Nutella Star Bread | Braided Nutella Bread

5 from 13 votes

Nutella Star bread or Braided Nutella Bread is one of the most gorgeous, soft, and delicious pull-apart bread recipes you will ever make.

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Resting Time1 30

Total Time2 20

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts

Cuisine: American, European

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 511kcal

Author: Kushi

In a large mixing bowl, add warm milk and sprinkle the yeast. Leave this undisturbed for 10 minutes. Let the yeast activate.
2 ¼ teaspoon Active dry yeast, 1 cup Warm milk
To this, add melted butter, sugar, egg, and mix. On top of this, add flour in increments along with salt and knead for 10 to 12 minutes to form a smooth and elastic dough. (I like to knead bread dough using my hands- good workout!! You can also use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment for this step)
4 tablespoon Melted butter, 4 tablespoon Sugar, 1 Egg, 1 teaspoon Salt, 3 ½ cups Flour
Transfer this to a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Punch down the risen dough to a floured surface and divide it into four equal portions.
Meanwhile, melt the Nutella in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds so that it is easier to spread.
1 cup Nutella
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.
Using a spoon or knife, spread a thin layer of Nutella leaving a ½ inch border.
Roll the second portion of the dough into a circle again. Place it on the previous layer and spread the Nutella.
Repeat the procedure for the third portion of the dough.
Roll the last portion of dough and place it on top. Trim the ends of the dough to create a clean circle (we can bake this excess dough separately)
Place a small bowl or cookie cutter at the center of the dough as a reference.
Leaving the center intact (portion covered by the bowl), 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. At the end, you will have eight beautiful flower petals or pointed stars.
Remove the bowl, cover this braided bread with kitchen towel, and let it rest for about 20- 25 minutes.

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
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. If the bread turns brown faster, then cover it with aluminum foil for 15 minutes and continue baking.
Let the bread cool for 10 minutes
Serve warm, and enjoy.

For the excess dough, I shaped it into concentric circles and sprinkled a mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder, and baked it along with the braided bread.

While adding the milk, make sure it is warm, around 110 degrees F. If the milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast, and using cold milk will not let the yeast activate.

The bread will become dense if you add too much flour. So start with 3 cups of flour and then add slowly in increments as needed to form smooth elastic dough.

How to store the bread? This star bread tastes the best when served warm and fresh. If there are any leftovers, store them in an airtight conatiner in the refrigerator for three days. Reheat in the microwave for 15 seconds before serving. You can also freeze any leftovers for two months in a ziplock bag or airtight container.