Tuesday Dinners

Christmas Star Bread

Looks harder than it is.

⏲️ Prep Time
100-140 Minutes (90-130 idle)

⏲️ Cook Time
25 Minutes

🍴 Serves
8

Ingredients

Bread

  • 2.25 tsp (1 packet) yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup (half stick) butter, softened/melted
  • 1 egg
  • 2.25-2.5 cup flour
  • 1 tsp salt

Filling

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Nutmeg
  • Ground ginger

Egg Wash

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp milk/water

Directions

  1. Activate yeast by warming milk, adding sugar and yeast
  2. Add in butter, egg, flour and salt, mix until a dough ball has formed
  3. Let rest 60-90 minutes
  4. Make filling by melting butter and then mixing in remaining ingredients
  5. Divide dough into 4 balls, flattening each into a circle
  6. Add filling in uniform layer over the bottom layers of dough, stacking each on top of each other (the top layer has no filling)
  7. Leaving a 3-4 inch circle in the middle of your dough cut 16 uniform strips around the outside
  8. Taking two adjoining strips rotate the left most one 3 times counterclockwise and rotate the right most one 3 times clockwise, join the edges together
  9. Rest an additional 20-30 minutes
  10. Egg wash your bread and bake for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven

Step by Step Directions

Start by activating your yeast, this is just warming up your milk (a minute in the microwave) and then stirring in your sugar and yeast. Let it rest for 10 minutes and you should be able to see bubbles in the mixture.

Now you’re going to add the rest of your ingredients. It’s important that the milk/butter (if you melted it) has cooled down so you don’t cook the egg at all. You’re looking for a pretty moist dough, so I would start with 2 and a quarter cups before adding any additional flour.

Mix all of your ingredients together into a dough ball, we’re not trying to knead anything together at this point, you just want a uniform texture throughout.

Let your dough rise until it’s doubled (about 60-90 minutes).

While that is happening you can make your filling. I just threw the butter into the microwave and then mixed the remaining ingredients together. It achieved a very spreadable consistency which will come into play later.

After your dough has doubled in size you’ll want to split it into four dough balls of roughly the same size. Then you’ll want to flatten the dough out into a rough circle shape (the dough is pliable enough that you can move/spread it around).

Now take your filling and spread it over the top of your flattened layer of dough. You’ll want to get an even spread if you can, but if you’re going to concentrate the filling anywhere I’d recommend the middle.

Repeat this process 3 times, your top layer will be bare.

Take a small round object and place it in the middle of your dough, this will give us something to build the points off of (I just used a glass), then using some kind of blade (I used a pizza cutter) try to make 16 even slices from the center (this will make 8 points).

Then pair up two adjoining strips, you’ll want to turn each strand 3 times, but in opposite directions, this will give us the swirls we’re looking for. Then pinch the ends of the strips together to form one point.

Let your bread rest/rise for another 20-30 minutes, covered.

Mix together your remaining egg and some milk/water until combined. Gently brush it over the top of your dough before throwing it in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

If you want to decorate the baked bread at all you can. Ideally your bread should be able to be pulled apart, so some people will put a dip in the center for dunking purposes, others will put some “snow” (powdered sugar) on top. It’s up to you.

Enjoy.

Variations

  • Make more or less points on your star. You could work with 6 points, 8 but have 4 large and 4 small, really it’s up to you.
  • You could use different fillings: chocolate, hazelnut spread, pesto, tomato sauce and cheese.
  • You could spice the dough itself with whatever you’re using as the filling, or you could add a complimentary flavor in the dough for the filling.

Unsolicited Feedback

  • LK: It looks more like a snowflake than a star.
  • ML: You must have spent hours on this.
  • IM: It’s cinnamon roll bread, big whup.