I have been so excited to share this beautiful Christmas Star Bread with you! Isn’t it pretty? And it tastes as good as it looks! I know it appears complicated, but it is surprisingly simple to make and I am going to show you exactly how to do it!
This recipe makes two Christmas Star breads–one for you and one for a friend! They look great in little window bakery boxes ( I got mine here on Amazon, but I have seen them at Micheals and Hobby Lobby too). I like to include a little container of icing. You could ice it beforehand but then it is hard to see the star, so I like to include it separately.
Let me show you how easy it is…
First you make the dough and let it raise until double in size. Then divide it in half. Start with the first half and divide that into 4 equal pieces.
Next roll each piece into a round disc like this:
Starting with the first one–brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle on cinnamon sugar, then stack the next circle of dough on top and repeat. On the 4th circle of dough, leave the top plain (no butter or cinnamon sugar).
Use a measuring cup to protect the middle and cut the dough 12 times evenly around the upside down cup. I think it is easiest to start with four equally spaced out cuts, and then cut each of the four sections into thirds.
It will look like this when you are done.
Start with two pieces and twist them one time towards each other, and continue until they have all been done.
Take each pair and twist them again and then press the ends together as best you can. Sometimes they come apart while baking, but it still looks nice!
Let it raise for about 30 minutes or so in a warm place and pop into the oven! Out comes a beautiful Christmas Star Cinnamon Bread!
This makes a wonderful gift for friends and neighbors and is also perfect for Christmas morning brunch! You can make it the night beforehand and let it raise slowly in the fridge overnight. In the morning take it out and let it come to room temperature before baking. Your family and friends will love it!
Merry Christmas
Christmas Star Bread
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour
- …
- 4 tablespoons of butter, melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Icing:
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1– 2 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in the warm water. In another bowl, mix together milk egg, butter, sugar, and salt. Add yeast and water mix, then add flour.
- Kneed in the mixer (or by hand) for 6-8 minutes until smooth dough forms. Place in a greased bowl, covered with damp warm towel and let rise in a warm spot until doubled. About 1 hour.
- Punch dough down and turn out onto floured surface.
- Divided the dough into 2 portions. Take one of the halves and cut it into 4 sections.
- The 4 sections need to be rolled out into circles about 7-8 inches in diameter. I planned to put mine in the 9″ Square Cookie Box, so I made sure it would fit in there.
- Start by placing the first round on a Parchment lined Baking Sheet.
- Each layer gets brushed with melted butter, then sprinkled with Cinnamon and Sugar.
- Use a measuring cup to make an impression of a circle in the center, to guide your cuts.
- Make 12 slits in the dough all the way around.
- Twist each section once, turning two pieces together, so they point in to each other.
- Repeat again twisting each pair again and pinch the points together.
- Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and let rise until double, about 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 last 15 minutes of raising time.
- Bake until golden brown, 15-17 minutes.
- Remove from oven; cool on wire rack and then frost if desired.
Icing:
- Mix the confectioners’ sugar, butter, and vanilla together.
- Adding half the milk to start with, stir in to make a thick glaze, adding just a drop at a time more until you get a nice thick glaze.
I am so happy that you made it for Christmas breakfast! And I think yours looked so pretty!! xoxoxo
Yeah!! That makes me so happy!! Merry Christmas
Wanted to report that I have 4 of these rising right now. Thanks for taking the time to share! I’m excited to bake them up and deliver. Last night as I was laying in bed trying to figure out what I might bring to a few people for Christmas goodies, I thought of your picture of this star bread on Instagram and knew I wanted to try it. Merry Christmas!
Beautiful mel!! I’m so excited to try this for Christmas morning this year. The tutorial with pictures is perfect. Thank you for the great idea!!