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A festive star-shaped brioche filled with a harmonious blend of tart cranberries and sweet orange, enveloped in layers of buttery brioche dough, and finished with a zesty orange glaze.

How to Make Star Bread

Making star bread is way easier than it looks! The dough comes together fool proof and shaping is so fun and easy. Detailed instructions are included below, but here’s a sneak peak at what to expect. Just a few simple steps:

1. Make the dough & rise.
2. Roll out the dough. Roll out the dough into three 10″ circles.
3. Layer the dough. Layer like a bunch of pizza crusts. Circle + topping + circle + topping + circle.
4. Cut. Trim the edges as needed. Make a circle marking in the center using a biscuit cutter or small bowl and make 16 cuts. I like to do this by making 4 even cuts, then dividing each of those sections in half, then half again.
5. Twist. Twist 2 pieces away from each other, then pinch the two ends together. Do this two pieces at a time and you’ll end up with 8 points.
6. Bake. Set the dough aside and give it a short rise for about 20 minutes. Just before placing in the oven, brush with an egg wash. Bake for about 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar or top with a glaze.

Roll out into 3 ~10″ circles.

Layer with filling, leaving a little empty room on the edge.

Top with circle, layer, then top with final circle.

Press in an optional placement circle to mark your middle (a cup or biscuit cutter works great).

Cut 16 strips in the dough.

Twist 2 strips then pinch the ends together. Makes 8 points.

Video Tutorial

Need more help? Check out my simple bake along tutorial on my Instagram highlights titled “Star Bread” or my YouTube tutorial below.

Make Ahead Tips

There are several ways you can prep this ahead of time or stretch out the steps to split up the work.

1. Put the dough in the fridge during the first rise for 8-48 hours, then assemble, rise and bake.
2. The filling can be made up to 2 weeks in advance, and even freezes well.
3. You can assemble the star and keep the assembled portion in the fridge 8-24 hours. Leave out for about 1 hour at room temperature, then bake.
4. You can also freeze the baked star. Thaw overnight at room temperature. To eat warm, heat up in oven at 350 F for about 10-15 minute until warm. Glaze fresh for best results.

How Else Can I Use This Dough Recipe?

This recipe is a modification of my viral dinner roll and 5 star cinnamon roll recipe. One of my favorite ways to make this dough is to double the batch and make half as regular dinner rolls and half as sweet rolls. Perfect for a treat after dinner, or put the sweet rolls in the fridge to rest and rise overnight so you have fresh rolls in the morning. Simplifies dinner and breakfast (or dessert) by putting your efforts into one batch!

Great For Holiday Friends & Neighbor Gifts

The best way to spread holiday cheer is to sing for all to hear… and share a delicious festive treat! No really, my neighbors absolutely love when I bring them these star shaped breads as my neighbor gift.

Here’s how to do it…

• Instead of making one giant star with three dough layers, you can actually make two smaller bread stars with two layers of dough each!
• You will still follow the recipe and directions the same, but when it comes to rolling out the dough, you will do 4 smaller rounds of dough than 3 larger rounds.
• You will want to not cut 16 equal strips of dough, but rather do around 10 or 12 strips.
• Bake and glaze as normal.
• Once you are ready to wrap these breads up, all you need is to put the bread star in a cute gift box and put a fun ribbon and note around it! I added these bells too for an extra touch.

Can I Shape This Bread Any Other Way?

OF COURSE! I have 3 other ways you can shape this cranberry orange bread. Here is a brief overview of these shapes or you can look at this blog post with more detail for each shape!

1. Traditional sweet rolls – done in a 9×13″ pan or sheet pan (makes 12); always a great shape for any occasion. See the original recipe here.
2. Muffin tin portions – perfect for individual portions and packaging; I love these for bridal showers or baby showers. You simply just roll up like a traditional sweet roll and place in the muffin tin. It bakes up twisted and fun!
3. Wreath – another holiday show stopping shape! Here is a step by step video on how to accomplish this shape!

More sweet roll recipes you’ll love…

The Best Dinner Rolls 

More Star Bread Filling Ideas

Raspberry Sweet Rolls (Full Batch Version)

Cinnamon Rolls

Orange Sweet Rolls 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sweet Rolls

Cranberry Orange Star Bread

Lori Vaughn

A harmonious blend of tart cranberries and sweet orange filling, layered in layers of brioche dough, formed into a star shape, and topped with a tangy glaze.

