This beautiful cinnamon star bread is much easier to make than it looks. Layers of dough, filled with a classic cinnamon roll filling, are folded into a star or snowflake shape and baked until golden and totally delicious.
Since creating my popular Nutella star bread, I’ve been wanting to create another and here she is. This is such a fun and festive take on the classic cinnamon roll. You can serve it with a light drizzle of maple syrup or make up a cinnamon cream cheese dip to dip the pieces into. Fresh out of the oven, it’s warm and delicious just as it is.
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Ingredients & substitutions
Most of the ingredients in this cinnamon roll star bread are self explanatory but I’ll elaborate on just a couple below.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
So you’ve got your classic flour, butter, sugar, milk and eggs in this recipe. You’ll also need some ground cinnamon and yeast. I use dried instant yeast in this recipe but you can swap it for active dry yeast too and make the recipe the same way.
As for the cinnamon sugar filling, you could try something different like the Nutella in my Nutella star bread or some jam instead (you’ll want around ¾ cup of either of these).
I use just a little icing sugar (powdered sugar) to dust the star bread with at the end and then just a tiny drizzle of maple syrup. You could also make a very loose consistency cream cheese frosting and use it as a dip or make a very simple powdered sugar and water glaze to drizzle over.
How to make cinnamon star bread
For something that looks so elaborate and showstopping, this christmas star bread recipe is surprisingly easy. The dough is simple to make and so is shaping it into that lovely star or snowflake shape.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Activate the yeast
I use instant yeast and, while you don’t need to activate instant yeast, I always activate it first just so that I know it’s working before I go and add all the remaining ingredients. The bonus here is that if you’re using active dry yeast (which does require activation), you can just stick to the recipe as written with no other changes.
Simply heat butter and milk together, add cold milk, sugar and yeast to the mixture then let it sit in your mixing bowl for 5-10 minutes until you see it puffing up.
2. Make the dough
To turn it into our star bread dough, we next add the remaining dough ingredients – flour, remaining sugar, salt and egg. Give it a mix together just manually using the dough hook to a shaggy dough.
Knead the dough for 6-7 minutes in the stand mixer to an elastic and smooth dough (or you can do it by hand but it will take a little longer). Once it’s done, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm (not hot) place until it doubles in size.
3. Roll the dough
Once it’s all puffed up and risen, cut the dough into 4 pieces then use a rolling pin to roll each one out to a 30cm/12 inch circle. Fold the first one over the rolling pin to help you transfer it to a baking tray.
4. Layer the star bread
Transfer the first circle of dough to a 12 inch round pizza tray. If you don’t have a pizza tray, just use something about 30cm round and bake it on a large baking sheet instead. Top it with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Repeat those layers two more times, then top with the last piece of rolled out dough.
Now, you should have 4 layers of dough, with 3 layers of butter, cinnamon and sugar inside. Slide it off the baking tray and place the tray upside down on top of it. Then trim away any excess dough with a sharp knife so you have a perfect circle.
5. Shape the star bread
It’s time to create the gorgeous star shape. Start by placing a ramekin right in the center of the dough, then cut into 4 quarters from that ramekin to the outside. Next, cut each of those quarters in half, so you have 8 pieces. Finally, cut those 8 pieces in half so you have a total of 16 equal strips radiating out from the centre which is intact.
Take the two strips directly in front of you, one in either hand, then twist them twice away from each other. Make a third half-twist just to bring the two flat edges together and press the edges together to seal them tightly. Repeat with all the pairs of strips all the way round.
Cover your star bread with plastic wrap and let it rest/rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot again.
Finally, simply brush over some egg wash with a pastry brush and bake for 22 minutes until golden brown.
Tips & Tricks
- It’s so important to weigh flour in baking recipes to get the right result. While cup measures can work if you make sure to spoon and level properly, it’s easy to add too much flour if you don’t weigh it which can in turn make your bakes dry. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap, last forever and it saves on washing up a bunch of cup measures.
- Make sure to knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic for the best texture.
- Don’t skip the rising time. Bread needs time to rise to give it a fluffy texture.
- You can turn this into a sun shape using the method in my tarte soleil recipe.
Storage
This cinnamon star bread is best served freshly baked.
You can make the dough the day before and rather than letting it rise the first time, cover and chill it in the fridge overnight. Let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before beginning the rolling and shaping process.
