This cardamom-scented Star Bread recipe is so much fun to make! Deliciously fragrant, tender sweet bread, is studded with almonds and dried cranberries, perfect for holiday brunch or afternoon tea.
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing. ~T. S. Eliot~
Here’s a cozy and delicious holiday recipe for Star Bread! What I love about this recipe is not only how beautiful and festive it looks, but how do-able this is. Fun even! How lovely would this be at your Winter Solstice gathering or on Christmas morning? The basic yeasted dough recipe is simple and what you add to it is totally up to you!
Here, I’ve added dried cranberries, almonds and cardamom, but feel free to add what you like! Crushed walnuts or hazelnuts with currants or tart cherries. Or pecans and raisins – use what you have. It’s surprisingly easy! Allow 2 hours for rising, 40 minutes for hands-on time, and 15 minutes for baking.
What you’ll need:
- Warm milk (or plant-based milk)
- All-Purpose Flour
- Egg
- Butter or vegan butter
- Yeast: rapid-rise yeast or instant yeast ( if using active dry yeast, see notes)
- Sugar & salt
- Spices: cardamom, cinnamon
Optional Fillings: dried cranberries, raisins, dried currants, sliced almonds, or other nuts.
How to make Star Bread
Step 1: Make the dough in a stand mixer, let it rise until doubled, then divide into four balls.
Step 2: Roll each ball into a 10-inch wide circle – so you’ll have 4 circles.
Step 3: Place the first layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Brush it with egg wash, and sprinkle it with spiced sugar, optional cranberries, and sliced almonds. Almond paste or a little jam would be a good filling here, too. Place the next circle over top and repeat the filling -until the final fourth layer.
Step 4: Once all four disks are seasoned and stacked, place a 2 ½- 3 inch round cookie cutter or bowl or cup in the center to use as a guide. Don’t press down!
Step 5: Cut 16 strips, leaving the center intact. Cut in quarters first, then eights, then sixteenths. Like a sunburst!
Step 6: Take two strips (next to each other), one in each hand, and twist them 2 times away from each other, then pinch together the edges to form one point of an 8-point star.
Continue twisting and pinching together the strips to form 8 points in this star. It need not be perfect.
Step 7: Cover and let this rise again while the oven preheats to 375F.
Step 8: Bake for 16-20 minutes or until beautifully golden brown and internal temp reaches 200F.
Step 9: Sprinkle with powdered sugar or brush with butter, or both!
Star Bread Serving suggestions
Serve with morning coffee, afternoon tea or as a sweet treat on the holiday table. It is really delicious toasted. 🙂
Storing your star bread
Star Bread will keep for up to four days covered on the kitchen counter, refrigerate for up to ten days (sealed) or freeze for up to 6 months.
More Favorite Holiday Baking recipes
On the homefront: It’s the Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year. It wasn’t until I moved to the Pacific Northwest that this began to have meaning. Here, and as I get older, it becomes more significant, not only in the physical world but in my inner world. For most of my life, I’ve resisted darkness, desperately seeking light, in all its forms. Physical and non-physical.
This year, in particular, has been a lesson in sitting with the darkness that inevitably comes to all of us in time. Like night and day, winter and summer, it is half of the whole, the half I’ve tended to avoid. But it keeps surfacing, perhaps waiting for me to have enough courage to face it. For many years, I’ve simply not allowed it. Distracting and busying myself.
But there is a different way, I’m told from the wise ones who have come before us – acceptance. Witnessing and allowing all parts of myself, my sorrow, fear, guilt, and shame, to emerge from the shadows.
My prayer to the universe today . . . give me the courage to sit with what is here and simply allow it.
No judgment.
Sending you love and courage to embrace all.
s.
Star Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 160 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 mins
- Yield: 8-10 1x
- Category: dessert, bread, morning bread
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: nordic
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
How to make Star Bread – a simple, easy step by step guide to making the most delicious cozy winter treat, perfect for the holidays! (Recipe Updated 12/16/2018). Adapted from King Arthur Flour.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup warm milk (100-110 degrees F)
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup soft unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast ( if using active dry yeast, see notes)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- To make the dough with the instant yeast: Place all of the dough ingredients together in a stand mixer and using paddle attachment, beat on low for 3 minutes. You can also mix by hand, in a bowl to make a soft, smooth dough.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm spot, for roughly 60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size. If using active dry yeast, rising time will take twice as long.
- Ready the filling. Beat the egg in a small bowl and set aside. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and cardamon and place them in a small bowl.
- Once the dough has doubled, divide the dough into four equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, cover the balls, and allow them to rest for 15 minutes.
- On a floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 10″ circle. Place the circle on a parchment -lined sheet pan, brush a thin coat of beaten egg on the surface, then evenly sprinkle with a third of the spiced-sugar, ¼ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup almonds, leaving 1/4 inch of bare dough around the edges.
- Roll out a second circle the same size as the first, and place it on top of the filling-covered circle. Repeat the layering process: egg, spiced sugar, cranberries, almonds, then roll out the 3rd dough circle, add the remaining filling. Roll out the final (4th ) dough circle, placing it on top, leaving the top totally bare.
- Place a 2 1/2″ to 3″ round cutter (or cup) in the center of the dough circle to use as a guide. With a sharp knife, cut the circle into 16 equal strips, from the edge of the cutter or cup- to the edge, through all the layers, like a sun beam- refer to the photos. 🙂
- Using two hands, pick up two adjacent strips and twist them away from each other twice so that the top side is facing up again. Repeat with the remaining strips of dough so that you end up with eight pairs of strips. ( see photos)
- Pinch the pairs of strips together to create a star-like shape with eight points. Remove the cup/cutter.
- Cover the star with a thin towel and let it rise until it puffs, about 45 minutes.
- While the star is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Brush the star with a thin coat of the beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake it for 16-20 minutes or until it’s beautifully golden. Test doneness with a thermometer – it should reach 200°F in the center.
- Allow it to cool 10-15 minutes before serving. Dust with powdered sugar or brush with melted butter.
Notes
If making dough with active dry yeast – scald the milk and let it cool down to 100-110F. Place the warm milk, sugar and yeast into a stand mixer ( or bowl) and mix until combined. Cover with a kitchen towel, let stand until yeast is active and frothy, about 5-10 minutes. Add remaining dough ingredients and beat on low speed until combined and it forms a soft dough. Continue with the recipe above.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 247
- Sugar: 15.3 g
- Sodium: 329.3 mg
- Fat: 7.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.2 g
- Fiber: 1.9 g
- Protein: 5.4 g
- Cholesterol: 39 mg
I have made this bread 3 times this holiday season and everyone absolutely loves it. My only thought it that it seems to get quite dried out after a day and I was wondering if mixing the cinnamon and sugar with butter and then spreading it over each layer might help, or do you think it might cause the layers not to stay twisted together?
Hi Lisa, I think that is worth a try? Sounds delicious!