This Bread Is As Delicious As It Is Beautiful!
You’ve probably seen star bread before. Unfortunately, I am not the original thinker here! The first time I ever saw it was while scanning across YouTube. It was so beautiful, I never thought it could be so easy. This is a show stopper for sure. Now that I’ve done it, It’s going to be my go-to-gotta-impress-’em-dish. And, this beautiful THANG can be anything you want it to be! Sweet, savory, both, just name it. No ending to the many ways you can reinvent it. Believe me, if it came out this well the first time I ever tried it, I can’t imagine what could happen with a little practice.
First of all, it’s not a quick bit of business. It will take a few hours of commitment. My friend Canece was looking to kill a couple of hours too, so she joined me and we had a blast! This is a fun project to make with a friend.
You Can Do This Too! I Promise! 🙂
Ok, so when I found this recipe, I was really surprised at the ingredients. I am not one to enjoy spending time on something and having it come out a mess. However, it’s from the King Arthur Flour Company, so I completely trusted that it would be perfect and, it’s beyond perfect. Super great to work with and it tastes incredible. So, this is defininetly the recipe I would suggest you use as well. Here’s the link https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cinnamon-star-bread-recipe
Just omit the sugar and the vanilla and you’ll have the same recipe we used. Here’s how we did it. Into the bowl of your mixer, with the *dough hook attachment, add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes and 1/4 cup non-fat dry milk powder (now, I told you it was odd), 1 teaspoon salt and mix it up. Then into 3/4 cup lukewarm water, add 2 teaspoons of instant yeast, or I just used the whole package, which is actually about 2 1/2 teaspoons. Let it get bubbly. You can add a little pinch of sugar to help it along. Then, slowly add to the dry ingredients in the mixer and start it mixing. Then add the 4 tablespoons of softened butter. If it’s too dry, add a touch more water. You want it to be soft but not sticky. If it feels too sticky, add a bit of flour.
Cover the bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise for one hour. While it’s rising, make your filling.
*If you don’t have a dough hook, you can use the regular paddle attachment. Just remove when it’s all combined and kneed by hand for about 5 minutes until it’s soft and flexible. The kneading is what releases the gluten and makes the bread soft and delicious.
Choose Your Filling
So, the first thing you need to do is decide on a filling. You can do so many things, almost anything you can imagine. I decided to start my star making adventures by filling with one of my very favorite things in the world! That’s right, spinach-ricotta. But of course, I had to make my homemade ricotta. For how to do that, see my blog post with fresh ricotta recipe at https://wp.me/p9KEfL-9P (If you do make the ricotta, save the whey and use it instead of water in the bread recipe).
Into a saute pan, add about a tablespoon of olive oil, a finely minced shallot, 3-4 cloves of minced garlic and let it get all sweaty together until the shallot is translucent, then add the spinach. Cook down until the spinach is completely wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the zest of a lemon, a pinch of salt and some ground pepper. Then, put it all into a food processor and pulse a few times until it’s nicely chopped. Add back into the pan and add the ricotta and top with a bit of freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese. Mix well. Set aside until it’s time to fill the bread layers.
Back to the Bread
Ok, now the really fun part starts. If you’re like me and you’re trying something new, you can’t believe it when it works out just as you’d planned. Well, that’s what happened to me and I could’t believe how incredible it was. That’s why I want you to try this too.
This dough is really fun and easy to work with. Just remove the dough from the bowl and cut it into 4 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the first ball out into a circle. Get it as flat as you can, you want it to be about 12 inches around.
Set the first rolled piece onto a baking sheet that you’ve sprayed with non stick spray. Then, add 1/3 of the filling and spread it to about 1 inch of the end of the dough.
Set aside and roll the second ball. Put that layer onto of the other layer, then spread another third of the filling on top. Set aside and roll out the next layer. Top again, then roll out the last quarter of dough. If it’s not perfect, it’s ok. Just pull the dough carefully, not to tare to get it as evenly covered as you can. Crimp the edges to seal.
