release air bubbles, then take it out of the bowl and shape it into a disc. Cut into four equal parts and place one part on a silicone baking mat (or a large piece of non stick baking paper).
- Roll this piece of dough out into a thin circle, 8 to 9 inches in diameter (we will stretch it further towards the end). Spread 1 tablespoon butter over it and sprinkle a third of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly all over the butter.
- Now roll out the second piece of dough (either on a silicone mat or a lightly floured kitchen counter) to an 8 to 9 inch circle. Gently lift it and place it over the first circle of dough. It will lose its shape a little bit (see photos below), so stretch it out as needed to bring it back to a circle.
- Spread one more tablespoon of butter and more cinnamon sugar over the top of this second circle of dough. Repeat the process with the third piece of dough and the remaining filling, and cover with the fourth and final piece, which does not have any topping.
- Once all four pieces of dough are layered together, press down lightly on them and stretch and pull them to even out the edges and shape the whole thing into a perfect circle using your fingertips, about 10 inches in diameter.
- Now place a 3 inch bowl or glass onto the center of the dough, making a circular indent.
- Using a sharp knife, start at the outer edge of this indent and cut 16 equal strips up to the edge of the dough. The easiest way to do this is to first make 4 equally spaced cuts of the dough on the top, bottom, right and left, then cut each of those parts into 4 more parts.
- Now you'll work with two of these strips at a time to make the 'points' of the star. See photos below. Lift one of the strips up slightly, and twist it a few times to reveal the cinnamon sugar layered dough. Lift the strip immediately next to and twist it the same way, but in the opposite direction. Now pinch the tops of both strips tightly together. First point done! Repeat with the remaining strips of dough.
- Since the assembly of the bread was done on a silicone mat, it's easy to slide it onto a baking tray. Cover the dough with clingfilm and let it rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200 C.
- Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and puffy. A toothpick poked into the bread should come out clean, with no sticky dough.
- Brush the hot bread with the melted butter and the reserved 2 teaspoons of cinnamon sugar from step 5. Let it cool for 15 minutes, then dig in while still warm! Best eaten fresh, but can be stored at room temperature for 2 days in an airtight tin or in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, reheating pieces as needed. Happy star breading!
Notes
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