4 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Rise Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Servings 1 star shaped bread

Ingredients

  

Dough

• 250 g. (1 cup) warm whole milk (at about 110 degrees F) any other milk will do; fattier the better
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast
• 50 g. (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 360 g. (about 3 cups) all purpose flour*
• + one egg and 1 tbsp water for egg wash

Filling

• 4 oz (about 1 1/4 cup) fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 3 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tbsp butter

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tbsp orange juice
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp milk

Instructions

 

Dough

• Using a stand mixer* with a dough hook, combine the warm milk (not scalding hot, but warm to the touch), yeast, and sugar together.

  (If you are using active dry yeast, wait about 6-10 minutes for the yeast to start to form, indicating its activating. For instant yeast, you do not have to wait.)
• Add the first cup of flour and mix together. Once it's mostly incorporated add the salt, softened butter and eggs. Continue to mix on low.
• Slowly add the remaining flour. In pouring your last cup, do so slowly, watching the dough. When you've added enough flour, the dough will be soft and just slightly sticky. Add additional flour if needed. It will also be pulling away from the bowl.
• Leave the mixer on for an additional 8-10 minutes to knead on low speed.
• Take your dough hook out, and cover the bowl to let the dough rest and rise for about 30-60 minutes, until about doubled in size and puffy. (Or transfer dough to a greased bowl and cover if you prefer)

  (You can also stick in the fridge at this point to split up the steps and form the next day)

Filling

• While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Combine all the filling ingredients except the butter, in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Heat until the cranberries begin to cook down and the sauce begins to thicken, about 6-8 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and add the butter, gently mixing until incorporated. Put in a blender or food processor and blend until it’s smooth and even consistency.

Assembly

• Divide the risen dough into 3 even sections, one section for each piece of parchment or wax paper. Roll out each section to be about a 10" circle.

  (Or see note to make 2 smaller stars instead of 1 big star)
• Place half of your filling on the first circle, leaving about 1/2 inch on the ends (like a pizza crust). Transfer the second rolled out circle from the parchment paper to the first circle now topped with filling. Spread the second half of your filling on top of that second circle. Transfer third rolled out circle from the parchment paper to the second circle now topped with filling. It will look like 3 pizza crusts on top of each other with filling in between.
• Trim the edges as needed to remove any hanging/uneven parts to keep an even circle. Using a biscuit cutter of small bowl about 3" wide, make a gentle marking in the center. Outside of that circle, cut 16 even sections with a pizza cutter. I like to do this by making 4 even cuts, then dividing each of those sections in half, then half again. 
• Hold a piece in each hand and gently twist each one away from each other, then pinch the two ends together. Do this two pieces at a time and you'll end up with 8 points. 
• Set the dough aside and give it a short rise for about 20-30 minutes. Just before placing in the oven, brush with an egg wash (an egg whisked together with one tbsp of water).
• While it's rising, preheat oven to 350℉

Bake

• Transfer to baking sheet. I keep it on the bottom parchment paper layer for easy transfer. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. If some points are browning too quickly, you can gently cover with aluminum foil.

Glaze

• While the bread bakes make the glaze. You can also make this glaze ahead of time and store in fridge until ready. Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together until combined well. Lather over the baked star bread. Enjoy!
• To reheat, turn oven on to 350° F, cover with foil, and heat for about 10-12 minutes, or until warm. Small pieces can also be placed in the microwave for 20 seconds to refresh.

Notes

*BY HAND? If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can still do this by hand by placing the ingredients in a large bowl, and when the dough gets hard to work with because of how thick it is, put on a floured work surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes. 

*FLOUR: The amount of flour you put in depends on so many factors, including the brand of flour and the humidity for the day. I start by adding 1-2 cups and then add the last cup more slowly, only adding what I need until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding more flour if needed. The dough should be soft and tacky, but not overly sticky or wet. 

*FILLING: Filling will last in the fridge for a few weeks if you would like to make this in advance! Just warm up slightly to make the spreading easier at time of assembly. It freezes great too. 

* NEED SMALLER STARS? You can create two smaller starts with two layers of dough instead of one large star with the layers of dough. You will follow all the steps to make the dough, filling, and glaze the same, you just make 4 smaller rounds of dough instead of 3 large ones. Follow the steps to layer, cut 8-10 strips instead of 16, twist, egg-wash, and bake. Now you have two perfect sized neighbor gifts!

*MAKE AHEAD TIPS:

• You can put the dough in the fridge during the first rise and from 8-24 hours later. 
• You can also but the assembled star in the fridge to delay the last rise and bake fresh. Keep out of fridge for about 30-60 minutes from the fridge, then bake. 
• You can freeze the baked star, then let it thaw overnight. Reheat in the oven at 350 F for about 10-15 minutes or until warm. Glaze fresh if you didn’t already apply the glaze.