Making the Star
With a small drinking glass or similar object, make a circle indentation right in the center. Then, with a knife, cut the dough like a pie from the edge of the center dent to the outside of the circle. Cut right through, leaving the center round uncut. I think it’s best to start with at least 5 cuts. I made 5 cuts, but I’d like it better with 6 or even 8. When done cutting, pick up two of the cut pieces at the bottom, turn them apposite each other twice, then bring them together at the bottom end and seal them together. You can watch it on https://www.youtube.com/starbread
In a small bowl, add one egg and mix well. Brush the entire surface with egg, then top with finishing salt and even a bit of garlic powder. I used black salt, you can see it in the picture. I also dusted with granulated garlic. Only about 1 teaspoon over the entire surface.
Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve with a little bit of marinara sauce.
Spinach Ricotta Stuffed “Star” Bread
Notes
*If you don't have a dough hook, mix the dough using a standard paddle attachment, then knead dough for about 5 minutes until soft and elastic. Let rise 60 minutes and continue as above.
Ingredients
For the Bread
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes
- 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
- 3/4 cup (or a little more if needed) lukewarm water (or leftover whey from cheesemaking)
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
For the Spinach Ricotta Filling
- 10 ounces fresh baby spinach, washed
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 large shallot, finely minced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- zest of one lemon
- salt
- pepper
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese
Instructions
For the Bread
- Into the bowl of your mixer, with the *dough hook attachment, add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes and 1/4 cup non-fat dry milk powder, 1 teaspoon salt and mix to combined. Then into 3/4 cup lukewarm water, add 2 teaspoons of instant yeast. Add a small pinch of sugar and let it sit 5 minutes. If it isn't bubbling, your yeast may not be good, start over with a new package of yeast. Then, slowly add to the dry ingredients in the mixer on low speed. Then add the 4 tablespoons of softened butter. If it's too dry, add a touch more water. You want it to be soft but not sticky. If it feels too sticky, add a bit of flour.
- Cover the bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise for one hour. While it's rising, make your filling.
For the filling
- Into a saute pan, on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a finely minced shallot, 3-4 cloves of minced garlic cook and until the shallot is translucent, then add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is completely wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the zest of a lemon, a pinch of salt and some ground pepper. Then, put it all into a food processor and pulse a few times until it's nicely chopped. Add back into the pan add ricotta and top with a bit of freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese. Mix well. Set aside until it's time to fill the bread layers.
Assembly of the Star
- Remove the dough from the bowl and cut it into 4 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll the first ball out into a circle. Get it as flat as you can, you want it to be about 12 inches, round. Set the first rolled piece onto a baking sheet that you've sprayed with non stick spray. Then, add 1/3 of the filling and spread it to about 1 inch of the end of the dough. Set aside and roll the second ball. Put that layer onto of the other layer, then spread another third of the filling on top. Set aside and roll out the next layer. Top again, then roll out the last quarter of dough and cover the last layer. If it's not perfect, it's ok. Just pull the dough carefully, not to tare to get it as evenly covered as you can. Crimp the edges to seal.
Shaping the Star
- With a small drinking glass or similar object, make a circle indentation right in the center. Then, with a knife, cut the dough like a pie from the edge of the center dent to the outside of the circle. Cut right through, leaving the center round uncut. Make sure to cut in even numbers. I think it's best to start with at least 8 cuts. You can do more actually, just so long as it's an even number. When done cutting, pick up two of the cut pieces at the bottom, turn them apposite each other twice, then bring them together at the bottom end and seal them together. This is how you get the "star" shape.
- In a small bowl, add one egg and mix well. Brush the entire surface with egg, then top with finishing salt and even a bit of garlic powder. I used black salt, you can see it in the picture. I also dusted with granulated garlic. Only about 1 teaspoon over the entire surface.
- Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve with a little bit of marinara sauce.
