Ben surprised me one day with this Cinnamon Star bread. I was totally amazed that for someone who has no experience in baking can make something so awesome on his first attempt.
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup potato flour
- 1/4 cup milk powder
- 3/4 cup to 1 cup lukewarm water, enough to make a soft, smooth dough
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filing:
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
Source: blog.kingarthurflour.com
Instructions
 Sift the flour, potato flour and milk powder through a sieve into a large bowl to prevent lumps in the dough. |
 Combine the rest of the bread ingredients into the bowl. |
 Stir in the water a little at a time and stir the ingredients with a wooden spoon. |
 You will end up with a very stick dough. |
 On a counter dusted with flour, plop the sticky dough and knead until you get a soft, smooth dough. |
 Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. |
 Cover the dough and let it rise for 60 minutes, until it’s nearly doubled in size. |
 Divide the dough into four equal pieces. |
 Shape each piece into a ball, cover the balls and allow them to rest for 15 minutes. |
 Meanwhile, gather the filing ingredients.
Beat a large egg. Combine cinnamon powder and sugar in a bowl and mix well. |
 On a lightly greased or floured work surface, flatten one piece of dough with your palm. |
 Roll the flatten dough with rolling pin into a larger circle. |
 The dough should be 10″ in diameter. Dont worry if it’s not a perfect circle.
Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. |
 Brush a thin coat of beaten egg on the dough surface. |
 Evenly sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture, leaving 1/4 inch of bare dough around the perimeter.
Roll out a second 10 inch circle dough and place on top of the filling covered circle. Brush it with egg, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Repeat the layering process. |
 Place a 2 1/2″ to 3″ round cutter or jar cover in the center of the dough circle and pressed to make a light imprint. |
 With a pair of kitchen scissors, cut into 16 equal strips, to the center edge of the center round, through all the layers.
Ben’s advice is first cut into 4 quadrants. Work with 1 quadrant at a time. Cut the quadrant into 4 equal strips. |
 Using two hands, pick up two adjacent dough strips and twist them away from other twice so that the top side is facing up again. |
 Pinch the end of the dough together. Repeat with the remaining strips of dough so that you end up with eight pairs of flower-like petals.
Cover the star and let it rise until it becomes noticeably puffy, about 45 minutes. |
 About 10 minutes before the end of the 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 400F.
When the rising is complete, brush the star with a thin coat of the beaten egg. Bake the star for 16 minutes, until it’s nicely golden with dark brown cinnamon streaks. Switch off the oven and leave the star for 5 more minutes to achieve the right golden brown colour. Remove the loaf from the oven and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. |