Best Christmas Bread Recipes | Holiday Bread Recipes with Easy Star Bread
The list of best bread recipes for Christmas, from sweet panettone, stollen bread, cinnamon rolls, or pumpkin bread to savory Christmas tree bread, cranberry pull apart, and dinner rolls that are perfect for your Christmas dinner.
Servings: 8
Calories: 377kcal
Equipment
- Baking pan
Ingredients
For the holiday festive star bread dough
- 2 ¼ teaspoon Active dry yeast 7g
- 1 cup Warm milk
- 4 tablespoon Butter melted
- 4 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 ½ cups Flour more or less as needed
For the filling use any one option of your choice
1. For cinnamon sugar
- ¼ cup Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon powder
- 1 tablespoon Butter, softened
2. Using any one of the spreads mentioned below
- 1 cup Nutella, apple butter, pumpkin butter, lotus biscoff or peanut butter
- Any fruit based jams of your choice.
3. Holiday themed
- 2 teaspoon Orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon powder
- 1 tablespoon Butter, softened
- 3 tablespoon Cranberries
Other ingredients
- 1 Egg for egg wash
Instructions
Making of the dough for star bread
- Add warm milk and sprinkle the yeast in a large mixing bowl. Leave this undisturbed for 10 minutes. Let the yeast activate.2 ¼ teaspoon Active dry yeast , 1 cup Warm milk
- Add melted butter, sugar, egg, and mix. Add flour in increments along with salt and knead for 10 to 12 minutes to form a smooth and elastic dough.4 tablespoon Butter, 4 tablespoon Sugar, 1 Egg, 1 teaspoon Salt, 3 ½ cups Flour more or less as needed
- Transfer this to a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Braid star bread with filling of your choice
- Punch down the dough to a floured surface and divide it into four equal portions.
- Prepare the filling you are going to use. If it is spread, warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds.¼ cup Sugar, ½ teaspoon Cinnamon powder, 1 tablespoon Butter, softened
- Roll out one portion of dough into a 10 -12 inch circle. Transfer this to parchment paper lined on a baking pan or to a silicon mat.
- Spread a thin layer of filling, leaving a ½-inch border using a spoon.
- Roll the second portion of the dough into a circle. Place it on the previous layer and spread the filling. You can check the step-by-step picture on the making of star bread here.
- Repeat the procedure for the third and fourth portions of the dough.
- Trim the ends of the dough to create a clean circle. You can bake the leftover pieces separately.
- Place a small bowl or cookie cutter at the center of the dough as a reference.
- Leaving the center intact, use a sharp knife or pizza cutter and divide the layered dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into half and repeat until you have 16 equal parts.
- Take two neighboring strips, one in each hand, twist them twice in opposite directions of each other(away from each other), and then pinch the ends together. Repeat this for all 16 parts. You will have eight beautiful flower petals or pointed stars.
- Remove the bowl, cover this braided bread with a kitchen towel, and let it rest for about 20- 25 minutes.
Bake Holiday Star Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- If the points of the star have separated while rising, pinch them again together.
- In a bowl, beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the risen star bread with egg wash all over.1 Egg for egg wash
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes.
- Top it with confectioner's sugar for snow effect.
Notes
- Savory bread dough can be made a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.
- Sweet breads can be baked, packed, and stored in advance.
- For step-by-step pictures, tips, and detailed instructions you can check my nutella star braided bread recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 377kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 411mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 463IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 1mg