You could make the star bread entirely before chilling too. In this case, you want to make sure you allow the first rise at room temperature. Shape it, then cover and chill it immediately in the coldest part of your fridge. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
Leftover star bread should be stored in an airtight container in a cool spot like the pantry for 2-3 days. Make sure to give it a little hit in the microwave to fluff it up again before eating.
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Ingredients
- 57 g unsalted butter (¼ cup / 2oz)
- 1 cup cold milk (250ml)
- 455 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (3 ½ cups / 1lb)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant or active dry yeast (1 sachet / 7g) (notes)
- ⅓ cup white granulated sugar (66g / 2.3oz)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs one for the dough, one for egg wash
- icing sugar (powdered sugar) for dusting
FILLING
- 85 g unsalted butter (3oz)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- stand mixer helpful but not essential
- Pizza tray
- Ramekin
Instructions
- MAKE THE DOUGH:In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the half melt the butter, then add half the milk and continue heating and stirring until it’s all melted together. Take it off the heat and add the remaining cold milk. Test with your finger – it should be warm but not hot to the touch.
- Pour the milk and butter mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer (or see notes), and add one tablespoon of the sugar and all of the yeast. Whisk it together and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to make sure it starts to puff up.
- To the yeast mixture, add the flour, remaining sugar, salt and egg and use the dough hook with your hand just to mix it all to a shaggy dough.
- Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and mix the dough on low speed for 6-7 minutes until smooth and elastic looking. See notes for kneading by hand.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- ASSEMBLING THE STAR BREAD:Lay a sheet of baking paper on a 12 inch pizza tray so that it overhangs a little.
- Cut the dough into 4 even pieces. Roll one out to about 30cm / 12in. Place the rolling pin in the centre of the rolled out dough and fold the far side over the top. Transfer it to the prepared tray.
- Spread over ⅓ of the softened butter, then sprinkle over ⅓ of both the cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Roll out the second piece, place it on top of the first and add another coating of butter, cinnamon and brown sugar (half of what is left of each.
- Repeat again with a third layer of dough and the remaining filling ingredients.
- Roll out the last piece of dough and place it on top.
- Use the corner of the paper to drag it off the baking tray and give it a light roll if needed to make it slightly wider than than the tray. Sit the tray on top and trim off the overhanging dough to make it a neat circle.
- Place a small ramekin (3-4 inches wide) in the centre of the dough.
- Make 4 evenly spaced cuts from the ramekin to the edge of the dough (so it looks like 4 quarter slices connected in the middle. Cut each of the four slices in half, then repeat 1 more time, so you have 16 strands/strips in total.
- Take the ends of two of the strips, one in each hand, and twist them away from each other twice. Twist a third time only until the flat sides meet, then press the ends into a point. Make sure to press the ends together well so they don't break apart when they bake.
- Repeat with the remaining strips of dough, then remove the ramekin. Use the corner of the paper again, to drag it back onto the tray. Cover lightly with a sheet of plastic wrap and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F.
- Beat the second egg and brush the exposed dough all over. Bake for 22 minutes, turning after 11, or until golden all over.
- Let it cool a few minutes before dusting with icing sugar. Best served warm.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- All ovens vary – always test for doneness 3-5 minutes before the recipe suggests
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- Yeast: You can use instant or active dry yeast. If you use rapid rise, your dough may double in size quicker.
- By hand: You can make the dough without a stand mixer, just make sure to knead until it is smooth and elastic – about 10-12 minutes.
- Star bread is best eaten fresh but will keep in an airtight container 2-3 days. Warm the individual pieces for 10-15 seconds in the microwave to fluff the bread up again.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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8 Comments on “Cinnamon Star Bread”
Hello! Would it be possible to add chopped pecans to the cinnamon, butter, brown sugar layers? Thank you!
Absolutely. Sounds yum!
Thank you. I’m using my great grandma’s yeast dough recipe (and her pottery bowl). I’m serving my brother and a cousin. I’m hoping it will bring back some warm, childhood memories. I’ll come back with the results to share!
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out.
Amazing recipe! It was a huge hit with the family today, I will definately make this again. I agree that some maple syrup really adds to the flavour.
I’m so happy you love it, Lynn. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.
I think a video of the steps would be great. The instructions are good but it sounds complicated so a video would help. The end product looks amazing.
Hi Sheila. I’m working on getting a video done but in the meantime have a look at the process shots in the post.