Cinnamon Star Bread (With Step By Step Photos)

This is by far the coolest, most prettiest bread I’ve ever made and I’m super proud of it! I can totally gloat about it because it’s not my creation but I aced it on my first try which is just awesome 😄

I do credit that to the fact that I make alot of breads, cinnamon rolls and cinnamon roll shapes but it’s still great to get something that looks so beautiful on the first try!

You can use any of your favorite bread recipes to make this cinnamon star bread and add some extra fillings to your liking such as ground nuts, spices, cocoa powder or even some brown sugar instead of all white. I love the flavour of brown sugar with cinnamon and I only used all white this time because I wanted to experiment 🙂

Start by making your dough which can be done in advance to save on time. Follow these steps and I’m sure you’ll get it right on your first attempt too.

Divide the dough into 4 balls and rest for 15 minutes. Don’t skip this step or else the dough will be harder to roll out.

Roll each ball into a circle about 10 inches in diameter. It’s okay if it turns out a little smaller, mine was just over 9 inches.

This should be done on a piece of wax paper so that you can finish the whole bread on the paper then simply transfer it onto a baking tray but I’m all out of paper so I just rolled out each ball then moved them separately one by one and built up the bread on a floured baking tray.

Brush the dough with some beaten egg and sprinkle a third of the cinnamon sugar on top, leaving a small border at the edges. I found it easy to divide the filling into 3 about 2 heaping tablespoons in each pile.

Repeat these steps with the remaining balls of dough, rolling, place on top of the previous circle, brush with egg and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. The last circle will be left empty on top.

Try and make the circle even, slightly moving each dough in place. If there’s any bits of extra dough then just cut them off using a serrated knife.

So once that’s done, place a circle cutter about 2 1/2 – 3 inches big in the middle of the dough. I used the lid of my peanut butter jar 😄😄 this is just to help guide you.

Now we’re going to cut the dough into 16 little strips by first dividing the circle into 4 then into 8 then into 16.

Visuals to help 😊

Now we’re going to start twisting each strip twice to make a beautiful star shape. You need to twist each strip twice, each 2 away from each other, so that the piece of plain dough that was on the top of the circle is back on the top.

Again some visuals to help 😄

Lift up each strip and twist.

And again.

Pick up the next one close to it and twist it in the opposite direction of the first strip. I twisted the first one to the right so this one is twisted twice to the left.

Pinch each two strips together slightly. You can use a little bit of egg to help stick them together.

Repeat this with all of the strips twisting each two away from each other, twice, and pinching the ends together.

Cover the star bread and rise for 45 – 60 minutes until puffy.

Then brush the top with some beaten egg and bake away.

Brush with butter, sprinkle some icing sugar and devour 😋😋

So delicious and festive actually, perfect to wow your guests with 😄

Cinnamon Star Bread

Makes 1 large 10 inch star bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup (120mls) warm water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup (60mls) evaporated milk or regular milk
1/4 cup (50gms) melted butter
1 3/4 – 2 cups (220 – 250gms) flour
1/4 cup (30gms) dry milk powder (for extra milky flavour) or just use flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the filling

1 beaten egg
1/3 cup sugar (I use 3 tablespoons of this amount soft brown sugar)
4 teaspoons cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Extra butter for brushing top when baked

Method

In a large bowl, add the warm water, yeast and sugar and allow to rest for about 5 minutes until thickened. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, milk powder and salt.
To the water/yeast mix, add the evaporated milk and butter and whisk smooth. Gradually add in the flour mix in 1/2 cup increments until a soft dough forms. Knead dough for about 5 minutes in a mixer or 10 minutes by hand until dough is smooth and elastic. It should be very slightly sticky and soft so try not to add too much extra flour. Cover dough in an oiled bowl and rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
Once risen, punch down and divide into 4 balls. Cover the balls and rest for 15 minutes. This will make rolling them out easier. Take each ball and roll out into a 9 – 10 round circle. Do this on top of baking paper so it’s easy to assemble the star. Lightly beat the egg and whisk together the filling ingredients.
Brush the top of one circle with egg then sprinkle a third of the filling. Place the next circle on top and repeat, brush with egg and sprinkle a third of the filling. Repeat with the last two circles leaving the last on bare on top. Try and adjust the doughs to make a round circle by moving them around on each other and trimming any extra pieces of dough sticking out (see pictures above).
Place a round cutter, about 2 1/2 – 3 inches big in the middle of the dough. This is going to help guide you. Using a serrated knife, divide the circle into 16 strips, first cut 4 then 8 then 16 (again see pictures above).
Lift up one strip of dough and twist it two times so that the end piece that was on top is back at the top. Pick up the next strip and twist two times but this time twist it in the opposite direction, so if you twisted the first strip to the right twist this second one to the left. Pinch the ends of each of the two strips together. Repeat this step with the rest of the strips so you end up with an 8 tipped star shape. (Please refer to the pictures above for these steps).
Cover the star for about an hour to puff up and then brush the tops with egg and bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 18 – 20 minutes until cooked through and golden.
Sprinkle the top with icing sugar and serve warm.

*Milk powder is optional and can be replaced with extra flour.

Base dough recipe is adapted from I Heart Naptime

Star shape and technique adapted from King Arthur Flour via A Pastry Affair.